<p>Bristol Palin earned $262,000 in 2009 at 18 years of age.</p>
<p>Good for her. She’s not sitting home blaming society for her pregnancy, collecting food stamps and welfare, neglecting her child, living in a drug filled apartment, or pregnant with a second baby. She’s moving forward with her life and just as we hope for a happy and productive life for our kids, we should wish her (and her child) a wonderful future.</p>
<p>Snookie: Heck, if someone is willing to pay you that kind of money to give a speech, why not take it? She’s not the fool.</p>
<p>Actually, having opinions about how non-profits spend their money has precedent on this forum, very recently. Several weeks ago, after the Japan earthquake, someone provided a link to the Red Cross as a place to donate money. I, as well as several other posters, chimed in and suggested other organizations due to Red Cross’ history and stewardship of money. In fact, I provided a link (that others confirmed) to a website called Charity Navigator that grades non-profits on their stewardship of donations they receive, as well as other criteria. </p>
<p>Also, GovAffairs, it might behoove you, as a new member of CC, to go back and read some posts the long-timers on CC before you judge them as disingenuous. If you took the time to know who some of these people were, through years and hundreds, if not thousands of posts, you’d know disingenuous is not a word that would accurately describe them.</p>
<p>People are buying what Bristol is selling. She made over $250,000 because enough people were willing or curious enough to go and see her. I doubt this will last too much longer.</p>
<p>“Also, GovAffairs, it might behoove you, as a new member of CC, to go back and read some posts the long-timers on CC before you judge them as disingenuous. If you took the time to know who some of these people were, through years and hundreds, if not thousands of posts, you’d know disingenuous is not a word that would accurately describe them.”</p>
<p>Teriwtt,</p>
<p>Eh, I don’t have time to read through a few thousand posts.</p>
<p>For now I’m fine with the logic of, if it weighs more than a duck, than it’s a witch.</p>
That is a point. There is a very long and, dare I say graphic, history of posting on the politics side regarding Bristol Palin which would give anyone reading it all the history on this topic they will ever need and the ability to judge based on evidence.</p>
It seems Bristol paid almost $200K in cash just before the end of last year to buy a 5 BR house outside Phoenix, AZ. Surely there is some logic to that. Much warmer than Wasilla.</p>
<p>I want everyone to know how much I appreciate the concern over fiscal matters on this forum.</p>
<p>The fact that this many members are interested in the budget of a non-profit, one which was probably unknown to most of us before this article was posted gives me great joy.</p>
<p>If there is this much concern over the budget of this rather insignificant non-profit, than I can only imagine how distressed you all are over our national deficit, which is currently in the trillions of dollars, right?</p>
<p>I mean, obviously this budget hawk mentallity would naturally spill over into these greater issues - at least I would think, that is…unless people are being disingenuous.</p>
<p>If a small non-profit mishandling a couple hundred thousand dollars by paying Bristol Palin for a public appearance causes this much debate, I can only imagine the pure rage that would come from trillion dollar deficits, under-funded state governments and bankrupt municipalities.</p>
<p>That is, unless people don’t really care about budgets and are just using that as a rouse to make Bristol Palin look bad because of their own personal dislike for her?</p>
<p>In this article [ThinkProgress</a> » Blog Archive » Bristol Palin’s Nonprofit Paid Her Seven Times What It Spent On Actual Teen Pregnancy Prevention](<a href=“http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/05/bristol-palin-profiteer-teen-pregnancy/]ThinkProgress”>http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/05/bristol-palin-profiteer-teen-pregnancy/) a snipit of the tax form from this non-profit is provided, showing that compensation for only 2 of the top 5 independent contractors were alone paid almost half a million dollars. That is not chump change, this is not a small non-profit, and the Candies Corporation is not a a small, little-known company. Repeatedly trying to put words in posters mouths does not make it so.</p>
<p>GovAffairs: To quote you earlier: I guess I never understood the double standard that applies to Bristol. She was a teenager who got pregnant - yet she is villified for it, and others (less fortunate) are treated with nothing but sympathy.</p>
<p>Well, except that this runs both ways. Plenty of people of a certain point of view have pointed the finger at <em>other</em> unwed mothers (calling them welfare cheats, etc.) only to praise Bristol Palin for her choices.</p>
<p>“Well, except that this runs both ways. Plenty of people of a certain point of view have pointed the finger at <em>other</em> unwed mothers (calling them welfare cheats, etc.) only to praise Bristol Palin for her choices.”</p>
<p>On the face of it, it does sound rather hypocritical. Then again, I applaud the person who takes full responsibility for their choices and mistakes, who will take care of themself and their family, and not ask the taxpayer to fund their lifestyle.</p>
<p>If you compare that to the teenager who purposefully gets pregnant, repetitively, no husband in sight, stays on public assistance forever and raises another generation on public assistance…with the children being neglected, there is no comparison.</p>
<p>Of course there is every case inbetween the two extremes. And plenty of hypocrisy to go around.</p>
<p>Ah, the wages of sin. In the 21st century, the wages are in the six figures! </p>
<p>What a tee shirt idea. A picture of Levi with the slogan–I did half the work and all I got was this lousy old child support order!</p>
<p>I hope that Trig gets some of the money as part of the Act. Does anyone know if Alaska has some law that protects the earnings of child performers? Seem like Trig shoud be compensated.</p>
<p>Good Lord. Still at it on here. Oh well, maybe I can join in without getting a scolding and veiled threat for being too sarcastic.</p>
<p>I have not looked into the details of this egregious nonprofit that so clearly exists only to enrich the undeserving likes of Bristol Palin . . . but perhaps this nonprofit is more about having high-profile celebs speak about the issue then giving grants to a counseling center employing the oh-so-deserving types who work there. I know that those with social work degrees and such are worth a gazillion Bristols, etc. but maybe this nonprofit’s objective is to simply educate impressionable teens that even governor’s kids can get pregnant by mistake, and that abstinence and church going doesn’t mean it won’t happen, either. There seems to be a big assumption that the nonprofit is intended to give grants. Maybe this nonprofit is about getting a message disseminated. If that’s the case, then paying Bristol makes a certain kind of sense.</p>
<p>Also, it seems as if those who really dislike Palin and her clan generally resort to trying to somehow “prove” she’s dumb and those who like her are dumb. The problem with this is that some of us just get turned off by that whole approach. Anyone who tries to make fun of someone by insinuating that they’re stupid or uneducated instantly loses the argument in my book. Liked 30 Rock until Tina did her whole kitchen sink number. Just didn’t find it funny. It seemed really mean-spririted and sort of rural-bashing. Tried to watch it and enjoy it but just couldn’t. Politics aside, I think this is a subtlety that those who dislike Palin need to appreciate.</p>
<p>" There seems to be a big assumption that the nonprofit is intended to give grants. Maybe this nonprofit is about getting a message disseminated. If that’s the case, then paying Bristol makes a certain kind of sense."</p>
<p>Yes, that makes all too much sense. And they would want a big name speaker, that girls might actually listen to. And since nobody here has said they’ve listened to her speech, there’s alot of speculation about whether it is worthwhile or not. But disgusting? I don’t think so. Comparisons to Charlie Sheen (an abusive addict with two porn star girlfriends living with him) because she decided to keep a child? Those with such intense hatred will never understand what you’re talking about.</p>