Bullying Statists Are Destroying Private Philanthropy

By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

The Susan B. Komen Foundation caved to pressure from the radical left and re-instated its private funding of taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood. Congress, of course, could defund Planned Parenthood and make it run entirely on private funds. As with many other leftwing causes, conservatives are financing their ideological opponents, and the congressional Republican leadership lacks the backbone to stop it. For those tempted to react to the Komen situation with more government regulation of the private philanthropic sector (e.g., urging "that Congress and the IRS exert far more control over all these foundations, more closely monitoring their activities and forcing them to rapidly spend down this mountain of assets on domestic charitable purposes [not political meddling]"), I respectfully suggest that's not the conservative solution, and would be counterproductive. There are plenty of problems in the private philanthropic sector, the lack of government regulation not being one of them. In fact, the problems are often the result of just the opposite. Conservatives, more than anyone, should understand the downside of more government.... (Read Full Article)