WashPost Notes Departing Komen CEO's Large Salary, Ignores Planned Parenthood CEO's Larger One

August 9th, 2012 2:01 PM

Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s founder and CEO is stepping down. Nancy Brinker is joined on her fall on the sword by her president and two board members, all denying the Planned Parenthood debacle had anything to do with it.

Meanwhile, a Washington Post op-ed on Brinker’s demise, “Nancy Brinker’s Komen shakeup too little and way too late,” had nary a contrary word to say about Planned Parenthood or its CEO while noting:

Brinker’s own reputation was on the line as her $417,000 salary and the top executive’s first-class air travel became part of the debate about whether the organization had strayed from its mission.

The link goes back to a February 2012 WashPost hit piece on Brinker, noting also that Komen “paid 50 top executive more than $100,000 each” in 2010.

Interesting, but not surprising, is the media’s complete disinterest in the salary of Planned Parenthood’s CEO, Cecile Richards, and her top execs.

Like Komen, PP is also a nonprofit, and as Komen’s nemesis, PP would seem an obvious target for a compensation comparison. WashPost came so close but averted its eyes:

Komen operations have been under intense scrutiny since last week when a plan to stop giving grants to Planned Parenthood triggered blistering criticism of Komen’s leadership.

But no scrutiny of Planned Parenthood, the recipient of Komen’s grant. Wouldn’t it have made sense to find out whether PP was worthy? Liberal ideology, of course, says no. I doubt journalists even considered the thought.

Learning this information took me all of five minutes. According to Planned Parenthood’s 2010 IRS Form 990, Cecile Richards earned a total of $420,153 at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a few grand more than Brinker.

PPFA’s other top execs all made between $250-$325k, a couple hundred thousand more than Komen’s…

The February WashPo piece also noted:

Brinker, who also serves on Komen’s board of directors, traveled first class on airlines with the explicit permission of the board she chairs.

Just a hunch, but I don’t think Richards flies coach.

It didn’t have to be this way. Komen could have stood strong in their decision to defund the United States’ largest abortion provider, but they couldn’t handle the heat.

Since then no one has been happy. While MSM consistently portrays Komen’s loss of revenue as a show of displeasure by abortion proponents, it is just as likely disappointed and previously unaware pro-lifers are now withholding donations.

I don’t feel one ounce of sympathy for Brinker. She, as a friend of Planned Parenthood, got Komen into its mess. In 1996 Planned Parenthood of North Texas gave her the Gertrude Shelburne Humanitarian Award, and as recently as 2011 Komen sat on that affiliate’s advisory council. (MSM never mentions this part of Brinker’s bio, because it doesn’t fit their portrayal of Brinker as a Republican hack.)

Brinker learned too late Planned Parenthood is as friendly as a scorpion, and her beloved organization paid dearly for her miscalculation. Ultimately, so did she.