Outvoted by the Budget

Money from either side of a fight comes with the side attached, and A.A. named that danger early. Bill W. wrote it plainly (A.A. pamphlet P-17, p. 34): "Every now and then we are offered money from so-called “wet” or “dry” sources. Obviously dangerous, this. For we must stay out of that ill-starred controversy." The wets were the liquor side; the drys wanted liquor banned. Ill-starred means doomed. A gift from either would have made A.A. that side's beneficiary, and the drinker on the other side would know whose money kept the lights on. The long form names alcohol reform as a fight the groups stay out of (Big Book, p. 565), and money is the quietest way in. Nobody has to say a word; the budget says it. Today the money comes as a room, coffee and a schedule, provided by a program whose own funding depends on a law, a grant or a contract going its way. The meeting takes no position. It just can't afford for its host to lose. Test it tonight: ask who pays for your room, and what they need to win.