Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

The White House is paying down its political debt to the religious right (which is neither, by the way) and using your tax dollars to do it.

ABC News says: Religious Charities Get More Federal Money

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.

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Critics take issue with the president's insistence that religious charities that receive taxpayer dollars could retain the right to hire and fire based on religion. Critics also have said Bush's initiative is designed mostly as a political tool, since the plan is popular with religious leaders who are influential in the Republican Party and are a core base of support for Bush.

And he's doing it on his own...like everything else he does.

After Congress balked at legislation, Bush began using executive orders and regulations to accomplish his goal.

Nice to know your tax dollars are going into the collection plate.