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No corporate welfare for the merchants of death, Part XIII

By Scott Tibbs, May 15, 2012

This is an open letter to the Bloomington City Council

Dear Councilors,

In its most recent annual report, Planned Parenthood reported that the combined revenue of the national office and all affiliates was $1.0482 billion, while the expenses for the organization came to $1.0297 billion. This is an excess or revenue over expenses of $18.5 million. In addition, Planned Parenthood of Indiana reported $15,135,052 in revenue in its most recent annual report, while PPIN spent $14,232,019 - an excess of revenue over expenses of over $900,000.

Yet, once again, our local Planned Parenthood branch is coming to you for a handout of money confiscated from the taxpayers. They want you to give them $4,975 for a sex education program in partnership with Indiana University. With the exception of 2009, Planned Parenthood has come to the city council for a handout every single year since 1999 and the council has willingly handed over the taxpayers' money. It is more than clear that Planned Parenthood does not need this money, as the organization has plenty of money floating around to fund their sex education program.

So since PP does not need the money they are requesting, why are they coming to you for the 13th time? The answer is obvious, and PP is asking for money for the same reason they always ask for money. This is political. Planned Parenthood wants a political endorsement from city government. This request for help is fraudulent, and it is long past time for this charade to end.

Indiana University has plenty of resources to complete this program without the involvement of Planned Parenthood. IU is the state's flagship public university and also operates a network of hospitals around the state - including IU Health Bloomington. Indiana University's involvement makes a grant for city funding even more unnecessary and meaningless.

I cannot help but notice the irony in Planned Parenthood asking for corporate welfare for a program to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, when it is the promiscuity promoted by the likes of Planned Parenthood that has led to the problems we face with STD's in the first place. While you are at it, you might as well give $5,000 to Phillip Morris to help prevent lung cancer.

Councilors, it is really very simple. If you are going to have a social services funding program, then you should distribute the money to organizations that actually need it. The money you have to distribute is limited and there are always organizations that do not get the funding they request. Why, then, do you irresponsibly waste thousands upon thousands of taxpayer dollars every single year on an organization that does not need a handout and is only seeking a political endorsement from city government?

Last fall, Planned Parenthood was not even invited to present their proposal for the county council's social services funding program. You should follow the county's lead and tell Planned Parenthood that they will not get even one more penny of the money we have entrusted to you as taxpayers. It is time to finally show respect to the people of Bloomington by not handing corporate welfare to an organization that has so little respect for the other social service agencies and for the people of Bloomington that they seek a handout they do not need year after year.

It is time to end this farce.

Scott Tibbs