GAO Report Questions Faith-Based Initiatives

Bill Berkowitz has written an outstanding essay about "GAO Report Raises Serious Questions about Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives." Here's a quote:

"While there weren't any surprises, and it was blandly worded, nevertheless the GAO report was quite an indictment of President Bush's faith-based initiative," Annie Laurie Gaylor, the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, told Media Transparency in a telephone interview. "After two readings, I couldn't find any summary of what they thought the safeguards should be. It left me wondering whether the administration has any safeguards in place.

"It also left me questioning how the government was monitoring the grants they've given," Gaylor said. "After all, there is no indication in the report that anyone is doing site visits and following up on the grants."

"While I hope it will motivate changes by the administration, I don't think the report with fundamentally change the Bush Administration's approach," said Gaylor, whose organization has been one of several in the forefront of challenging the initiative in the courts. "It is difficult to imagine the faith-based initiative being challenged if so many Democrats support it in one way or another."

"I hope other members of Congress, in addition to Rep. Stark and Rep. Miller, wake up and realize that the several billion dollars given to religious organizations is going down the drain, while at the same time, the wall of separation between church and state is being eroded."