Faith-Based Profiteering

Via Comandante Agi, I find out that the president has signed an executive order yesterday creating a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives within the Department of Homeland Security. Agi suggests that “placing it under DHS demonstrates how committed he is to fighting the War on Terror under the auspices of the Almighty,” but, after reading the whole order, I suspect it’s more about assisting his cronies in profiteering from the nation’s crumbling social infrastructure under the auspices of the Almighty.

Sec. 2. Purpose of Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.

Got that? Bush spends five years running up massive deficits, giving disproportionate tax breaks to the wealthy, and warmongering on the taxpayers’ dime to bring us to a point where, in the grand vision of small-government conservatives, the federal government has to start stripping funding for social programs out of the budget. As the government shrivels "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub,” as is conservatives’ fervert hope once elucidated by Grover Norquist, individual communities must pick up the slack—sheltering the homeless, providing food and healthcare to the needy, buying books and supplies for classrooms, etc. Their grand dream is turn over to volunteers the social safety net our government should be providing.

The catch, of course, is that poor communities with the greatest need also have the most dire dearth of resources. And make no mistake—that’s not an ignorant oversight on the parts of the men who planned our infrastruacture’s decimation from the grounds of their palatial estates. They know what the catch is, and they know that the government will still have to help in poor communities. But when the government provides directly to people in need, no one gets rich. On the other hand, if the government contracts out helping the poor to “community organizations” who provide social and community services, then there’s suddently a money-making opportunity, not to mention the chance to ensure those providing the services serve them up with a side dish of supportive ideology. No more of those consternating “programmatic obstacles.” You can get rid of funding for groups that might support unions, comprehensive sex education, abortions, voter registration, and anything else that might help people have more control over their own lives.

(Check out this fine bit of hypocrisy from the Granddaddy of the Ownership Society: Own your responsibility for your retirement and healthcare—the government shouldn’t tell you how your money is spent!—but any assistance you need if you fail will be managed by a faith-based community organization approved by the government.)

Once the profiteering project is rolling, that’s when Step 2: Undermining the Division Between Church and State begins.

coordinate a comprehensive departmental effort to incorporate faith-based and other community organizations in Department programs and initiatives to the greatest extent possible… propose the development of innovative pilot and demonstration programs to increase the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in Federal as well as State and local initiatives… develop and coordinate Departmental outreach efforts to disseminate information more effectively to faith-based and other community organizations with respect to programming changes, contracting opportunities, and other agency initiatives, including but not limited to Web and Internet resources.

Work faith-based programs into the fabric of the federal government to the greatest extent possible. Create a direct line of communication between the administration and the faith-based programs to disseminate ideological information and news about “contracting opportunities”—in other words, once you’ve proven yourself a reliable crony, you’ll be first to hear about how you can make more money off the poor…under the auspices of the Almighty.

The only “Almighty” in this equation is The Almighty Buck, and George Bush is its prophet and messiah.

This was all done under the power of an Executive Order. No checks. No balances.

The Center shall begin operations no later than 45 days from the date of this order.

Welcome to totalitarian rule, my friends.