Komen and Planned Parenthood

LovesChrist-Don't be disingenuous.

elimar, lol, you're funny.

Honestly, I really can't figure out exactly who did what where, even tho I've read this entire thread.  

What I love is the passion every poster has for their own opinion.  So many of you back up what you say with facts and figures.  Like another said, we often hear and see what we want to hear and see, and can find the necessary info to reinforce our opinions.

Karl Rove must be so proud of Bushie Brinker. Lie accuse others of your wrongdoing lie again and call it a compromise. Those of us who read English know better and Komen does not change its stripes.

But out of the ashes there is some good news ... just got this message from Planned Parenthood.

"Over the last three days, Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Breast Health Fund has received more than $3 million from thousands of people across the country. Every dollar we received for this fund will go directly to breast exams and diagnostic services, as well as breast health outreach and education so that more women can receive this critical care."

They also indicated that this influx of money will allow them to expand these services to many communities that do not currently have them.

Laughing and clapping!

Hi Dotti!!!  Yep ... you couldn't not notice.  The only thing I can figure with these creepy looking plastic people is that all the rich women (their friends) are doing it too and they are used to the 'look'.  IMO the absolute best looking older lady out there is Betty White ... she looks good and normal.

Okay, I'm not a fan of PP or Komen at this point, but just out of curiousity I started researching what PP was under investigation for.

What I found was, that among other serious concerns, there appears to be financial disparity concerning how tax monies are spent in the organization.

So, is it possible that Komen had concern that the money they were giving PP was not being spent for what it was supposed to be spent for?  Maybe they were trying to protect the donor's money from being used in a manner not intended?

I understand the whole "innocent until proven guilty", but if my neighbor is under investigation for being a pedophile, I sure as heck am not going to ask him to babysit my children.

Planned Parenthood is audited by HHS (Dept of Health and Human Services) each year...and everything is in order each year.  This is a baseless investigation.

AND Komen has spent their donated money in unethical ways themselves (on lawyer fees for one) so that would definitely be the pot calling the kettle black if that were the case.

Faye wrote:

"What I found was, that among other serious concerns, there appears to be financial disparity concerning how tax monies are spent in the organization.

"So, is it possible that Komen had concern that the money they were giving PP was not being spent for what it was supposed to be spent for?  Maybe they were trying to protect the donor's money from being used in a manner not intended?

"I understand the whole "innocent until proven guilty", but if my neighbor is under investigation for being a pedophile, I sure as heck am not going to ask him to babysit my children."

             On a factual basis, there is no tax disparity.  Never has been.  PP tax filings are audtied annually and reported.  Ergo: nothing of any relevance was "found" because there was nothing of any relevance to find in the first place.  Complete witch hunt boondoggle a la Salem.  

             Criminal standard has nothing to do with it.  Any -- and that is any as in the singlualr of just one -- congressional representative can start an "investigation" of anything while in office. 

              Repeat because it's important to understand the implication of this: ANY congressional representative in the House or the Senate can begin an "investigation" of ANY thing in his / her own office while serving.  That "investigation" can be a minor as a letter sent to the Congressional budget office seeking information on the pay scale of the janitors who polish the brass door knobs on the Congressman's office door or wax the floor in the john down the hall.  That simple letter seeking information qualifies as an "investigation."

             The Florida Republican Congressman seeking reelection is from Handel's home state.  He has always tried to get rid of PP.  He started an "investigation" of PP more than six months ago.  Which is to be expected given his policy intentions.  He implied that PP's tax situation is questionable.  Although it's been repeatedly proven that the allegation is a baseless political ploy and nothing more.  He and other House Republicans tried to defund PP in a bill last year and they failed. 

              Handel is on public record saying she would defund PP if elected to be govenor of Florida.  She lost that race -- she has spent most of her adult life in politics -- and got a job with Komen instead.  It improves her resume as a right wing fundamentalist candidate for any future election in Florida if she can claim to be the driving force to defund PP. Which is what she promised to do in her last election effort.  These people all know each other and they wash each other's hands.

             Komen said its decision to defund PP was based on an "investigation" as to PP's tax status.  That "investigation" was undertaken by one of Handel's friends for political purposes, i.e., to add to his resume come re-election time. The basis for the "investigation" was debunked when the bill to defund PP was defeated last year.  The whole "investigation" basis was bogus from Day One.

             Criminal standard of not guilty has nothing to do with this.  It's totally inapt to even talk in that kind of language.  The so called "investigation" as a prerogative of one Congressman is not criminal now and never was.  It's one Congressman's witch hunt bandwagon for hiw own political purposes started last year.  Which Handel -- which is pretty much now the same as Koman - used as an excuse to defund PP.  As she promised in her failed campaign. 

             It's not a rationale.  It's an excuse.  How do we know that?  Because the "story" given has changed at least three times since the deed went down in the first place.  That's how.

             It was all political from start to finish.  The idea that there's a rational analogy to be made to a criminal investigation of someone suspected of criminal conduct, such as a convicted pedphile being asked to mind one's kids, is just silly. Actually, the comparison is outrageous.  

             Facts -- however much they are prickly and really do get in the way of pre-conceived notions and prejudices and long held bias and intentions -- really do matter.

             Connect the dots.  It's pretty simple.

"As someone once said, stinky poo-ah."

Good quotations deserve re-quotation . :-)

Whiterabbit,

Clearly, my understanding of the situation is different then yours.  I was under the impression that Stearns is the chairman of a committee designed by the government to head up such investigations as the one that PP is currently on the receiving end of.  My understanding is he is not working alone, but rather working with a committee of people from the government.  Sounds pretty legitamate to me.

I've looked back and I can't find where Faye referred to them as 'these PP women'. I didn't see any disrespect in the way she spoke about women who use PP. She knows from her own experience that she can get free screening at her local hospital which is much closer to her than the nearest PP. If I'm reading what she wrote correctly, she thinks that Komen could donate their money to other places who would be just as able and willing to help women who need screening.

I don't how it is where you live, but where I live, there are many hospitals and free clinics run by religious based organizations who do not discriminate against women based on their views. A Christian organization here has a large van that goes around to different intercity communities  and provides free health care to women and their children. They don't discriminate against their views. Many health care professionals here donate their time to them.  A Catholic hospital here also has a large mammography van that goes to different locations throughout the city and offers free mammograms to people who cannot afford them on a regular basis. Women here do not have to go to PP for free health care and mammograms.

Would you object to Komen donating to these groups? I definitely know they have donated to the Catholic hospital who does the free mammograms.

             Sterns is the Republican Representative from the 6th District in Florida.  He lives in Ocala.  He's been a House member for years.  His investigation of PP was a complete waste of tax payer money and done for the sole purpose of inventing reasons to defund and thus use political purposes to do real damage to women's health concerns. His support of compelled pregnancy, as a state and national policy subject to criminal penalities, is well known and equally well documented.

             Handel was Secretary of State in Florida for a number of years.  She's a Republican party functionary and has worked on Republican concerns and for Republicans as staff for years.  She's a politician.  One of her jobs as secretary to state was to run state elections.  That's what secretaries of state do.

              Handel ran the state wide elections in which Sterns was repeatedly on the ballot for election to a seat in Congress from the 6th District.  Handel, along with Sterns, is a Republican who openly advocates compelled pregnancy for women with criminal sanctions as a state and federal policy.  

              To suggest that two Republican politicians from the same state, where one has to know the other in person to get on a ballot to run for federal office, they attend the same Republican fund raising party functions in the same rooms, they attend the same Republican strategy functions for the state of Florida, they hold the very same view on compelled pregnancy for women as a policy they intend to be enforced by both state and federal criminal law, somehow do not know each other and do not communicate with each other is beyond credibility.

              A Congressional investigation of anything is NOT an investigation initiated by or run by any agency of the state or federal government.  Including what's relevant to this discussion: the IRS.  Which is the federal agency responsible for direct enforcement of federal not-for-profit tax policy in combination with the US Justice Department division which handles all direct tax prosecution cases where the IRS is the complaining party on behalf of the US.

              What's gone in over the last few days is just the beginning is my supposition.  Lots more dirty laundry is going to get hung our for public inspection in the near future.  Komen may think what's going on with Handel is going to go away with an apology and a public back peddle and an "Oh, gee wiz, sorry about that, didn't mean it, everybody misunderstood what we did and here are three different reasons by we did it" announcement .  But it won't.  No decent investigative journalist with teeth already in the story is going to let it go.  A lot more people are going to be embarassed by what they did to make women's health the subject of personal politcal whims.