Bush Moves on Faith-Based Plan

President Bush sent legislation to Congress on Tuesday that would permit religious groups to receive federal funds for social services, but he indicated willingness to compromise on that and his other proposals.

Appearing at a faith-based community center here with four members of Congress, including Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), Bush all but invited critics to amend his proposal.

“I’m open to any good ideas that will come from the Congress and, I can assure you, these four good members of Congress will have some good ideas,” Bush said amid much appreciative laughter--especially from the lawmakers.

“And they’re probably not going to be afraid to tell me, either,” the president said.

Earlier in the day, Bush seemed to soften his stance on another key issue. Previously, he had seemed determined to keep his tax cut package whole as it moves through Congress. But on Tuesday, he and his spokesman gave the House the green light to pass the tax cuts piece by piece.

After a Cabinet Room meeting at the White House with GOP congressional leaders, Bush told reporters: “The most important criterion for how the tax package is handled is whether or not it will succeed. And these are the members that are going to have to work to get it out of the House. So we’re listening to their strategy.”

The president was equally yielding last week when he touted his education reform legislation.

While it does not take a political scientist to recognize that this president must give ground--maybe plenty of it--to get his core agenda through the closely divided Congress, Bush’s signals have grown remarkably strong in the last 10 days.

“There’s a political reality to many of these issues, and he seems to be recognizing some of that,” said Gerald Pomper, a professor of political science at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute. “I suppose that is commendable as something that makes him look good.”

But there may be a second explanation for Bush’s seeming readiness to compromise, Pomper added.

“He doesn’t have a deep knowledge of policy. It’s not something he is deeply involved in. He presents it. He can then stand absolutely stubborn or he can say, ‘That’s my idea--you can do what you want with it.’ He’s doing more of the second,” Pomper said.

Regarding his faith-based initiative, for instance, Bush seems committed to allowing religious groups access to federal funds, but he clearly sounded amenable to negotiations on specific details, Pomper noted.

Bush’s initiative would allow the estimated 80 million American taxpayers who do not now itemize deductions on their tax returns to claim deductions for their charitable donations. That measure alone would generate “billions of dollars in new donations” to charitable groups, according to the White House.

The president’s plan also would limit civil liability to corporations that provide equipment or services to charities.

Another key feature would allow people to withdraw savings from their IRAs without penalty if the funds are used as charitable contributions.

The most controversial element of Bush’s plan would make faith-based organizations providing social services eligible for taxpayers’ funds. Critics say that would violate the separation of church and state doctrine and perhaps subject religious groups to federal control.

“I’ve seen how effective and committed these groups are at saving and changing lives,” Bush said Tuesday afternoon while visiting the Fishing School, a faith-based community center started 10 years ago as a haven for at-risk children.

Throughout Campaign 2000, Bush insisted that his initiative would pass constitutional muster, a position he enunciated anew Tuesday.

“Government, of course, cannot fund--and will not fund--religious activities,” Bush said. “But when people of faith provide social services, we will not discriminate against them.”

Top White House officials acknowledged that any religious organization would be eligible for such funds under Bush’s plan as long as a number of criteria are met. These include a requirement that secular alternatives must be available within the same service area and that the social services such groups provide are entirely separate and distinct from the religious group itself, they said.

In addition to Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000, the other members of Congress who appeared at the school with the president were Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Reps. Tony P. Hall (D-Ohio) and Mark E. Souder (R-Ind.).

Also on hand were Mel Martinez, secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Education Secretary Rod Paige; John J. DiIulio Jr., a University of Pennsylvania professor who will head the newly created White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; and former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, a top Bush advisor.

DiIulio’s office is to open Feb. 20, with a staff of about 10.

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