Religious Charities Get More Federal Money

[Judi Lynn]

Religious Charities Get More Federal Money
More Federal Money Going to Religious Charities, White House Says

By JENNIFER LOVEN

WASHINGTON Mar 9, 2006 (AP)— The Bush administration says it is making steady progress in steering more federal taxpayer dollars to religious charities.

In the budget year that ended Sept. 30, religious charities received $2.15 billion in federal grants to administer a range of social service programs for the needy. That represented 10.9 percent of the total grants from the seven federal agencies such charities were eligible to apply to in fiscal 2005, according to a White House report obtained by The Associated Press.

The Housing and Urban Development Department awarded the highest percentage of its competitive, discretionary funding to religious charities 24 percent while the Health and Human Services Department had the lowest at 7.4 percent.

The 2005 amount is 7 percent higher than the year before, when $2 billion or 10.3 percent of the total was awarded to religious charities, the report said.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1703640&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[movonne]

1. I guess this is so they can buy more radio stations...this is a disgrace

this money is needed for so many other projects...I bet most of it goes to these mega churches...

[C_U_L8R]

2. Your tax dollars at work

to build more looney right wing CULTS

[napi21]

3. So, what are these charities DOING with this $$?

I guess I don't have a problem with the Feds reimburseing any group for feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, or providing shelter, but I haven't heard anything about what they are really doing.

[MadMaddie]

5. The * cabal is not monitoring the money or these churches...

no auditing...just giving away tax payer money.

Is there a way for states to stop the spending of our tax dollars on crap like this?

[napi21]

8. States? Probably not, but the IRS should be!

THAT would be the place to catch any misuse, I would think. Even charities have to file tax returns, and it's the IRS that is threatening to yank the tax exempt status on some of the churches for political involvement.

I have no way of knowing if the IRS is actually doing it's job though.

[MadMaddie]

9. The IRS is another organization that the Repugs are using for

their own purposes...

Going after liberal churches that make political statements..

In Texas going after non-profit political organizations...

When this is all said and done....all Government organizations will have to be scrubbed and returned to their original but better state

Just another abuse of power....

[noonwitch]

13. I agree that if they are providing services, they should get reimbursed

Yet, then again, charity is supposed to be from the heart, not given with a promise of reimbursment.

I don't have a problem with the government using religious-based charities, as long as they have good contracts with those agencies. I work as a foster care worker-every contract we have for a child's care by any private agency specifies, for example, that the agency is not to interfere with a teen's use of birth control. Yet some of those very same agencies provide good foster parents and loving homes, and our state agency alone would not be able to meet the needs of the community.

I do have a bias in favor of established charities, such as Catholic Social Services, the Salvation Army, Church World Service and various denominational outreaches (the UCC's One Great Hour Of Sharing comes to mind). I am less trusting of new and independent mega-churches and their track record, or lack thereof. I'm not saying they shouldn't participate, I'm just saying that the feds should watch them a little more closely than an established charity, to make sure the money is going where it's supposed to go and not into building a new wing on to the church (unless that new wing is a homeless shelter-even then, the funding for the building part should be a loan, as a church can change their minds once they realize homeless people are sometimes dirty and steal because they are hungry and have nothing).

[Az_lefty]

4. I want an audit of this program...

we need to know where the money is really going. I suspect that many a RW politician has wound up with "faith based money" in his pocket.

[JudyM]

14. An audit is so sorely needed!

You know that much of our $ is being spent on supporting rethug principles from the pulpit, if not outright going to rethug candidates' slush funds.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. I just can't see this as being a good thing. It seems like there

would be too much temptation for the government to reward those churches that are most sympathetic to them, not to mention for the church to preach government doctrine in order to get more grants. The separation between church and state is there for the protection of both.

BTW, I don't mean this to be criticism of any church or religious organization that provides humanitarian services.

[sui generis]

7. "for the needy" with no audit trail

discretionary funding for discretionary spending.

It makes me sick.

Religious organizations should not be tax exempt and should not be receiving federal tax dollars, or rather, just like we can opt in a couple of bucks for elections, we should be able to opt in a couple of bucks for faith based stuff and that pool should be what is used for faith based orgs.

[progressivebydesign]

10. Thought this would be about the Homeland Security's new dept.

That was linked here yesterday. More money to create a dept. within Homeland Security to 'identify and remove barriers' that "faith based organizations" encounter while doing business with Homeland Security, or some other bullshit. I'm not sure HOW the mega churches would qualify to provide services for the Homeland Sec. Dept., exactly, but the TAXPAYERs are going to pay anyway.

[EC]

11. I know many Republican's that are mad as hell

about all these faith based initiatives...They know these TV evangelists are shysters, don't send them any money and are mad that ** is giving their tax money to them...I rub it in every chance I get....

[cantstandbush]

12. If you can't trust religious leaders with your children, you know damn

well you can't trust them with your money.

[OKthatsIT]

15. Republican Party should be BANNED from existence

IN YOUR FACE... ITs DISGUSTING!

[kestrel91316]

16. Can somebody explain to me again just why my tax money is

being siphoned directly from my pockets into the coffers of churches, some of whom certainly are working behind the scenes to deprive me of my civil rights and perhaps hy life????

[Judi Lynn]

17. Kick!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[sutz12]

18. Hallichristian..... nt