Busting Through the Media Firestorm: 6 Essential Facts About the Komen Controversy

http://www.alternet.org/story/154030/busting_through_the_media_firestorm:_6_essential_facts_about_the_komen_controversy/

The melodramatic tale of the breakup and pseudo-makeup between the Susan G Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood -- and the ensuing media firestorm -- simply will not die. Last week, after Komen announced that it would end its grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates around the country and promptly spent several days fending off a barrage of criticism, it at last issued an apology and a promise to restore Planned Parenthood's eligibility for grants.

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1. Yes, Komen reversed itself, but the exact future of the grants to Planned Parenthood remain unclear.
This is the most important thing to know. It's true that the new rule which would have excluded Planned Parenthood from Komen grants has been changed. This stipulation previously barred any organization under investigation, but has now been altered so that the investigation must be criminal, not political.

So while Planned Parenthood is now once again "eligible" for grants from Komen -- thanks to that reversal -- the funding is not yet assured.



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2. The deeper problems with Komen include a lack of checks and balances and a strong connection to Republican politics.

Komen Foundation CEO Nancy Brinker, a well-known Republican donor who traded favors with George W. Bush, is both the chair of the Komen board and its President, while her son and several close friends serve on the board: "A review of the board of directors of Komen...reveals that Brinker has the likely votes to control board decisions at any given time, and that those votes are either Republican stalwarts or individuals personally loyal to her," Buzzflash reports. In addition, Komen is indeed one of many nonprofit giants with fairly high executive compensation (you can read all about theirs here (PDF)) and Brinker flies first class.