By now we are all familiar with the professed devoutness of President Bush, Attorney General Ashcroft and their associates. This became something of an issue during the 2000 Republican primary campaign when the President used his supposed "rebirth" to combat the popularity of Arizona Senator John McCain, particlularly in South Carolina.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Christianity of the "Religious Right", because it seems to fly in the face of everything I learned in Church growing up. Granted, I was raised Catholic, meaning I wasn't expected to memorize any particular scriptures, but taught the meaning behind the scriptures. What I mostly pucked up can be summarized thusly (without the specifics of things like Crucifiction, Resurrection, Immaculate Conception, or plagues):
1. Treat other people the way you want to be treated.
2. Try to avoid strife.
3. Don't judge people because you aren't people either.
4. Share what you have with people who have less.
5. People usually deserve a second chance.
6. With any luck, the next life is better than this one.
I can't say I'm always successful at living by these guidelines, but I can say this: At the very least the politicians who play most on their religion, don't even seem to try. Politicians like the President and Attorney General appear, at least in public, to operate on a more Old Testament level. You know, eye for an eye, only the few may be saved, vengeful God portion of the Bible. It certainly doesn't seem that they live up to the claim that they are devout Christians to me.
At best they seem to be striggling with their faith, at worst it seems that they are using the belief of others to score political points. In the meantime, they push a political agenda that would seem to fly in the face of Christian Faith. The Rev. Jean Colman, a Methodist minister, illustrates this pretty well...
Memo to Congress
Make welfare reform reduce poverty, not just caseloads
By Jean Colman
In 1996, President Bill Clinton fulfilled his campaign promise of ending wel-fare as we knew it. By signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportu-nity Reconciliation Act of 1996, he ended over 70 years of federal support and commitment to poor families. With a swipe of the pen, Clinton told states that they could do what they wanted to, within some limited guidelines, with families on welfare. Most states have pushed them into jobs that do not provide a livable wage.
This year, Congress must reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Republican proposals are looking bad, and we are working to ensure that Washington’s Democratic delegates join their party colleagues nationwide in voting them down. In the Senate, there’s hope for a better bill. But Washington Senator Patty Murray, a champion of women, children, and families, needs to speak up.
The Campaign for Washington’s Working Families 2002 is a coalition of over 100 organizations and individuals statewide, building congressional support for a plan that reduces child and family poverty. We want a welfare program that:
* ensures access to education and training as a way out of poverty,
* helps parents balance the needs of family and employment,
* restores benefits to legal immigrants,
* supports families regardless of composition, and
* works to strengthen families through work supports and a safety net.
Coordinating with national coalitions, the Campaign is seeing its work pay off. In the last eight months, we have held community meetings with Rep. Jim McDermott (D- 7th District) and Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R- 8th District) so they could hear from parents affected by the program. We are talking with the staffs of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.
Meanwhile, the action is heating up. On April 9th, House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee Chair Wally Herger (R-CA) introduced H.R. 4090, the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2002. The bill largely mirrors the Bush Administration’s proposal.
Both the Bush and Herger proposals would limit what the state can count as a work activity, increase the number of hours a parent must spend in these limited activities, and not increase funding for child care or other support services. This would hurt all of the programs that actually help parents support their children. In this state, parents would no longer have work-based learning to gain skills that increase their earning capabilities. They would no longer have a Community Jobs program that places them in non-profits. They could no longer count the time that parents spend in counseling for domestic violence, in substance abuse or mental health treatment, or even in English as a Second Language classes, as eligible welfare-to-work training.
Combined with the scarcity of jobs, we could be forced to create workfare programs that provide dead-end, busywork jobs instead of much-needed education and training.
A vote on Herger’s bill is expected before Congress adjourns for its Memorial Day recess. Rep. Dunn has signed on.
That’s too bad, because there are better alternatives, even coming from Republicans. Representative Marge Roukema (R-NJ) introduced legislation called the From Poverty to Promise Act. It would make poverty reduction an explicit goal of TANF, increase funding to account for inflation, expand access to education and training, and soften the time limits.
We hope parts of this proposal will be added on to the Herger bill. That would be a victory — but still wouldn’t make Herger’s bill worthy of a Democratic vote.
There are bipartisan conversations among various Senators to identify principles to follow in the welfare reauthorization debate. These include increasing access to education and training, restoring benefits to immigrants, and increasing funding for TANF and child care. While they don’t go as far as we would like, they are a better starting place than what we have seen in the House.
Sen. Murray is in a good position to take a leadership role in this debate. She has standing as a senior member, a friend and colleague of Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, and a supporter of children and families. She should rise to the occasion. The state’s poor families are hanging in the balance.
Jean Colman is the director of the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition, which helps welfare recipients advocate on their own behalf. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Seattle Human Services Coalition. To get involved in the Campaign, contact Julilly Kohler-Hausmann, (206)694-6796 or email:julillyk@fremontpublic.org.