Posted by
Billy on Thursday, January 29, 2009 1:15:05 PM
(Did Compassionate Conservatism fail under President Bush and if so why. That is a question Marvin Olasky who some credited or discredited with developing takes on in a column. Read part of the column below.)
Governor and then President Bush wanted to fight poverty, alcoholism, addiction, and other social problems. He saw faith-based approaches (from personal experience) as an effective way to do battle. He wanted them to garner additional resources and left the how-to questions to his advisors.
As a volunteer chairman of a Bush task force in 1999, I was pleased when the candidate adopted my proposal for charity tax credits that would be part of a decentralized anti-poverty plan. On July 22, 1999, in his major policy speech regarding compassionate conservatism, he spoke of tax credits, promising that "individuals will choose who conducts this war on poverty—and their support won't be filtered through layers of government officials."
I traveled recently to Indianapolis, where Bush in 1999 gave his policy-setting speech regarding compassionate conservatism, and asked inner-city innovator Tim Streett (WORLD, Dec. 18, 1999) what had changed.
Rick Alvis, chief executive officer: "We thought the federal government was going to come alongside us. Then we started hearing, 'Can you change your program and take out the spiritual angle?'"
The sad part is that Bush staffers have teed up the ball perfectly for the new administration to send taxpayer dollars to Obama supporters at liberal religious groups that swing votes but don't change lives.
(Something that people like Cal Thomas and myself who were some of the few Bible based people who were against the faith based plan from our last President are now being proved right.If you take money from the government you may have to change what you preach. Instead Bible based ministries and churches should trust in God and not in Uncle Sam. Now I am afraid as Marvin Olasky warned in his column we are going to see money given to churches from the left who will be glad to take the money even though the message they preach won't change any souls. Bush was trying to do what he thought was right but any time government becomes involved look for trouble. President Reagan was right government is part of the problem not the answer. Read more of the above column The Tragedy of Compassionate Conservatism.)
