Is Bush "cooking the books" to give more money to faith based programs at the expense of secular groups?

"It used to be that groups were prohibited from receiving any federal funding whatsoever because they had a cross or a star or a crescent on the wall," Bush told religious leaders at the annual White House conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Yes that was because of a little thing called "the seperation of church and state" you might have heard of it.

When Bush first proposed in 2001 to give more federal money to faith-based social-service groups, he provoked a controversy over whether the government should be funding religious activities. Democrats blocked a Senate bill to formalize the program.

Instead, Bush has expanded the program largely by issuing executive orders to change regulations that prevented faith-based groups from receiving federal funds. This week, for example, the president issued an order that lifts barriers that blocked the Federal Emergency Management Agency from making disaster-relief grants to faith-based groups.

And we just inch that much closer to being a Theocracy! My assumption is that this is another example of God asking George to do him a little favor. And where, pray tell, is all of this money coming from?

Critics also say that by highlighting the grants to faith-based groups, the administration is distorting the overall funding picture. Lynn charges that Bush is "cooking the numbers" and that while more money is going to faith-based groups, less is going to secular groups. "There is no new money for the poor," he says. "People are told about increases in spending for faith-based groups, but not told about cuts in other programs."

Oh! Well guess how unsurprised I am by this revelation.

Someday when high shool history students are asked to give an example of just how damaging a presidency can be to the country, I have a feeling that the "Bush Presidency" will be the answer worth the most points. The "George W. Bush Presidency" to be precise.