Posted: 12/27/2002 6:39:26 AM EDT
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The first time that I heard Frist, I thought that he was a TV preacher. Now I know why he got the job. * Special Report: Lott Hanging, Faith-Based Pork And Looking For Votes THE USES OF FAITH -- 2 MILLION VOTES AND COUNTING Why The White House Refused To Save Trent Lott, And How The Faith-Based Initiative Is Being Used To Re-Elect Bush In 2004 There is growing evidence linking President Bush's faith-based initiative to a White House scheme to gain 2 million additional minority votes in the 2004 election, and even the decision to not support Sen. Trent Lott in his unsuccessful bid to remain on as Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate. At the center of this drama is political strategist Karl Rove, the man who engineered Mr. Bush's razor-thin win for the presidency in 2000. Under his guidance, the White House has consolidated what the New York Times describes as "a stunning degree of authority." The decision to not support Mr. Lott's efforts to hold on to the coveted leadership post in the Senate "has only enhanced what veteran political strategists say is the political potency of the White House." The result is a sort of Imperial Presidency. Mr. Bush will exercise unusual influence on Capitol Hill on issues such as federal court appointments, vouchers, efforts to fund faith-based social services and other critical issues related to the separation of church and state. When they return to Washington next month, Republicans will control both ends of Capitol Hill, and enjoy the prospect of even greater legislative successes thanks to possible support from "Blue Dog" and other conservative Democrats. The result is a potential tectonic shift in the balance between government and organized religion. As the Christian Science Monitor newspaper recently noted, "The proverbial wall between church and state now already shaky has a whole lot more shakin' going on." In Quest Of 2 Million Votes And Pulpit Pork Despite record high approval ratings in public opinion polls, White House strategists like Rove see Mr. Bush as vulnerable in the 2004 elections. Changing demographics, Rove recently wrote in a confidential briefing paper for the president and top GOP officials, require that Bush retains his present base of support and manages to attract a minimum of 2 million votes from African Americans, Latinos and other minorities. It is a daunting task and, argue some pundits, one of the roles of the federal faith-based initiative. It may also explain why the Bush power team refused to throw a life-line to Mr. Lott in the hours leading up his resignation. Lott had attended a December 5 birthday celebration for fellow Senator Strom Thurmond, and waxed wistfully of Thurmond's segregationist campaign for president in 1948. The remarks ignited a firestorm of controversy around Lott and his views about racial equality. Making things worse was the Majority Leader's bumbling meltdown during an interview on Black Entertainment Television. Overnight, it seemed, Trent Lott -- once a stalwart Bush asset and hero even to religious conservatives, had become a political liability for a White House intent on courting black voters, and had to go. "Several Republican officials argued that what their party accomplishes in Congress next year will be critical to offsetting lingering damage from the Lott fracas," notes Adam Nagourney in a piece appearing in today's New York Times ("Shift of power to White House Reshapes Political Landscape"). Now, efforts will be re-doubled "to push domestic and other initiatives that were specifically designed to enhance its standing with black voters -- and, more significantly, moderate white voters who are central to Mr. Bush's re-election and who, White House officials say, might be chased away by the perception that their party was hostile to civil rights." This is where the federal faith-based initiative becomes crucial. At stake are billions of dollars in federal grants and other aid programs which churches -- especially thousands of mostly-black, inner-city religious groups -- can use to operate social services outreaches. So far, Congress has yet to approve any legislation funding the program, but Mr. Bush has relied on three Executive Orders (a tactic roundly criticized by Republicans during the Bill Clinton administration) to funnel public money to eager houses of worship. * "Some Republicans are leading church groups to think they can win a chunk of federal money under the Bush 'faith-based' initiative if their flock of believers votes for GOP candidates...." noted a story in the September 18, 2002 edition of the Christian Science Monitor. Adding to this is the barnstorming tour of White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Director Jim Towey who, says the Monitor, "has made appearance in hotly contested states before largely African-American audiences." In South Carolina, for instance, the state GOP organization pumped out letters on party stationery to 1,600 black ministers inviting them to workshops on how religious groups could apply for federal grants in order to operate social programs. * The earliest public pronouncement from Mr. Bush about Lott's gaffe was reserved for a special OFBCI conference held in mid-December in Philadelphia. The president used the occasion to sign yet another Executive Order authorizing more federal agencies to open up their budgets to houses of worship seeking entry into the burgeoning field of contract social services. Mr. Bush also used speaking time at the conference to show his solidarity with the mostly-black audience, and described Sen. Lott's comments to be "offensive and wrong." Ironically, the new Executive Order permits religious groups which accept government funding to discriminate on the basis of religion. OFBCI Director Jim Towey agreed, and during an interview on National Public Radio said that houses of worship that refuse to hire certain people such as nonbelievers or gays should not be barred from using taxpayer money to operate social services. * "African-Americans, who largely vote Democratic, broadly support public funding for faith-based social programs," noted the Monitor. "With this new type of federal funding, the GOP may have seen a chance to more black votes by imitating a Democratic practice..." DiIulio Speaks Out Also playing into the mix of events involving Lott and the faith-based funding scheme are remarks made by former OFBCI Director John DiIulio, who led the White House department until August, 2001. In an interview published in last month's Esquire Magazine, DiIulio spoke candidly about his days as a key player in the Bush administration and said that concerns over politics and re-election drive public policy. One passage focused on the heavy presence of Christian evangelical leaders in the White House, with DiIulio telling Karl Rove, "I'm not taking any (expletive) off of Jerry Falwell." In another section, he wrote that what White House domestic policy adviser Margaret LaMontagne "knows about domestic policy could fit in a thimble. "There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on this one," added DiIulio, namely, complete lack of policy apparatus. "What you've got is everything, and I mean everything, being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis." As for election-meister Karl Rove, DiIulio described him as "enormously powerful, maybe the single most powerful person in the modern, post-Hoover era ever to occupy a political adviser post near the Oval Office." |
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Promoting Faith-Based Pork, Trading Money For Votes Looking at how federal dollars are now being directed through the faith-based initiative to so many inner city houses of worship, along with the growing support of clergy for the multi-billion dollar program, it is difficult not to see the faith-based initiative as -- at least in part -- an effort to win minority votes. Blacks, of course, are not the only segment of the religious community being targeted. The Bush administration continues to work in breaking down the residual skepticism of white Protestant evangelicals who turned out in record numbers for the president and his party during the last round of elections, but fear that with government funding, the independence of churches operating social service programs could be compromised. Bush's latest Executive Order expanding the faith-based initiative, though, seems to alleviate some of those concerns. Religious groups will be able to dip into the public larder, and still maintain their "religious identity" in practices such as hiring employees. A recent statement from the Department of Health and Human Services, for instance, announced new regulations inviting religious groups to apply for federal funding. "Our goal is to help more faith-and-community-based organizations learn how they can partner in our programs," gushed HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. "The rules we are proposing provide a clear structure, so that religious organizations that want to use HHS founding for delivering social services can move ahead with confidence." The new regulations state: "Religious organizations that receive federal funds may continue to carry out their missions consistent with their beliefs. For example, they may maintain a religious environment and religious symbols in their facilities where HHS-supported services are delivered." But, as the Monitor and critics of the faith-based initiative are warning, whether it is companies like Enron buying political access or candidates courting voters with spending, the "pork mentality" has become so dangerous and pervasive that it now threatens the separation of church and state itself. For further information: http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/faithlob (Background of articles, archive on the faith-based initiative) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/faith48.htm ("Bush expands faith-based initiative funding as clergy, supporters applaud 'level playing field,' " 12-20-02) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/faith47.htm (" |