David Kuo criticizes Administration hypocrisy

David Kuo was a Special Assistant to the president and eventually the Deputy Director of the Faith-Based Initiative. He published an essay today on beliefnet.com on the shortcoming of Administrative support for the Office of Faith-Based Initiative. His conclusion is that establishing the office garnered Bush the political support of evangelicals. Those evangelicals were happy that Bush proved that his faith would influence his presidency, so they were not worried that the office did not come close to fulfilling Bush's "compassion conservative" promises. In his first major policy speech of the Presidential campaign, Bush said "it is not enough for conservatives like me to praise [compassionate] efforts. It is not enough to call for volunteerism. Without more support and resources, both private and public, we are asking them to make bricks without straw."

Kuo concludes, however, that the initiative has been left "at precisely the place Gov. Bush pledged it would not go; it has done the work of praising and informing but it has not been given 'the resources to change lives.' In short, like the hurting charities it is trying to help, the Initiative has been forced to make bricks without straw."

In June 2001, the promised tax incentives for charitable giving were stripped at the last minute from the $1.6 trillion tax cut legislation to make room for the estate-tax repeal that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy. The Compassion Capital Fund has received a cumulative total of $100 million during the past four years. And new programs including those for children of prisoners, at-risk youth, and prisoners reentering society have received a little more than $500 million over four years--or approximately $6.3 billion less than the promised $6.8 billion.

Unfortunately, sometimes even the grandly-announced "new" programs aren't what they appear. Nowhere is this clearer than in the recently-announced "gang prevention initiative" totaling $50 million a year for three years. The obvious inference is that the money is new spending on an important initiative. Not quite. The money is being taken out of the already meager $100 million request for the Compassion Capital Fund. If granted, it would actually mean a $5 million reduction in the Fund from last year.

This isn't what was promised.

Kuo spreads the blame around to both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and to a lack of commitment on the part of the White House. Most damming is the following story.

In December 2001, for instance, Sen. Daschle approached the Domestic Policy Council with an offer to pass a charity relief bill that contained many of the president's campaign tax incentive policies plus new money for the widely-popular and faith-based-friendly Social Services Block Grant. The White House legislative affairs office rolled their eyes while others on senior staff yawned. We had to leave the offer on the table.

It is hard not to draw the conclusion that the Office of Faith-Based Initiative real purpose is political rather than to help those whom Bush calls "the least, the last, and the lost." Those Christians who believe that the use of religious language by the President indicates some level of theological reflection on governing are sorely mistaken. In his first presidential campaign, Bush was asked to name his favorite political philosopher and he answered "Jesus." How I wish that the reporter had been willing, or able, to follow that question up. Christian political philosophy does not simply mean being pro-life and anti-gay marriage and anti-terrorist, but it is hard to see too many other areas where Bush's understanding of his faith impacts his policies.