posted on May 14, 2004 08:28:09 PM new
Associated Press
May. 14, 2004 07:00 AM
WASHINGTON - Trying to showcase the softer side of his political agenda while banking more money for the Republican Party, President Bush is highlighting religion-oriented initiatives aimed at helping the poor.
Bush returns for the second time in a week to Wisconsin, delivering a commencement speech in a state he lost by 6,000 votes four years ago.
Appearing at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., the largest Lutheran university in North America, the president will speak to the obligation of individuals to help make the country a better place and a more compassionate society, and he will detail the role he feels the government should play in those efforts, White House aides say.
Bush's push to expand the role of churches and religious charities in government programs is a cornerstone of his "compassionate conservative" agenda, but it has caused controversy in Congress from the start. Opponents worry that government would wind up paying for religion.
When Bush's religious initiative stalled in Congress, he began sidestepping lawmakers with executive orders and regulations to give religious organizations equal footing in competing for federal contracts. The president has called for legislation that would give religious groups access to federal funds as long as their services are available to anyone.
posted on May 14, 2004 08:40:09 PM new
Didn't this stall in the first place because they discovered that they'd actually have to let all religions participate and not just a chosen few?
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
