ît!r ^Jortlanï» (Obstruer
Page 6
December 15, 2010
Reversal of Military Gay Ban Blocked
Vote to end
discriminatory
law fall short
(A P) — R epublicans blocked a
last-ditch effort in the Senate to lift
the m ilitary's ban on openly gay
troops last w eek, dealing a m ajor
blow to gay rights groups and m ak
ing it unlikely C ongress could re
peal "don't ask, don't tell" any tim e
soon.
U.S. Je ff M erkley, D -O re., said he
w as d eep ly d isap p o in ted in the
S en ate’s failure to repeal the dis
crim inatory law.
“For the second tim e this year.
S enate R ep u b lica n s have d is re
garded the opinions o f the n atio n ’s
top m ilitary leaders, including D e
fense Secretary R obert G ates and
C hairm an o f the Joint C hiefs M ike
M ullen, and voted to block the re
peal o f ‘D o n ’t A sk, D o n ’t T e ll.’
“ I ’ve said it before and I’ll say it
again, the brave m en and w om en
w ho serve in the A m erican A rm ed
Forces should never have to lie about
their sexual orientation in ord er to
serve their country. ‘D o n ’t Ask,
D on’t T e ll' is a discrim inatory policy
that w eakens o ur m ilitary readiness
by elim inating qualified personnel,”
M erkley said.
The 57-40 vote fell three short o f
the 60 needed to overcom e p ro ce
dural hurdles to lift the 17-year-old
ban. Sen. Susan C ollins o f M aine
Jeff Merkley
was the lone R epublican voting to
a d v an c e the b ill, and Sen. Joe
M anchin o f W est V irginia w as the
only D em ocrat to vote against it.
T he rejection w as a d efeat for
President B arack O bam a, w ho cam
paigned prom ising to overturn the
law and later called it one o f his top
legislative priorities for the year.
But in recen t w eek s the W hite
H ouse has done little to push the
legislation, focusing its influence
instead on tax cuts and a nuclear
arm s treaty w ith Russia.
O bam a w asn't giving up. He said
the ban "w eakens o u r national se
cu rity , dim inishes our m ilitary readi
n e ss an d v io la te s fu n d a m e n ta l
A m erican principles o f fairness, in
teg rity and equality." A nd he said
repeal is supported by the m ilitary
and the A m erican people.
"I urge the S enate to revisit these
im portant issues during the lam e
duck session," he said.
G ay rights advocates w ere fu ri
ous because the Senate vote failed
largely because o f a procedural d is
agreem ent.
"Instead o f doing w hat is right,
the w o rld 's g reatest d e lib e rativ e
body devolved into sham eful school
yard spats that put petty partisan
p o litics above the n eeds o f o u r
w om en and m en in uniform ," said
Joe S o lm o n ese, president o f the
H um an R ights C am p aign, a gay
rights group.
T he 1993 law bans gay troops
from publicly ack n o w ledging their
sexual orientation. A repeal p ro v i
sion w as included in a broader d e
fense policy bill and passed last
spring in the H ouse.
Worst Charities Do Little to Help Needy
Donors should avoid irresponsible non-profits
N ow that the gift-giving season
is upon us. A ttorney G eneral John
K roger is releasing a list o f O regon's
20 W orst C harities, offering tips to
consum ers on donating w isely and
unveiling a landm ark legislative pro
posal to com bat unscrupulous n o n
profits.
"It is im portant that generous
O regonians m ake charitable co n tri
butions to legitim ate organizations,”
K roger said. "Many charities do
great w ork, but som e are little m ore
than scam s that do little to help the
people they claim to support."
In addition to increasing c o n
sum er aw areness. A ttorney G en
eral K roger w ill ask the 2011 L egis
lature to pass a law m aking O regon
the first state in the country to use
the tax code to fight charities that
spend m ost o f the m oney they raise
on telem arketers and adm inistration.
T he proposal w ill elim inate the O r
egon tax deduction for donations to
charities that spend less than 30
percent o f the m oney they raise on
the people they claim to support.
“This proposal will help kick sham
c h a ritie s o u t o f O re g o n ,” said
K roger. “ If the rest o f the country
follow s O re g o n 's lead, w e could
end the ram pant abuse o f non-profit
law s.”
State law requires charities to file
periodic financial reports w ith the
O regon D epartm ent o f Justice d is
closing how m uch m oney the o rg a
nization raised and how the funds
were spent. The D epartm ent's C hari
table A ctivities Section has identi
fied 20 organizations that spent more
than 75 percent o f the donations
they co llected on ad m in istrativ e
costs and professional fundraising.
W hile g uidelines issued by the
B etter B usiness B ureau ( B B B ) su g
gest that charitable organizations
should spend at least 65 p ercent o f
their funds on charitable program s,
every charity on the D ep artm en t o f
Justice's list devoted less than 25
percent o f th eir ex p en d itu res on
charitable program activities.
A t the top o f the list is Shiloh
In te rn a tio n a l M in is trie s , w h ic h
claim s to solicit m oney to provide
m edical n ecessities and m oral su p
port to needy children and to p ro
vide assistan ce to the hom eless.
A ccording to the m ost recent fin an
cial filings, the C alifornia-based non
profit spent an average o f $937,315
per year, 96.37 percent o f w hich
w ent
to
m anagem ent
and
fundraising.
The ICTC
N o. 2 on the list is Law E n fo rce
m ent E d ucation Program , w hich
supposedly raises m oney to ed u
cate teenagers on the effects o f al
cohol. The M ichigan-based n on
profit spent ju s t 6.26 percent o f the
annual average $ 1,893,929 it raised
on charitable purposes.
T he K orean W ar V eterans N a
tional M useum and Library w as one
o f m any groups on the list that says
it raises m oney to help veterans.
T he Illinois-based group spent 96.97
p e rc e n t o f th e a n n u a l a v e ra g e
$2,265,809 it raised on telem arketing
and adm inistration.
K roger can n o t dictate how ch ari
ties spend y o u r m oney, but he is
providing O regonians som e basic
advice to ensure your gifts go to a
w orthy cause.
B efo re d o n a tin g , it is im p o rtan t
to m ak e su re th e o rg a n iz a tio n is
r e g i s t e r e d w ith th e A tto r n e y
G e n e ra l's O ffic e by se a rc h in g the
D e p a rtm e n t's o n lin e d a ta b a se o r
by ca llin g 971 -6 7 3 -1 8 8 0 . Y ou can
a lso v isit w w w .g u id e s ta r.o rg , a
n a tio n a l c le a rin g h o u s e o f in fo r
m a tio n on c h a ritie s an d th e ir p e r
fo rm an ce.
A ttorney G eneral K roger also
cautions O reg o n ian s to w atch out
fo r solicitations that th ank you for
y o u r p rev io u s support and c h ari
ties that send invoices claim ing you
m ade a recent pledge w hen you
didn't. T h ese m ethods are inten
tionally co n fu sin g and dishonest
w ays to gain donations.
C o n su m ers are advised against
giving out th eir personal in fo rm a
tion o v e r the phone. L eg itim ate
charities w ill accept co ntributions
by check, w hich should alw ays be
m ade payable to the organization
not the in dividual co llectin g the
d o n atio n .
Q , 1K c r r j U p ,
I j 503-288-0033
is an infant
mortality prevention, breastfeeding pro
motion and a midwife and doula training
non-profit. We empower mothers and
fathers during their pregnancy with child
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Doula/Birth Companion services,
breastfeeding and after birth support. Because pregnancy and
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