Bush seeks to expand his faith-based policy
WASHINGTON – President Bush on Tuesday dismissed criticism that his plan to steer public money to religious charities might discriminate against people who did not share their beliefs, saying those groups should have an “all drunks are welcome” policy.
“It’s been said that faith can move mountains,” Bush told a crowd of religious social workers at a White House-sponsored conference.
Bush said he wants to expand a pilot program in 14 states that gives vouchers to alcoholics and drug addicts so they can go to the social service agency of their choice. Vouchers help avoid church-state problems because government money goes to individuals, not directly to religious groups, supporters of the president’s plan say.
“There’s all kinds of ways to quit drinking, but one of the most effective ways to quit drinking is for a person to make a choice to go to a place that changes your heart,” Bush said. “If you think the corner synagogue will work for you … give it a shot.”
Bush, a Methodist, says that he quit drinking at 40 without any outside help, but he credits his religious reawakening for putting him on the path to sobriety.
Government support for faith-based charities has long been a centerpiece of Bush’s domestic agenda, but he has fallen short of his stated goal of channeling more than $8 billion in direct federal grants and tax breaks to religious charities. Legislation to encourage federal support for faith-based charities failed to win congressional approval, but Bush implemented some of its provisions by executive order.
While some critics of Bush’s approach, including some religious groups, worry about blurring the line between church and state, some of the president’s allies question his commitment to the issue.
“From tax cuts to Medicare, the White House gets what the White House really wants. It never really wanted the ‘poor people stuff,’ ” David Kuo, the former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, wrote in a recent column for belief.net, a religious-oriented Web site.
Kuo, who remains an admirer of the president, said many of Bush’s conservative backers seemed more interested in scoring political points than funding faith-based programs.
“They didn’t care about the money,” he wrote. “The Faith-Based Office was the cross around the White House’s neck showing the president’s own faith orientation. That was sufficient.”
In what could be interpreted as a response to that criticism, Bush gave faith-based activists a progress report and his plan for future action. At Bush’s insistence, 10 federal agencies have established faith-based offices to help religious groups get government grants.
Federal grants to religious charities increased from about $1.2 billion, roughly 8 percent of all federal grants, in fiscal 2003, to $2 billion, about 10 percent of all grants, in fiscal 2004, according to figures compiled by the White House.
“Congress hasn’t funded everything the president has asked for, but it’s not for want of effort by the president,” said Jim Towey, the current head of the faith-based office.