Evangelical Exposé: Bush's Faith-Based Fraud

Evangelical David Kuo's new book "Tempting Faith" is rocking the 30 year old marriage between evangelicals and the Republican party. The earliest reports, first on Keith Olbermann's Countdown [VIDEO] and then on 60 Minutes [VIDEO], reveal a disingenuous and calculating program to keep up appearances with only the barest of commitments to Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives program.

Below is a handy guide, cherrypicking the most dastardly passages...

Karl Rove: "Just Get Me a F-ing Faith Based Thing. Got it?" "Three days later, a Tuesday, Karl rove summoned [Don] Willett to his office to announce that the entire faith-based initiative would be rolled out the following Monday. Willett asked just how without a director, or plan the president could do that. Rove looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, 'I don't know. Just get me a fucking faith based-thing. Got it?' Willett was shown the door." [pp. 140-141]

Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling: "Just Get Me a Damn Faith Bill." "Yet for our House Republican friends, the initiative was primarily useful for politics, and for some of my White House colleagues, the initiative wasn't even on their radar screen….Margaret [Spellings] listened cheerfully and said, 'David, darlin', you are doing a good job. Great job.' Then, lightly but seriously, 'but David, please. Just get me a damn faith bill. Any bill. I don't care what kind of bill. Just get me a damn faith bill.'" [p.166]

From the Beginning, Now-White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton and Senior White House Staff Did Not Consider the Faith Based Office a Priority. "Even with the speeches and meetings, officials in charge of the Bush transition were ignoring the faith-based effort. In late December [2000], Josh Bolton, later to become deputy chief of staff for policy head of the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House chief of staff, responded to a pastor's inquiry about the initiative by saying, 'as far as I know, no one is in charge of the undertaking yet.' His disregard was surprising not only because he had been the campaign's top policy guru, but because he had the same role during the transition. As it turned out, it wasn't just that nobody had been named to shepherd the initiative through the crucial transition period, it was that nobody at the senior levels of the transition team was even paying attention to the problem. [p.138]

The Reality of Faith Based Legislation and Funding

Bush Was Directly Responsible for......the Faith Based Initiatives' Funding Shortfalls. "After leaving I learned that all budget decisions were made by three people once a year. President Bush, Karl Rove, and Andy Card would sit in the Oval Office and the president would go over the big numbers. Unlike his wonky predecessor, Bush didn't dig down into specific programs. It wasn't his style. He was America's CEO. He wanted to dictate the big picture and leave it to others to implement. That meant that while he may not have known the details of his compassion agenda, he knew it was languishing and had no problem with that." [p. 257]

Josh Bolton Told Kuo's Office They Weren't 'Winning Any Friends' By Pushing the Faith Based Bill. "In October and November we met with Majority Leader Daschle's staff and with Daschle himself. He had minor objections but we could get past them. We had a bill supported by everyone. All we needed was a go ahead from Josh Bolton or Andy Card. Bridge [John Bridgeland] pestered them day after day. Josh finally took him aside. 'Bridge, you aren't winning any friends here. Just keep it down.'" [p.196]

White House Told Kuo's Office That Faith Based Legislation Was Too Expensive. "Our bill needed nothing more than an 'Okay', and it would have been done. Senator Santorum tried lobbying the White House and so did Senator Grassley. Still, nothing. It was 'too expensive'. By mid December as Congress was about to adjourn we had a final chance. Late one evening Daschle's office called and said they could attach the bill to another bill and get it done in hours. Would the White House support it? Bridge [John Bridgeland] went to Nick, Margaret, and Karl one last time. 'Not now, Bridge, not now. Maybe next year.'" [p.196]