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Katrina and the Office of Faith Based Initiatives Email Print

By accidentalactivist
10/19/2006 02:15:32 PM EST

It was the day after President Bush had stood in the center of Jackson Square in New Orleans to promise that the Federal Government was going to help all the victims of the hurricane, and that he was counting on "Armies of Compassion" to help do the work. The next morning, I got on the phone to call the Office of Faith Based Initiatives to let them know that I was reporting for duty, along with an organized group of churches, but we needed a little funding.

White House: Good morning this is the White House, how many I assist you?

Craig: Could you connect me to the Office of Faith Based Initiatives please.

White House: Hold on please.

Ring....ring....ring

OFBI: Office of Faith Based Initiatives, How can I help you?

Craig: I heard President Bush's speech last night and I've got a bunch of churches here in the Bay Area of California already lining up to help about 50 families that have evacuated to here.

OFBI: That's great.

Craig: Thank you. But here's the thing, we need some money.

OFBI: I see.

Craig: Yes, and I'd like to know if you can send me some forms or something so that I can apply for some funding from the government.

OFBI: I don't understand. What forms?

Craig: Well President Bush has been saying that he wants organizations like ours to take the lead in providing humanitarian aid, because faith-based organizations are more efficient than the government, right?

OFBI: Yes, I believe he's said something like that.

Craig: And your office was set up to help faith-based organizations overcome obstacles to getting money out of the Federal government for programs like the one I'm describing right?

OFBI: That's true.

Craig: OK, so I have a faith-based organization, a coalition of churches, that is already housing and feeding folks who escaped Katrina. How do we apply for some of that funding. There's going to be billions of dollars in aid, right?

OFBI: I'm not familiar with exactly how the aid is going to work for Katrina.

Craig: Well, OK, but there must be some process, some paperwork, that an organization like mine can use to apply for money, isn't there?

OFBI: Well, different parts of the government are in charge of money like that.

Craig: OK - So who would be in charge of money for victims of Katrina?

OFBI: Can you hold on please?

(Five minutes go by........)

OFBI: Sir? I'm going to transfer you to someone from the freedom corps. They're the ones that are going to coordinate assistance.

FC: Freedom Corps, how can I help you?

Craig: (Explains the whole thing again and then).... I'd like to apply for some funding to help pay these people's rent, to pay for their food, and some of them need medicine, the kids need school supplies.... it is a huge problem.

FC: Well, sir, all we can do is help you register as a volunteer.

Craig: What about applying for faith-based initiative money?

FC: I'm sorry sir, there's no process for that. But, when you apply to be a volunteer, there's a comment field you can use and you could ask for money there.

Craig: Never Mind.

********* ******

So, now we hear from David Kuo, former Deputy Director of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives what I suspected from the start. The whole thing is a giant FRAUD.

http://www.alternet.org/blo gs/peek/43225/

But let's not just slap Bush around (slapping someone around is still legal under the torture laws, as long as you don't leave any marks), here's my next phone call to New York, where Bill Clinton and George HW Bush had set up a relief fund.

********** *****

My next phone call was to the organization President Bush mentioned that had been launched by his dad and Bill Clinton:

CBFund: Hello, how may I help you?

Craig: I heard you guys have raised like $100 Million dollars already to help Katrina victims.

CBFund: Yes - isn't it wonderful?

Craig: Yeah, it's great! So, I represent a bunch of churches in Northern California, and we've banded together to help about 50 families that escaped from Katrina and are stuck here right now.

CBFund: Terrific!

Craig: Yes, but here's the thing, we need some money. These people have to pay rent, they need clothes, food, medicine, school supplies for the kids.... it is really huge.

CBFund: Oh yes, I can imagine.

Craig: So, how can we go about requesting some of that $100 million you guys have? Is there some kind of application process, some forms we can fill out.

CBFund: I'm not sure I understand.

Craig: You've got $100 million, these people out here could use, I don't know, maybe $50,000 or so... How do we apply?

CBFund: Well, sir, we're not set up for anything like that yet. We're just in the phase of collecting money right now.

Craig: Well what's the point of collecting money if you're not going to use it to help people?

CBFund: We'll do that eventually sir, maybe in a few months. Could you call back then?

********* ********

Billions of dollars went to Katrina aid, both in government money and "Armies of Compassion." Still, poor people are losing their homes in one of the biggest land grabs since the gold rush. Thousands of people continue to be displaced and lives are still in shambles. How do we let these criminals continue to get away with this?

Something has to change.


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Katrina and the Office of Faith Based Initiatives | 1 comment (1 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Behind the Curtain (1.00 / 2)
The Bush administration painted itself into a corner - intentionally, some would say - by overcommitting itself to aggressive and expensive foreign military ventures while reducing income through reduced taxes on the rich. Thus, any program that holds no interest for Secretary Rumsfeld or wealthy friends of the administration will be squeezed to a pulp.  Conveniently for an arrogant and wealthy few, this eliminates funding for programs that benefit most other Americans, whether poor or middle class.

However, having shackled itself to a campaign platform that promised a "compassionate" GOP, the Bush administration could not simply abandon the needy without alienating genuinely compassionate voters. Thus, the administration had to identify some place  where, figuratively at least, it could dump longstanding government responsibilities like disaster aid. Cleverly, it again put the burden on poor and middle class Americans, who disproportionately finance both religious and private aid programs, and draped its plan in the mantle of "faith-based initiatives."

Despite administration shell-gaming, the federal government officially remains responsible for providing disaster assistance under a variety of federal laws and executive orders that have never been rescinded. But, those laws will not be faithfully implemented until the majority of Americans demand it of President Bush - a real life Wizard of Oz, pushing levers that generate thunder and smoke and little of substance.

by truthista on 10/19/2006 05:01:23 PM EST

Katrina and the Office of Faith Based Initiatives | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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