Religion

“Money is Fungible”

By Amy Sullivan | @sullivanamy | April 8, 2011 | +

Obviously. Except when it’s a grant to a religious organization, in which case it’s obviously tightly segregated in order to prevent the appearance of government-funded religion and therefore the furthest thing from fungible. If only Planned Parenthood would hire some church treasurers to replicate that nifty accounting system for them, this whole silly argument could be solved.

Related Topics: Religion

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  • Ivy_B

    Thank you Amy. I tried to make that point earlier, but not so well.

  • http://elvisberg.wordpress.com Elvis Elvisberg

    Agreed. This is a pretty excellent summary of the issue. The Tea Party was elected to get government off of our backs… and into our uteruses.
    -
    This was a pretty good look at a related issue: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-2-2011/rape-victim-abortion-funding

  • formerlyjames

    I have necessarily, but unintentionally, offended my religious friends here, and speak cautiously now. But, Planned Parenthood is about more than abortions. It is also about preempting that event. The religious view prohibits the cause and the cure both. No win all around. If the lockdown is about this, it is more absurd than I realized.

  • apr2563

    Thanks Amy!

  • http://thehighcheese.wordpress.com thehighcheese

    This is probably one of the stupidest posts I have ever seen.

    What about the research money that could not be used for stem cells research?

    What about sex ed money that can’t be used for anything but abstinence?

    What about federal highway funds that are denied to states unless they have a 21 year old drinking age?

    There are millions of limitations on how money is spent or that come with strings. Saying that only religious institutions are limited is either mendacious or ignorant.

  • http://thehighcheese.wordpress.com thehighcheese

    Never mind. I misread it. Please slap me with a fish.

  • marvyt

    That’s a great point Amy, and very well stated.

  • allthingsinaname

    There is no question that money is fungible. The argument is absurd. The only question is what does society want to spend this fungible money on.

  • http://shortplaysaboutrealpeople.wordpress.com Michael Maiello

    There’s no doubt in my mind that the notion of segregated money by any company, charity or church is just silly. Give somebody a grant to keep the lights on and you’re inherently helping them do whatever else they want to do, even if you explicitly tell them not to use your money to do it. When the government says “none of the money we gave to GM went to build factories in China…” that’s a lie. When companies pay dues to the Chamber of Commerce but say they’re not supporting the Chamber’s view on climate change, it’s a lie.

    The difference between the government giving grants to Planned Parenthood and the government giving grants to a church should be simple. The constitution doesn’t forbid the government from paying to help an organization give contraceptive advice. It does forbid the government from giving grants to organizations that hand our spiritual advice.

    This is largely because the founders witnessed church oppression on a massive scale. So far, Planned Parenthood hasn’t done the same to anybody.

  • square1

    Does the GOP contradict itself?
    Very well then it contradicts itself.
    It is large, it contains multitudes.

  • square1

    For those keeping score at home, here is the official GOP scorecard:

    When Money is Fungible:

    * Funding to Planned Parenthood also goes to pay for abortions.

    * Government subsidies for health insurance goes to pay for abortions, if the policy covers abortions…even if you don’t get one.

    * Anything else involving abortion.

    When Money is Not Fungible

    * Funding to religious groups for secular purposes is not fungible with funds used for religious purposes.

    * Federal Reserve loans to commercial banks to make loans to third-parties is not fungible with funds that the bank uses for proprietary gambling trading.

    * According to the GOP, funds solicited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from foreign-owned corporations are not fungible with funds used for political attack ads…except that, under U.S. tax law, they must be.

    *Foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies, like Haliburton, can do business in countries that the U.S. has sanctions against, like Iran, because the subsidiaries assets are not fungible with the assets of their parent corporations…or something.

    *Any time a rich guy can make a buck, not involving abortion.

  • Matt

    Fairly clear that Boehner is not willing to shut it down over Planned Parenthood. We’ve heard nothing from the House GOP leadership on this issue. All they’ve done is slam the Dems on spending cuts, which is not relevant. Cuts have agreed to. It’s down to Planned Parenthood, and the GOP will blink before the clock strikes zero and the headlines are printed that Boehner closed Yellowstone, stopped paying the troops and laid off govt workers over cancer screenings for low-income women…
    http://www.sunstateactivist.org

  • Friar Tuck

    For the win.

  • chupkar

    *fwap*

  • Ivy_B

    Excellent, thanks. Now I can tell the difference.

  • http://driftingspecter.wordpress.com driftingspecter

    By stating the obvious, “that money is fungible”, the conservative camp attempts to single out Planned Parenthood, but by this argument all sorts of things the government does would be seen as supporting abortion.

    If the salary for someone’s research position is funded by an NSF grant one could make the argument that, if they or their spouse has an abortion, the government is funding abortion since the money originated with the federal government. If a postal worker gets an abortion, the money probably came from a government paycheck. If a congressional staffer gets an abortion, that money probably came from a government paycheck as well… the list is literally endless!!

    Can they please get off this obscene witch hunt and start acting like adults!?!?!

  • sacredh

    lol

  • stewartiii

    NewsBusters: TIME Religion Reporter Complains Conservatives Hypocritical on Taxpayer Funding for Planned Parenthood
    http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2011/04/11/time-religion-reporter-complains-conservatives-hypocritical-taxpayer-f

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