[VinL]

Below, I posted a thread on Ayotte attacking Cruz for his "no-holds-barred" effort to defund PP.

Now, I better understand her position. Ayotte is in the process of doing what the GOP does best - cowering and surrendering.

[LS]

This is even more amazing. They WILL ATTACK HER NO MATTER WHAT. Why not at least try to win?

[Publius]

As Mark Felt said to Woodward and Bernstein over four decades ago, “Follow the money.” There are three capital flows involved here, and FReepers are only thinking in terms of one flow. You have to intercept all three flows to succeed in this endeavor, not just one.

Capital Flow #1

Big Pharma has a huge demand for fetal tissue. It uses it for everything from research, medicine and cosmetics to flavorings. As a result, it needs a continuous supply of tissue from Planned Parenthood and other abortion mills. Big Pharma doesn’t worry about the moral dimension of what it is doing. It’s the bottom line that counts. This is the capital flow that everyone here is concentrating on. But there are two more capital flows that need to be intercepted.

Capital Flow #2

Big Pharma is one of the largest players on Washington’s Lobbyist Row on K Street. There are entire floors of lobbyists on K Street working full time for Big Pharma’s interests. Back before Watergate, the money disbursed to politicians was known as “bribes” and ‘payoffs,” but we’re too polite for those terms today. Now we call it “campaign contributions.” The post-Watergate reforms were well intentioned, but they created a system of legalized bribery. Why? Because the cost of radio and television advertising is so great that politicians have to sell their souls in advance of launching a campaign. That is what “exploratory committees” are for: to determine the depth of the money pool and its suppliers.

Big Pharma and other K Street lobbyists buy, sell and trade politicians the way we bought, sold and traded baseball cards in our childhood. It’s part of politics, and that’s a capital flow that needs to be interrupted.

Capital Flow #3

Big Pharma is one of the biggest advertisers on radio, television, newspaper and the Internet. Even if you don’t watch commercial television, try visiting YouTube and avoiding the commercials for Ambien, Cialis, Prilosec and other drugs. It is a major source of revenue.

If you talk to newsroom workers, they’ll tell you with a straight face that they would never under any circumstances permit advertising revenue to interfere with their sacred obligation of bringing the news objectively to the people. Of course we all know better. If a major advertising group is displeased with news coverage of which it is a sponsor, “the suits” will come down from the executive offices and visit the newsroom. These are people in $3000 suits, handmade shirts, $300 silk ties, and their purpose is to administer an attitude adjustment to broadcast journalists.

If you want to know why the mainstream media has put a lock on this story, refused to show grisly photographs and spun the conflict in favor of Planned Parenthood, “which is doing great work for women’s health,” just follow the money.

To stop all this, you need to attack all three capital flows, not just one.

[Fledermaus]

Biased article...PP is NOT a “woman’s health organization”. There are tens of thousands of “women’s health organizations” (called doctors) and they don’t get direct government subsidies.