Your tax dollars at work play pray

We may not be able to afford to ensure that seniors can get needed prescription drugs, or that those below the poverty level in the Northeast could afford heating oil all winter, but we apparently have money to give to conservative, fundie churches who preach abstinance. (Hat tip to Pam's place.)

Millions of dollars in taxpayer funds have flowed to groups that support President Bush's agenda on abortion and other social issues.

Under the auspices of its religion-based initiatives and other federal programs, the administration has funneled at least $157 million in grants to organizations run by political and ideological allies, according to federal grant documents and interviews.

An example is Heritage Community Services in Charleston, S.C. A decade ago, Heritage was a tiny organization with deeply conservative social philosophy but not much muscle to promote it. An offshoot of an antiabortion pregnancy crisis center, Heritage promoted abstinence education at the county fair, local schools and the local Navy base. The budget was $51,288.

By 2004, Heritage Community Services had become a major player in the booming business of abstinence education. Its budget passed $3 million -- much of it in federal grants distributed by Bush's Department of Health and Human Services -- supporting programs for students in middle school and high school in South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky.

That's only one example. There's plenty more in the article, and Pam's house blend has pulled out some choice quotes and analysis. It's nice that the President feels entitled to give away our money however he sees fit, isn't it?