Obama Backs Expanded Faith-Based Funding

Democrat Unveils Proposal To Help Religious Charities, Expand Bush's Initiative

(CBS/AP)  Reaching out to religious voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called for expanding President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups.

Obama unveiled his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday at Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services.

"The challenges we face today ... are simply too big for government to solve alone," Obama 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 candidate spent Monday talking about his vision of patriotism in the battleground state of Missouri. By twinning that with Tuesday's talk about faith in another battleground state, he was attempting to settle debate in two key areas where his beliefs have come under question while also trying to make inroads with constituencies that are traditionally loyal to Republicans and oppose Obama on other grounds.

Obama does not support requiring religious tests for recipients of aid nor using federal money to proselytize, according to a campaign fact sheet. He also only supports letting religious institutions hire and fire based on faith in the non-taxpayer funded portions of their activities, said a senior adviser to the campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more freely describe the new policy.

"Senator Obama's position is very clear - a faith based group that receives a dime from federal taxpayer dollars cannot do that," Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro told CBSNews.com.

Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, criticized Obama's proposed expansion of a program he said has undermined civil rights and civil liberties.

"I am disappointed that any presidential candidate would want to continue a failed policy of the Bush administration," he said. "It ought to be shut down, not continued."

John DiIulio, who in 2001 was director of Mr. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said Obama's plan "reminds me of much that was best in both then Vice President Al Gore's and then Texas Governor George W. Bush's respective first speeches on the subject in 1999," according to a statement from the Obama campaign.

Mr. Bush supports broader freedoms for taxpayer-funded religious charities. But he never got Congress to go along so he has conducted the program through administrative actions and executive orders.

David Kuo, a conservative Christian who was deputy director of Mr. Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003 and later became a critic of Mr. Bush's commitment to the cause, said Obama's position on hiring 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.

"This is a massive deal," said Kuo, who is not an Obama adviser or supporter but was contacted by the campaign to review the new plan.

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

Saying social service spending has been shortchanged under Mr. Bush, 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 Mr. 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 Mr. 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 said.

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 Mr. Bush's lackluster enthusiasm for the program. "The question is commitment."

Obama also talked 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 said.

[nssherlock1]

Rev. Wright must be licking his chops!

[erichsh]

Boy, you way-out-there atheist liberals will be beside yourselves on this one. But take a deep breath - your empty suit is just pandering to those ignorant, bible-thumping rednecks (I''m being polite relative to the terms you use) just to get elected.

[faith_in_w]

Everyone knows God does not allow non-whites into heaven.

[rushlimpdrug]

Ok, it''s official.

This man has been pandering to the lowest common
denominator all his life.

The pandering continues.

How will this create jobs?

When did this become and issue?

obama = reeetard.

[msay3]

What ever happened to "separation of church and state"?

[barocalto]

But Muslims do not see practice as key. For them, that Obama was born to a line of Muslim males makes him born a Muslim. Further, all children born with an Arabic name based on the H-S-N trilateral root can be assumed to be Muslim, so they will understand Obama''s full name, Barack Hussein Obama, to proclaim him a born Muslim.

Obama''s father was a Muslim. Obama''s grandfather was a Muslim. Obama''s stepfather was a Muslim. Sarah, who Obama calls grandmother is a Muslim. Obama''s stepbrothers and stepsisters are Muslims.

Obama''s sister Maya was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "My whole family was Muslim."

For a time, he was educated and lived as a Muslim. Only Obama knows what he is today.

[colli-360]

I know some churches who use this to get members. Because you have to be a member to get any help at all. They give food away to members of the church. If they need it or not. One lady I know has enoung can goods to open a store.

[alexma50085]

No federal dollars should ever go to church based orgainization. When the church starts paying taxes to the government, then they can receive government funds, until then, they are on their own.

[barocalto]

"We''ve got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money."

Barack Hussein Obama

[confused25]

Search the web: Obama and Odingo

See if you still love this phoney

[barocalto]

Obama was the only member of the Illinois State Senate to vote against a bill that prohibited early release for sexual predators.

Obama voted to make a criminal out of a homeowner who was forced to use a gun in his own defense in his own home.

Obama refused to vote for a bill in the Illinois State Senate that would have increased penalties for drug traffickers.

Obama voted against making it a criminal offense for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang.

Obama voted against a bill that would have delivered the death penalty to gang members who murder first responders.

Obama%u2019s record on anti-gang legislation is simple; because gang members are more often people of color, they shouldn%u2019t be singled out for increased attention or special penalties by the law.

[singingrick]

I like Obama but this is pandering. Taxpayer money should not be going to support religious institutions of any kind. The deficit is 9.5 TRILLION DOLLARS and rising daily. Let these religious groups enjoy there tax exempt status and keep their hands out of our pockets.

[barocalto]

"We''ve got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money."

Barack Hussein Obama

[cbs4me3]

As a Hillary Democrat, I absolutely love the ticket of John McCain and Mitt Romney. I strongly urge John to ask Mitt to be his running mate. Hillary Democrats will support this ticket enthusiastically in November.

[barocalto]

Barack Obama was born of Communist activists, mentored by a communist writer and activist, spent his college days hanging around radical activists, worked as a radical community organizer learning the radical tactics of Alinsky, kept contact with radicals through the years, attends a radical church, and today lends his political skill to the international goals of radical activists, and has radicals working on for his campaign.

[frootloop47]

Quote from story: "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. "

OBAMA get that experience for working as an organizer in the inner city. He KNOWS everyday people.

Vote OBAMA ''08!!

[mudrose-2009]

Yes, I''ll be the First President to ensure that sharia law becomes the law of the land. After all, we want to include all religions, not just christains. We want homos to be married, we want polygomists to come out of the closet and we want muslims and their many wives to feel comfortable in the gold ole US of A. I''m a man of faith. When it''s useful, of course.

[barocalto]

Obama included a description of black student life at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

"There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs," he wrote. "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

He added: "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists."

You are know by your friends and associates -- and Obama''s are the hard-core leftists.

[frootloop47]

Obama was the only member of the Illinois State Senate to vote against a bill that prohibited early release for sexual predators.

Obama voted to make a criminal out of a homeowner who was forced to use a gun in his own defense in his own home.

Obama refused to vote for a bill in the Illinois State Senate that would have increased penalties for drug traffickers.

Obama voted against making it a criminal offense for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang.

Obama voted against a bill that would have delivered the death penalty to gang members who murder first responders.

Obama%u2019s record on anti-gang legislation is simple; because gang members are more often people of color, they shouldn%u2019t be singled out for increased attention or special penalties by the law.

Posted by Barocalto --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barocalto, do you have the bill numbers. I like to check you out on this.

[singingrick]

cbs4me3


What does Clinton''s campaign platform have in common with McCain''s?

Are there any issues that they agree on?

If so what are they?

[singingrick]

Barocalto


If you have to lie to make a point, does that mean you don''t have a point to make?

[barocalto]

about Obama:

"He was a natural, the undisputed master of agitation, who could engage a room full of recruiting targets in a rapid-fire Socratic dialogue, nudging them to admit that they were not living up to their own standards. As with the panhandler, he could be aggressive and confrontational. With probing, sometimes personal questions, he would pinpoint the source of pain in their lives, tearing down their egos just enough before dangling a carrot of hope that they could make things better."

The agitator''s job, according to Alinsky, is first to bring folks to the "realization" that they are indeed miserable, that their misery is the fault of unresponsive governments or greedy corporations, then help them to bond together to demand what they deserve, and to make such an almighty stink that the dastardly governments and corporations will see imminent "self-interest" in granting whatever it is that will cause the harassment to cease.

[lloydbest1]

"Faith Based" is the 500 pound gorilla here. Obama is certainly correct that the issues facing our country are too big and unwieldy to be solved by government alone - especially since most of them were caused or abetted by the "guvmint''s" past 8 years of misrule.
But ANY faith based initiative, no matter how well intended, is subject to abuse:
The possibility of faith based organizations with holding aid to deserving people because they have no faith or the wrong faith.
The ability of faith based organizations to hire and fire based on principles of faith.
The likelihood of faith based organizations to divert money earmarked for aid to fund proselytizing efforts, personal bank accounts or anything else outside chartered purposes.
In addition there is no mention of an oversight process. The most important consideration in setting up any faith based social welfare program is insuring a robust oversight program is in place and functioning.
Are secular organizations subject to the same pitfalls? Of course they are. But faith is a very personal matter and one''s faith is often inseparable from one''s self identity. To meddle with that is to invite chaos.
I''m not saying "Don''t do it" but suggest we proceed very carefully to minimize the possibility of basing the allocation of this resource on religious preferences.

[omega39-2009]

I like Obama but this is pandering. Taxpayer money should not be going to support religious institutions of any kind. The deficit is 9.5 TRILLION DOLLARS and rising daily. Let these religious groups enjoy there tax exempt status and keep their hands out of our pockets.

Posted by singingrick a

I agree, If I wanted to "tithe" I would go to church and do it. There are plenty of better uses for our tax dollars.

[barocalto]

Cutting Taxes For The Middle Class:

John McCain Will Cut Taxes For Middle Class Families. John McCain will permanently repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) %u2013 a tax that will be paid nearly exclusively by 25 million middle class families. Repealing this onerous tax will save middle class families nearly $60 billion in a single year. Under McCain''s plan, a middle class family with children set to pay the AMT will save an average of over $2,700 %u2013 a real tax cut for working families.

John McCain Will Double The Personal Exemption For Dependents. John McCain believes the tax code should be less of a burden on those, whether they are mothers and fathers or single parents, who are trying to raise a family. He proposes to raise the personal exemption for each dependent from $3,500 to $7,000.

[alexma50085]

No federal dollars should ever go to church based orgainization. When the church starts paying taxes to the government, then they can receive government funds, until then, they are on their own.

[barocalto]

Michelle''s father was a volunteer organizer for the city''s Democratic Party, a by-word for machine politics in America, and his loyalty was rewarded with a well-paid engineering job at Chicago''s water plant. Even before overtime, he earned $42,686 -- 25 per cent more than High School teachers at the time.

[frootloop47]

Barocalto,
The more I read your posts, the more sure that you are full of ***.

I quote for "Memories from My Father" is almost accurate. However, Barack stayed away for radicals.

[barocalto]

Michelle, addressing a congregation at South Carolina''s Pee Dee Union Baptist Church, begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is not good: we%u2019re a divided country, we%u2019re a country that is "just downright mean," we are "guided by fear," we%u2019re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. "We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day," she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. "Folks are just jammed up, and it%u2019s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I%u2019m young. Forty-four!"



More good news from this depressing woman.

[frootloop47]

McCain dumped his badly disfigured wife for a beer heires. Great family values guy

Posted by psy_war at 09:58 AM : Jul 01, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

psy_war,
glad you brought that up.
Shows what kind of character McCain REALLY has.

[barocalto]

n his first memoir, "Dreams," Obama included a description of black student life at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

"There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs," he wrote. "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

He added: "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists."

Obama said he and other blacks were careful not to second-guess their own racial identity in front of whites.

"To admit our doubt and confusion to whites, to open up our psyches to general examination by those who had caused so much of the damage in the first place, seemed ludicrous, itself an expression of self-hatred," he wrote.

[barocalto]

Obama once described the white race as "that ghostly figure that haunted black dreams."

"That hate hadn''t gone away," he wrote, blaming "white people -- some cruel, some ignorant, sometimes a single face, sometimes just a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives."

After graduating from college, Obama eventually went to Chicago to interview for a job as a community organizer. His racial attitudes came into play as he sized up the man who would become his boss.

"There was something about him that made me wary," Obama wrote. "A little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."

[barocalto]

John McCain Will Keep Tax Rates Low. Entrepreneurs are at the heart of American innovation, growth and prosperity. They create the ultimate job security %u2013 a new, better opportunity if your current job goes away. Entrepreneurs should not be taxed into submission.

John McCain Will Maintain The Current Income And Investment Tax Rates And Fight The Democrats'' Plans For A Crippling Tax Increase In 2011. Left to their devices, Democrats will impose a massive $100 billion tax hike, almost $700 per taxpayer every year. John McCain has also long sought permanent and immediate reform of the estate tax, and supports raising the exemption from taxation on estates up to $10

[jack3213]

OBAMA IS THE WORST CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER HAD.

IF YOU DON''T AGREE, I DON''T CARE.

[beader59]

Another reason why Obama is such a bad choice. His position is a political one, not a personal religious stage for his personal beliefs. Separation of church and state...anyone heard of it?

[faith_in_w]

I think its a good idea for people to pledge loyalty to Jesus before they get any aid from our government.

[rushlimpdrug]

Obama%u2019s still better than McCain ------ unless you have stock in body bags.
Posted by psy_war at 09:35 AM


slick, real slick.

I am sure obama will end the war so fast
it will make my head spin.

And this will happen because of all the
publicly funded faith based praying that will
go on after he is elected.

[frootloop47]

It''s amusing how all of us feel about the people we support. McCain supporters think all us OBAMA supporters are lying. We feel, you McCain supporters are lying. One thing...we all care about the USA.

[barocalto]

Obama once described the white race as "that ghostly figure that haunted black dreams."

"That hate hadn''''t gone away," he wrote, blaming "white people -- some cruel, some ignorant, sometimes a single face, sometimes just a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives."

[barocalto]

Barack Hussein Obama

A privileged African-American, who has not shared the black American experience
By birth, blood and training, a Muslim, who has been a member of a Black-African church for 20 years
A socialist whose politics are rooted in Marx and whose tactics were conceived by Alinsky
A master at shaping his own mythology and completely unqualified to be Commander in Chief

[minuteman-1]

Sounds like Barrack OBush now !!!.....LOL

[flabear2]

While I''m not a huge fan of giving tax funds to tax-exempt organizations, the only thing respectable out of this is that it would force church aid groups to give help to people who do not follow the church''s particular denomination or faith, unlike the initiative lauded by the current administration.

[minuteman-1]

Barrack Osame, expanding Bush''s policy.....LOL !!!

[barocalto]

"Any distinction between good and bad whites held negligible meaning. We were always playing on the white man%u2019s court%u2026by the white man%u2019s rules." -- B. H. Obama

[frootloop47]

I''''m an Obama supporter and I COMPLETELY OPPOSE this plan. What on earth is he thinking? He''''s going to get a few evangelicals on board and alientate a huge portion of his base. He really needs to rethink this one...it will be disasterous to his campaign.
Posted by jcnbma at 10:12 AM : Jul 01, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JCNBMA, A lot of the inner city programs rely on partnering with churches. I think Barack is right on.

[barocalto]

"Any distinction between good and bad whites held negligible meaning. We were always playing on the white man%u2019s court%u2026by the white man%u2019s rules." -- B. H. Obama

[frootloop47]

frootloop47, LOL! What happeded???

Your meds just kick in???
Posted by JTait2 at 10:12 AM : Jul 01, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man, I''m ALL about peace and love :-)

[barocalto]

Obama introduces "Islamic Community Day" bill -- Synopsis of Bill as introduced: Declares November 1, 1997 to be South Shore Islamic Community Center Day.
2001 Beyond the visits to his Muslim relatives in Africa, Obama had little to say about Islam and Muslims until the events of 9/11. After that date, Obama begins to become more public in his support of Muslims and their cause.
2001 Obama is protective of civil rights for Muslims in the U.S., saying, "In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging," he laments. "I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

[jlagat]

There is no reason for these defective Christian religions to recieve federal funding unless they were willing to submit themselves to some sort of government control.
If these Christian defects think they''re perfect enough to ''save'' everyone that doesn''t believe in what they believe by spouting out bible scripture 24/7, then they should be ''perfect'' enough to fund their ownselves.

[johnny343sc]

YET ANOTHER BS STORY BY CBSNEWS.COM ON HOW "MODERATE" FAR LEFT-WINGER OBAMA BIN LADEN ...

... THIS IS NOTHING BUT SMOKE AND MIRRORS BY CBS NEWS TO SUPPORT THEIR CANDIDATE FOR PREZ.

What''s the matter? Dan Rather still peeved at the Bush administration for getting him fired???

;)