WP, pg1: Grants Flow To Bush Allies On Social Issues

[DeepModem Mom]

Grants Flow To Bush Allies On Social Issues
Federal Programs Direct At Least $157 Million
By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 22, 2006; Page A01

For years, conservatives have complained about what they saw as the liberal tilt of federal grant money. Taxpayer funds went to abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood to promote birth control, and groups closely aligned with the AFL-CIO got Labor Department grants to run worker-training programs.

In the Bush administration, conservatives are discovering that turnabout is fair play: Millions of dollars in taxpayer funds have flowed to groups that support President Bush's agenda on abortion and other social issues.

Under the auspices of its religion-based initiatives and other federal programs, the administration has funneled at least $157 million in grants to organizations run by political and ideological allies, according to federal grant documents and interviews.

An example is Heritage Community Services in Charleston, S.C. A decade ago, Heritage was a tiny organization with deeply conservative social philosophy but not much muscle to promote it. An offshoot of an antiabortion pregnancy crisis center, Heritage promoted abstinence education at the county fair, local schools and the local Navy base. The budget was $51,288.

By 2004, Heritage Community Services had become a major player in the booming business of abstinence education. Its budget passed $3 million -- much of it in federal grants distributed by Bush's Department of Health and Human Services....Among other new beneficiaries of federal funding during the Bush years are groups run by Christian conservatives, including those in the African American and Hispanic communities. Many of the leaders have been active Republicans and influential supporters of Bush's presidential campaigns....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101723.html

[NVMojo]

1. I am not a religious fundie, why are my tax dollars being used to

promote religious fundie causes?

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Gotta keep asking our representatives that question.... n/t

[radfringe]

3. because the country is being "run" by a religious fundie

welcome to the "TaliBush"

[The Wielding Truth]

4. Heritage Foundation got it's foot in the door.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said the grant-making is "corrupting."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101723.html
"The danger is that any group that gets money from the government will end up serving the interests of the state rather than the constituencies they are trying to serve," he said. "The guy who writes the check writes the rules."

[rodeodance]

5. and that is true given that the leaders of these groups are supporters of

BushCo.

..... Many of the leaders have been active Republicans and influential supporters of Bush's presidential campaigns....

[rodeodance]

6. Black and Hispanic conservative groups have benefitted

.....Among other new beneficiaries of federal funding during the Bush years are groups run by Christian conservatives, including those in the African American and Hispanic communities. Many of the leaders have been active Republicans and influential supporters of Bush's presidential campaigns.

Programs such as the Compassion Capital Fund, under the Health and Human Services, are designed to support religion-based social services, a goal that inevitably funnels money to organizations run by people who share Bush's conservative cultural agenda.

"If what you are asking is, has George Bush as president of the United States established priorities in spending for his administration? The answer is yes," said Wade F. Horn, who as assistant secretary for children and families at HHS oversees much of the spending going to conservative groups. "That is a prerogative that presidents have."

Horn and other officials said politics has not played a role in making grants. "Whoever got these grants wrote the best applications, and the panels in rating these grants rated them objectively, based on the criteria we published in the Federal Register," he said. "Whether they support the president or not is not a test in any of my grant programs."

[rodeodance]

7. Compassion Capital Fund---is the name of this group.

[rodeodance]

8. umm... "booming business of abstinence education."

By 2004, Heritage Community Services had become a major player in the booming business of abstinence education. Its budget passed $3 million -- much of it in federal grants distributed by Bush's Department of Health and Human Services....Among other new beneficiaries of federal funding during the Bush years are groups run by Christian conservatives, including those in the African American and Hispanic communities. Many of the leaders have been active Republicans and influential supporters of Bush's presidential campaigns....

[rodeodance]

9. you need to see this pic on the website--reminds me of McCain Hug of Bush.

President Bush with Sedgwick Daniels, a convention delegate whose church got $1.4 million from the government. (By Morry Gash -- Associated Press)

[Nomen Tuum]

10. Gee, I wonder how much went to bribe$ for the Washington Post?

:puffpiece:

Nobody puffs Bush like the Whoreshington Post!

[Rose Siding]

11. Equating worker-training with failed abstinence programs is pretty low

fair and balanced :eyes: