The War on Logic - NYTimes.com

"[T]he modern G.O.P. has been taken over by an ideology in which the suffering of the unfortunate isn’t a proper concern of government, and alleviating that suffering at taxpayer expense is immoral, never mind how little it costs."

The War on Logic - NYTimes.com:

Salvation Army not out in the light...where DOES your donation $$ go? No telling

I got an email fwd from a friend, as follows

Whenever I receive a phone call for donations, I always ask how much of my dollar will actually go to the intended precipitants.  In almost all cases, I am amazed at how little gets to them. 

You may have already received this or knew it.   Just a reminder.

As you open your pockets for yet another natural disaster or Christmas
season, keep these facts in mind when "donating".

Marsha J. Evans, President and CEO of the American Red Cross... Salary for
year  was $651,957 plus expenses. (That's $74.42 an hour for EVERY hour of
EVERY day.)

Brian Gallagher, President of the United Way receives a $375,000 base
salary, plus numerous expense benefits. (That's $42.80 an hour for EVERY
hour of EVERY day.)

UNICEF CEO receives $1,200,000 per year plus all expenses and a ROLLS ROYCE car where ever he goes and only cents of your dollar goes to the cause.
(That's $1369.86 an hour for EVERY hour of EVERY day.)

 The Salvation Army's Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary of only
$13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization.

No further comment necessary except listen for the bells outside stores this Christmas. Please share this with everyone you can think of. 

Which inspired me to do some checking.  This kind of FWD: fw: fwd: email is almost always BS.


An average CEO compensation of about $150,000 is reported by the over 5,000 charities rated by Charity Navigator.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/

From Charity Navigator's current information:

• American Red Cross head Gail J. McGovern President, CEO makes $446,867 or 0.01% of Program Expenses (on the ground $$) which are 91.8% of total expenses.
• United Way Worldwide head Brian A. Gallagher, President, CEO makes $982,768 or 1.70% of Program Expenses which are 86.0% of total expenses.
• United States fund for Unicef head Caryl M. Stern, President, CEO makes $419,832 which is 0.08% of Program Expenses which are 91.8% of total expenses.
• Salvation Army - Charity Navigator notes: Many religious organizations are exempt under Internal Revenue Code from filing the Form 990. As a result, we lack sufficient data to evaluate their financial health.

And another charity rating organization, CharityWatch notes:
http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/salvarmy.html

"After repeated requests from AIP, The Salvation Army has prepared consolidated audited financial statements of its 9,347 centers of operation that provide counseling, shelter and other assistance to nearly 27 million people. AIP is particularly pleased with this development since The Salvation Army, unlike most other major charities, is not required to file public information because it is considered by the IRS and state authorities to be a church. These statements show over $2 billion in income and $1.6 billion in expenses for fiscal 1996."

I don't know if those are on the ground Program Expenses, or if I should take that to mean something like 75% for internal expenses, and 25% for on the ground. 

also from CharityWatch, you

"should be aware that the organization lacks an independent governing board. AIP encourages all religious and secular nonprofit organizations to demonstrate good governance by electing an outside board of directors that consists predominately of members who do not receive compensation or other financial benefits from the organization that they are governing. Otherwise, nonprofit directors may be tempted to place their own interests over the best interests of the organization. The absence of outside directors at any nonprofit could also lead to serious problems being swept under the rug and away from public scrutiny.

The Salvation Army has a national advisory board and each local chapter has its own advisory board. Although these advisory boards do not have governing powers, according to the Lieutenant Colonel Tom Jones, Community Relations and Development Secretary of The Salvation Army, they do carry moral weight or suasion. Nonprofit advisory boards can offer advice to charity employees but do not have the authority to set organizational policy, hire or fire the executive director, approve the audit or budget, or perform other functions of a governing board.

The Commissioners’ Conference is the governing board of The Salvation Army USA. It consists of ten Salvation Army officers, who are all ordained ministers: the National Commander, Robert A. Watson, four territorial Commanders, and the chief national and four chief territorial Secretaries. Even though the ten Conference members are paid by the Salvation Army and work for the group full time, Lt. Col. Jones says, “technically they are not employees but are self employed and work full time for The Salvation Army.” "

 
 
And it seems like a few other people have some significant issues with the insular Salvation Army:
http://salvationarmykroccenterprotest.com/information.php

http://exposingthearmy.blogspot.com/2009/01/exposing-army.html#comments

What do you think?

td

"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

Thomas Jefferson.

Snips from a couple of articles I read this morning...the big picture isn't getting any better as we roll past 1984 into the new century...

td


"Maryland State Trooper David Uhler pulled over motorcyclist Anthony Graber for speeding and reckless driving. Graber had a video camera mounted to his helmet that was recording at the time of the stop. Uhler, dressed in street clothes, emerged from his unmarked car with gun drawn, yelling. Graber was given only a traffic ticket, but he was miffed at Uhler’s behavior. So he posted the video on YouTube. Days later, Maryland State Police conducted an early-morning raid on Graber’s home, held Graber and his parents for 90 minutes, confiscated computer equipment, arrested him, and took him to jail."
...

"Maryland is one of 12 states with a wiretapping law that requires consent from all parties to a conversation for someone to legally record it. But in 10 of those 12 states, including Maryland, the statute says a violation occurs only when the offended party has a reasonable expectation that the conversation is private."
...

"Civil liberties advocates argue that on-duty police officers, like people attending city council meetings or walking down a public street, do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. For Graber to be convicted under Maryland’s wiretapping law, a prosecutor would have to argue that Uhler—a police officer who had pulled over a motorist, drawn his gun, and yelled at the guy on the side of a busy highway—had a reasonable expectation that the encounter would remain private."

Read the full article:
http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/07/the-war-on-cameras


"One of the hallmarks of an authoritarian government is its fixation on hiding everything it does behind a wall of secrecy while simultaneously monitoring, invading and collecting files on everything its citizenry does. Based on the Francis Bacon aphorism that "knowledge is power," this is the extreme imbalance that renders the ruling class omnipotent and citizens powerless."
...

"And this is all supposed to be the other way around: it's government officials who are supposed to operate out in the open, while ordinary citizens are entitled to privacy. Yet we've reversed that dynamic almost completely. And even with 9/11 now 9 years behind us, the trends continue only in one direction.

Read the full article:
"The government's one-way mirror - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: