United Way attacked for donation [donors' $ pay for legal aid to terrorists!]

AP via Star-Ledger ^ | 11/8/01 | SHANNON McCAFFREY

[RooRoobird14]

This is EXACTLY why I no longer contribute to the United Way. I don't trust these PC Clymers.

I know a guy (used to work with him) who's an executive in the Valley of the Sun United Way (here in Phoenix). He is a left-wing PC socialist Chicanos Por La Causa type. I have no doubt there is leftist political bias when it comes to handing out the United Way cash (that is, after they've spent 30% of it or more on admin and "fund-raising" expenses).

These United Way "executives" also live like rock stars--they always have the best seats, sky boxes to every major event you can think of.

[Free the USA]

I like to donate directly to groups I support instead of the United Way. As for you ping list, I will wait and see if I wind up with dozens and dozens of pings from you each morning.

[rwfromkansas]

bump

[MissAmericanPie]

The United Way and the Red Cross are a disgrace. Their CEO's have lived in fat city for years on the generosity of American donors.

Yet this one time, this one important time in our history, when they are asked to give of themselves and just donate their agencies as a clearing house for the donations to the victims, they fail the victims and their donors with an ugly display of greed.

If they just handed over the money, it would come to about what some of the men killed made in one year.

This event in our history has separated the sheep from the goats in a way never seen by us before. These two charities can go pound sand, the United Way strong arms or has some quid pro quo with some big time employers to brow beat money out of the employees every week, this need to be spot lighted and put a stop to.

[mafree]

Thanks for the ping. Legal Aid groups do get funds from various sources for various purposes so their explanation of this situation could be true. But typically a piece of every grant goes toward overhead so indirectly donors may be paying the overhead of lawyers defending detainees.

Still, I don't give to the UA or the Red Cross- too much of that $ goes to pay fat salaries and perks. Nice work if you can get it but I ain't paying for it.

[Landru]

As a family who actively supports charity rganization(s)?
The *recent* move by The Salvation Army at the national level to reverse their western region's decision of last week to grant, "domestic partner" benefits makes this a no brainer for our house.
The Salvation Army shall continue to recieve our support because they've NOT permitted pressure from *certain* groups whose interests and agendas directly conflict with who & what the SA represents, from obscuring their primary mission.

The United Way on the other hand, and specifically UW's management who're responsible for more than a few mighty assinine politically correct policies (+padding their pockets)?
Shall continue to go for want, as far as our charity dollars go.

As I said, it's a no-brainer.
The Salvation Army merits our financial support, while the United Way does not.

[FourPeas]

the American Red Cross said it would poll donors to see how they understood their contributions to the charity's Liberty Fund would be used

Sounds like The Impeached One has gone to work for the ARC: "The money is for the victims of the attack, but that depends what 'is' means. yuk, yuk."

Absolutely disgusting.

FP

[anniegetyourgun]

I don't mean to be critical, CL, but why would you give to the UW under pressure from your boss? Perhaps next year you could respond to him/her that you do plan to give by sending your money directly to the charity of your choice so as to avoid the wasted administrative overhead. You might even let him/her know what % of your UW keeps in administrative costs. (That figure varies by locale, but you can easily find out by calling yours.)

Just a thought....

[Colt .45]

I had already e-mailed this story to FOX NEWS a couple of days ago. They aired it the next day. United Way is an anti-2nd Amendment Organization anway ... that is why they can kiss my ass for anything. I won't donate a dime to them.

[gumbo]

The Salvation Army merits our financial support, while the United Way does not.

I used to like the Salvation Army, but being a strongly pro-life person, I've decided not to donate to them anymore after finding they're effectively "pro-choice."

This was a surprise to me, as the S.A. gives lip service to being pro-life. But here's the evidence, in a letter-to-the-editor of the Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission, and the editor's response:

SALVATION ARMY ON ABORTION

The Salvation Army store in Milwaukee is next to an abortion clinic. During a Freedom Tour type picket of the abortuary, the Salvation Army called the police to remove the anti-abortion picketers. That behavior was not out of context with previous Salvation Army behavior.

After hearing about this, I wrote the national headquarters of the Salvation Army and asked for their position paper on abortion. The Salvation Army's position paper is pro-abortion. Making this known is necessary.

Chet Kilgore,
Dousman, Wisconsin

Editor's note: the text of the Salvation Army's position paper follows.

The Salvation Army believes in the sanctity of all human life. It considers each person to be of infinite value, and each life a gift from God to be cherished, nurtured and preserved.

The Salvation Army supports efforts to protect and promote the welfare of weak and defenseless persons including the unborn. It takes seriously the rights and needs of both the fetus and the mother.

The Salvation Army holds to the Christian ideals of chastity before marriage and fidelity within the marriage relationship and, consistent with these ideals, supports measures to prevent crisis pregnancies. It is opposed to abortion on demand or as a means of birth control.

Termination of a pregnancy may be justified in those rare instances where in the judgment of a competent medical and allied staff the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the life of the mother or could result in irreversible physical injury to the mother; and in those instances of proven rape or legally defined incest or where reliable diagnostic procedures determine that a fetal anomaly is present which is incompatible with postnatal survival for more than a few weeks, or where there is total or virtual absence of cognitive function.

So, the Salvation Army favors "choice" in these instances:
1) life or "health" of the mother;
2) rape/incest;
3) "fetal anomaly."

So regarding abortion, the Salvation Army might as well be the National Organization for Women -- they take the same position.

At this point, I believe we are better off donating our $$$ to local organizations whom we can keep a close eye on. Large national organizations such as the United Way and the Salvation Army are liable to change their agendas while we're not looking.

[Teacup]

I never give to the Untied Way no matter what my bosses uses to tell me. They can not fire you for not giving. I've been dealing with that stuff for 20 years, and I never give to the United way. We hired a social worker who interned at the United Way, and the stories she would tell!

I used to work for the Red Cross. I Quit ASAP! I was so disappointed with the Red Cross, but nothing I have heard they did, surprises me.

[StockAyatollah]

A lot of people were duped. The fund was being called the September 11th Fund ( at least by WDBO radio in Orlando ). It should have been clearly labeled the United Way September 11th Fund. I hope this wakes the sheeple up to them.

[Harrison Bergeron]

FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT RESOLVES WITHHOLDING ISSUES IN ARAMONY CASE

January 2001

Updating a report previously published in this newsletter, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled that United Way of America is entitled to withhold federal and state income taxes from certain pension benefits owed to its former president, William Aramony, under a previous court ruling, since $1,872,143 in pension benefits awarded to Aramony in that ruling constituted remuneration for services he performed as an employee. However, the court also found that Aramony was entitled to a reduction in the amount withheld because his taxable income subject to withholding, as a result of the pension benefit payments, should be reduced by an amount of salary previously paid to Aramony that was required to be repaid by him under the prior court ruling.

Other issues presented to the district court involved withholding of taxes on amounts to be paid to Aramony's attorneys by United Way under the prior court decision and the question of whether United Way's obligations to Aramony should be offset by the amount of a judgment previously obtained against Aramony by the New York Attorney General, which, by its terms, was assignable to United Way as an offset against its liabilities to Aramony. The court found that after income taxes were withheld on pension benefits owed to Aramony, less the amount of Aramony's salary to be repaid by him, United Way should pay Aramony's attorney's fees under the prior court decision without further withholding. Additionally, the court found that the judgment obtained by the Attorney General could not be used by United Way to reduce its liability to Aramony in this case because there was no proof that the Attorney General's judgment had been assigned to United Way.

[Harrison Bergeron]

Oops... my bad... it looks like Aramony's pension win has been reversed on appeal...

June 22, 2001

Washington Post

United Way Wins Appeal On Pension of Ex-President
By Leef Smith

The United Way does not have to pay $2 million in pension benefits to its former president, William Aramony, who is serving a prison sentence for fraud, the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled.

The decision Wednesday reverses a lower court's ruling last year and effectively cuts Aramony's retirement award to just under $7,800.

Aramony, 73, was sent to prison in 1995 for defrauding the Alexandria-based charity and is scheduled to be released Sept. 30. Shortly after his conviction, he sued the United Way for pension benefits and was awarded about $4.4 million. The United Way also filed suit against Aramony, and a judge ruled that Aramony owed the organization $2.02 million to cover the salary and other funds he received while he was stealing contributor money. Continued...

I wonder how much UW spent fighting off this scumbag?

[Landru]

I respect your position as stated.
However, The Salvation Army does the kind of work no one else wants to do; & as far as I'm concerned?
My decision to support SA is based upon their mission of mercy. (Mainly working with the hopelessly mentally ill street people, drunks et al)

Their mission has not been obscured or stand in direct contridiction by a stand they're taking on this horrific procedure which up to now, anyway, is completely legal.
This is not the same as SA's supporting funding for medical bennies to a homosexual employee's, "partner." ~Not IMO, it isn't.
For Heaven's sake there're PLENTY of *practicing* Catholics who're doing a good deal more supporting abortion by their silence, than the SA is via SA's attempts to qualify what they will & will not support.
And mind you, the Catholic's spiritual leader has forbid the practice unequivicolly & you know who the Pontiff supposedly represents to a Catholic, eh?
NOT bashing Catholics a'tall; merely trying to illustrate the depth of the *problem* abortion represents for everyone.

You support who you see fit, & for your reasons; I'll support you toward that end come hell or high water.

Now *if* you granted me even half as much courtesy?
I shall consider myself most blessed.

Thanks nonetheless for an interesting detail concerning SA I sincerely didn't know until just now.
I'll be sure to bring this up with the "Captain" I know personally, next time we speak.

[gumbo]

Of course you're free to make your own judgments regarding your donations.

But I'm sure you'd agree, we should be well-informed about the positions these charities take, before we donate.

For me it is very important that my money NOT go to charities that take a "pro-choice" position. And I am not Catholic, btw.

[Squantos]

Americans must not give money to these scam artist/middlemen IMHO. I give my time, blood and if need be hand deliver my monetary donation to the victim versus these "charity" organizations trying to justify their overhead and administrative cost's.

I remember at a DOE facility there was a group of lawyers called GAP that was trying to "create" whistleblows from people that shouldn't have been trusted with a broom much less a tool and it was discovered that they got one third of their funding from UW.

Americans want to help, should help and trust that their monetary donations for the 9-11 atrocity will go to "the victims and families". Insurance will rebuild and Goobermint will fund the "cleanup" but who will help the child who lost both parents, who will help the spouse make the mortage payments and get back on their feet ? That's what those donations were for, not to give every unemployed psych doc/therapist a check while they alledgedly conduct grief counseling en masse......

Help is an American Tradition and should happen without question. Now these white elephant organizations have lined their nests with our dollars intended for the VICTIMS not the future of the administrators of the charities. They have created doubt as to my dollar being used with validity.

As to me , I deliver cash directly to the victims from now on if I can't go and help in person........

Stay Safe Packrat, sorry for the rant !!

[gumbo]

Thanks for the update on former UW chief William Aramony. I was wondering what happened to him.

He got caught committing legal fraud, but I'm sure there's plenty of outrageous stuff STILL going on with United Way that's scandalous, but unfortunately not illegal.

RooRoobird14 says "they always have the best seats, sky boxes to every major event you can think of," and I have no doubt this is still true.

[packrat01]

Complete agreement from this quarter. Charity begins at our home church, and branches out from there.

[packrat01]

Bingo. What you said.

Bump