Bush to Hold Summit on Giving to Charities

[Newsjock]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/07/25/national/w151438D51.DTL

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Monday that he will hold a White House summit next spring to encourage corporations and foundations to give more money to churches and religious charities.

Bush announced the summit as he met behind closed doors with 17 leaders of black churches and community groups — a traditionally Democratic demographic that Republicans have been trying to persuade to switch alliances.

Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said his staff checked the policies of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and found that 17 percent of their foundations had written policies banning or restricting donations to religious organizations.

... Representatives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which has not met with Bush since he has taken office, were not invited to the meeting. Asked why they weren't included, Towey pointed out that the group does not support the president's faith-based initiative.

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[liberaliraqvet26]

1. practice what you preach jackass

[noiretextatique]

2. he should set an example by donating his salary to charity

since he hasn't earned it and doesn't need it.

[Enraged_Ape]

3. Darn. And I was holding a summit on adherence to chastity...

the same week!!

:eyes:

[HockeyMom]

4. But of course he means CHRISTIAN charities

I am SO SICK of all this RELIGION.

Dear Mr. Bush, you are turning me into an ATHEIST with all your FAITH BASED THIS, FAITH BASED THAT.

[DanCa]

5. Faith based social security?

Now I heard everything.

[HockeyMom]

7. You don't get the emails?

I don't know how in the world they got my email address but I get everything from Christian Mortgages, Christian Financial Advisors, to Christian DIETS.

HELP. Save me from these loony people.

[DanCa]

9. They screamed at me over the phone once

They asked me to do a phone survey. I said yeah. They said do you believe in god. I said yes. They said are you pro life. I said no. They started readding me the riot act. I started laughing at them and they hung up. LOl it was pretty funny.

[merwin]

6. Isn't there some kind of thing somewhere that says you can't mix

religion and government?

[Vickers]

8. Wait...faith-based and faith-sourced charity? Holy shit, that's

un-American! I thought Baby Jesus only liked federal money! :crazy:

[Dover]

10. Hey *, I know! Give back the money you and your corporate buddies

stole from this country! That would do a lot of people good!

[lumpy]

11. The little dictator wants

a faith-based government.

[Az_lefty]

12. I wish Congress would audit these "Faith Based" grants...

and see where the moneys really going.

[Fridays Child]

13. When you consider that the neocon objective is...

...to replace democracy with corporatism (which is the same thing as fascism), this summit may be a seemingly innocuous, but very dangerous, first step toward bringing religion under the control of the state.

[iconoclastic cat]

14. Ah, yes, be born again into the wonder-working power of self-taxation!

[wovenpaint]

15. What part of separation of church and state doesn't he GET???

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes:
Now we'll have "faith based" corporations?....sure, that's the ticket.
Sometimes all you can do is laugh...
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Roland99]

16. Does anyone realize what this means in the long run?

It means fattening the wallets of those churches favorable to the Christian Reconstructionists/Dominionists. This is an underhanded way to get return campaign donations from the faux Christian groups that preach hatred and bigotry.

[Iowa]

17. Undermining good and decent government services...

It's also about that. Also keep in mind that most who are in need of assistance are disabled in one way or another through no fault of their own. Their needs are often complex and require the attention of someone who knows what the hell they are doing. Believing that this can all be turned over to "the church lady" is both ignorant and naive. As one who performed "charitable" work as a government employee, I can attest to the fact that Churches simply aren't major players in the field, and when they do become involved, it is almost alway in an interfering, "do-gooder" sort of way. They are typically despised and looked down upon by professionals who actually do the work. They lack a professional demeanor and operate in a disorganized, naive, and amatuerish way. There are a couple of notable exceptions in my area (Salvation Army and Catholic Worker) but even they operate only on the fringes in terms of the volume of work involved. The heavy lifting is being done by paid, professional, highly educated and trained county, state, and federal employees, and the private agencies who are hired by their government counterparts. Any client who meets the eligibility criteria is served without regard to race, creed, religion, disability, or anything else. And they can come in with the expectation that they will be treated with dignity, respect, and consideration because it is their tax dollars that pay for the services.

Few really understand what goes on behind the scenes in human services work, but referring to these services as "charity" makes it abundantly clear that Bush (and any churches who participate in his charade) view the people who may need their assistance with complete and utter contempt. Their attitudes are condescending, insulting, and demeaning, and it's good to see that the NAACP gets it. This work should be left to trained, secular, professionals who know what they are doing and who will deliver competent assistance while attempting to preserve the dignity of those who need it. Like everything else Bush touches, this is a disaster.

[UpInArms]

18. no incentive for these entities to "donate" to charity

with the estate tax repeal, there is absolutely no reason for "charity".

These entitites are not charitable - they are profit and greed driven.

[hatrack]

19. I always thought "transparent bullshit" was an oxymoron

How wrong I was! More compassionativity from the Strutting Little Pimp.

Good thing those wonderfully generous corporations won't shift the burden of their generosity by declaring their compassionativity on their tax returns! :eyes: