New Election 2008 thread

[tugmoose]

Obama to expand Bush's faith based programs

 

Jul 1, 7:28 AM (ET)

 

By JENNIFER LOVEN

 

CHICAGO (AP) - Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and - in a move sure to cause controversy - support their ability to hire and fire based on faith.

 

Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday at Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio. The arm of Central Presbyterian Church operates a food bank, provides clothes, has a youth ministry and provides other services in its impoverished community.

 

"The challenges we face today, from putting people back to work to improving our schools, from saving our planet to combating HIV/AIDS to ending genocide, are simply too big for government to solve alone," Obama was to say, according to a prepared text of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "We need all hands on deck."

 

But Obama's support for letting religious charities that receive federal funding consider religion in employment decisions was likely to invite a storm of protest from those who view such faith requirements as discrimination.

 

David Kuo, a conservative Christian who was deputy director of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003 and later became a critic of Bush's commitment to the cause, said Obama's position has the potential to be a major "Sister Souljah moment" for his campaign.

 

This is a reference to Bill Clinton's accusation in his 1992 presidential campaign that the hip hop artist incited violence against whites. Because Clinton said this before a black audience, it fed into an image of him as a bold politician who was willing to take risks and refused to pander.

 

"It would be a very, very, very interesting thing," said Kuo, who is not an Obama adviser or supporter but was contacted by the campaign to review the new plan.

 

Kuo called Obama's approach smart, impressive and well thought-out but took a wait-and-see attitude about whether it would deliver.

 

"When it comes to promises to help the poor, promises are easy," said Kuo, who wrote a 2006 book describing his frustration at what he called Bush's lackluster enthusiasm for the program. "The question is commitment."

 

Obama proposes to elevate the program to a "moral center" of his administration, by renaming it the Office of Community and Faith-Based Partnerships, and changing training from occasional huge conferences to empowering larger religious charities to mentor smaller ones in their communities.

 

He also proposes a $500 million per year program to provide summer learning for 1 million poor children to help close achievement gaps with white and wealthier students. A campaign fact sheet said he would pay for it by better managing surplus federal properties, reducing growth in the federal travel budget and streamlining the federal procurement process.

 

Like Bush, Obama was arguing that religious organizations can and should play a bigger role in serving the poor and meeting other social needs. But while Bush argued that the strength of religious charities lies primarily in shared religious identity between workers and recipients, Obama was to tout the benefits of their "bottom-up" approach.

 

"Because they're so close to the people, they're well-placed to offer help," he was to say.

 

Obama does not see a need to push for a law to make this program work as Bush did, said a senior adviser to the campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more freely describe the new policy.

 

Bush never got Congress to go along so he conducted his effort to give religious groups equal footing with nonsectarian groups in competing for federal contracts through administrative actions and executive orders.

 

Obama does not support requiring religious tests for aid recipients nor using federal money to proselytize, the official said.

 

Obama's announcement is part of a series of events leading up to Friday's Fourth of July holiday that are focused on American values.

 

The Democratic presidential candidate spent Monday talking about his vision of patriotism in the battleground state of Missouri. With Tuesday's talk about faith, Obama was attempting to settle debate in two key areas where his beliefs have come under question.

 

He planned to talk bluntly about the genesis of his Christian faith in his work as a community organizer in Chicago, and its importance to him now.

 

"In time, I came to see faith as being both a personal commitment to Christ and a commitment to my community; that while I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn't be fulfilling God's will unless I went out and did the Lord's work," he was to say.

[EL the Famous]

i have to go run some errands, but i can't wait to see the responses when i get back.

[Good Old Neon]

 

At what (tipping) point can I accuse Obama of cynically pandering to and willfully moving towards the right?

[mountain bed]

Well, he IS "the most liberal member of the Senate" (not my words, for sure). I could have sworn that my man Bernie Sanders would take that title.

 

This is where Bill will come into play - he will school the youngster on how to be more centrist.

[sweetheart-mine]

that article gives me the creeps. need to learn more about it. hope i don't have more of the creeps after doing that.

[ikol]

 

At what (tipping) point can I accuse Obama of cynically pandering to and willfully moving towards the right?

 

Yeah, the government should equally not subsidize all charities.

[Good Old Neon]

Well, he IS "the most liberal member of the Senate" (not my words, for sure). I could have sworn that my man Bernie Sanders would take that title.

 

This is where Bill will come into play - he will school the youngster on how to be more centrist.

 

I understand the need to appeal (at least in part) to all voters, but moving towards the right has never really worked in the democrats

[MrRain422]

I think my dream ticket would be Wexler/Greenwald.

[Good Old Neon]

Yeah, the government should equally not subsidize all charities.

 

 

 

[Edie]

So what's wrong with some people with more helping other people with less?

[bjorn_skurj]

So what's wrong with some people with more helping other people with less?

They bring imaginary people living in the sky into it, I s'pose.

[Analogman]

Yes, they will more likely will do that at some point along the way. And what if one does not want to hear that - but could use what they are offering otherwise?

[swirlaround]

Yeah, the government should equally not subsidize all charities.

 

Like GE, Exxon, Texaco, haliburton,...

[bjorn_skurj]

Yes, they will more likely will do that at some point along the way. And what if one does not want to hear that - but could use what they are offering otherwise?

I don't know. I imagine a lot of people had to put up with it when the Salvation Army was big. Is a sermon and some bad singing too much a price to pay for a bowl of soup?

[sweetheart-mine]

I don't know. I imagine a lot of people had to put up with it when the Salvation Army was big. Is a sermon and some bad singing too much a price to pay for a bowl of soup?

the bad singing is.

[Winston Legthigh]

[Analogman]

I don't know. I imagine a lot of people had to put up with it when the Salvation Army was big. Is a sermon and some bad singing too much a price to pay for a bowl of soup?

 

 

If Karla LaVey was doing something like that (maybe she does - I don't know) people would flip. I am probably somewhat wrong on this deal - as I just remembered that there is a place here called Christian Help - and I don't think they put any trips on people. And I suppose I must reach back in the past to my religious upbringing and recall that is part of the deal - testifying and whatnot.

[bjorn_skurj]

If Karla LaVey was doing something like that (maybe she does - I don't know) people would flip. I am probably somewhat wrong on this deal - as I just remembered that there is a place here called Christian Help - and I don't think they put any trips on people. And I suppose I must reach back in the past to my religious upbringing and recall that is part of the deal - testifying and whatnot.

I keep wondering if I am related to Blanche Barton.

[Analogman]

I keep wondering if I am related to Blanche Barton.

 

If we meet up again, I will tell you some stories about people speaking in tongues and maybe some stories from the dark side as well.

[viatroy]

Well, he IS "the most liberal member of the Senate" (not my words, for sure). I could have sworn that my man Bernie Sanders would take that title.

 

This is where Bill will come into play - he will school the youngster on how to be more centrist.

 

 

After listening to an interview with Bernie today, I briefly considered moving to VT just so I'd feel better represented.

[gogo]

Two of the most effective organizations in SF, as far as helping people get off the streets, off drugs, whatever, are the St. Anthony's Foundation and Glide Memorial Church. Both "faith-based", but neither is big on pushing the religious agenda along with the assistance, as far as I know.

 

And of course, the People's Temple was great for a while there, too...

[ikol]

[Good Old Neon]

Are you familiar with affirmative action?

 

Yes

[ikol]

Yes

[uncool2pillow]

I have constitutional, though not moral or ethical, issues with faith-based charities getting gov't $$. I don't think that Obama is pandering so much as he has witnessed, probably through Rev. Wright's church, how effective people of faith are at helping ALL people. Yes, there a faith-based charities that discriminate, but there are many that are open to people of all beliefs, they just want to help because that's what their belief tells them to do. Golden rule, love thy neighbor, etc., etc.

 

If the SC says there are constitutional ways to fund faith-based charities that help all comers, more power to them!