Think of this as Volume 12, Number 45 of A-Clue.com, the online newsletter I've written since 1997. Enjoy.
The Stupak Amendment, which analysts are calling the worst thing ever for the women's movement -- it prohibits coverage for abortions even in private contracts written on the health exchange -- may in fact be an enormous opportunity.
And that opportunity holds big lessons for other political movements as well.
First, want to know why the AARP is so powerful? Cash flow.
Thanks to a deal with UnitedHealth, AARP draws millions of dollars per year in insurance kickbacks from its members. Thus it's not just an interest group, but an institution. The AARP's endorsement of the House measure went a long way toward assuring its passage last night.
Planned Parenthood, by contrast, is financially weak. It has been burdened with the call of "choice" for a generation, against the stronger frame of "life." It is constantly on the defensive, where if it looked at history and changed its frame to working "against slavery" (a woman's independent life can today be ended by any guy's sperm, and even a rapist's baby brought to the world at the point of a gun, according to the other side) things can be turned around.
But this post is not just about politics. It's about money.

Recent Comments