Here's an interesting item from the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
MORE FLAK: Former White House official David Kuo will publish a book this month slamming administration’s commitment to “faith-based” programs. A person familiar with book’s content says it will characterize centerpiece of Bush’s compassionate conservatism as “big talk, little action.”
You can find what I would guess would be pretty good previews of this book here and here (pdf). Here's an excerpt from Kuo's 2005 Beliefnet article (that's the first link in the preceding sentence):
Four years ago, while visiting a small urban charity, President Bush launched the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He called it "one of the most important initiatives" of his administration. . . .
That day a conservative Texas governor promised more than $8 billion during his first year in office to help social service organizations better serve "the least, the last, and the lost." More than $6 billion was to go for new tax incentives that would generate billions more in private charitable giving. Another $1.7 billion a year would fund faith-based (and non-faith-based) groups caring for drug addicts, at-risk youth, and teen moms. $200 million more would establish a "Compassion Capital Fund" to assist, expand and replicate successful local programs. . . .This was a dream come true for me. . . .
Sadly, four years later these promises remain unfulfilled in spirit and in fact. In June 2001, the promised tax incentives for charitable giving were stripped at the last minute from the $1.6 trillion tax cut legislation to make room for the estate-tax repeal that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy. The Compassion Capital Fund has received a cumulative total of $100 million during the past four years. And new programs including those for children of prisoners, at-risk youth, and prisoners reentering society have received a little more than $500 million over four years--or approximately $6.3 billion less than the promised $6.8 billion.
Unfortunately, sometimes even the grandly-announced "new" programs aren't what they appear. Nowhere is this clearer than in the recently-announced "gang prevention initiative" totaling $50 million a year for three years. The obvious inference is that the money is new spending on an important initiative. Not quite. The money is being taken out of the already meager $100 million request for the Compassion Capital Fund. If granted, it would actually mean a $5 million reduction in the Fund from last year.
This isn't what was promised.
Kuo's analysis of the faith-based initiative based on this particular yardstick seems on target to me. I take issue, however, with the fact that Kuo basically blows off any church-state concerns regarding the initiative.
In any case, the book and its timing are noteworthy. It's rare enough for a former Bush White House official to criticize the administration. And the fact that Kuo is willing to draw attention to these issues in this way on the eve of the mid-term elections speaks volumes about the depth of his disenchantment with the White House and Congressional leadership.
(Via Hotline on Call.)
UPDATE: The enterprising Carlos Stouffer finds the forthcoming book on Amazon. Here's the title: Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. They chose a really boring title, didn't they? The publication date is October 16. I think it's safe to say we'll be hearing a good deal more about this book in coming days.
ANOTHER UPDATE (10/11) : See also my more recent post on this forthcoming book.
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