Progress Report: The Exploitation of Faith

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Thu, 13 Oct 2005 08:14:38 -0700

Progress Report: The Exploitation of Faith

" American Progress Action Fund "

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AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND

The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney

Amanda Terkel, Payson Schwin, and Christy Harvey

www.progressreport.org

10/13/2005

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our new blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

SUPREME COURT

The Exploitation of Faith

 

President Bush yesterday called attention to Harriet Miers's religion

in order to " patch a growing fissure " amongst conservatives over his

Supreme Court nominee. " People are interested to know why I picked

Harriet Miers, " he said. " Part of Harriet Miers's life is her

religion. " President Bush shouldn't exploit Harriet Miers's faith to

rally support for her nomination. As the conservative Weekly Standard

writes, " what people most need to know about Miers is how she thinks

about the law and the role of the courts -- a question not easy to

answer given the nature of her legal career and the brevity of her

encounters with federal constitutional law. "

 

CONSERVATIVES UNWILLING TO SUPPORT BUSH'S LITMUS TEST: Bush has

repeatedly said there would be no " litmus test " for his nominee. When

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Chief Justice John Roberts whether his

religious devotion would impede his ability to follow the rule of law,

" [c]onservatives accused Mr. Durbin -- who is Catholic -- of having a

religious 'litmus test' under which he would oppose any nominee to the

high court who is Catholic and follows the church's teaching on

abortion. " But Bush's comments yesterday indicate religious devotion

may be a precondition for the selection of a judicial nominee. Even

the conservative editor of the National Review, Rich Lowry, has noted

that Bush's allusions to religion " display a touching faith in the

power of hypocrisy, double standards, and contradictions to see his

nominee through. " Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said during Roberts's

confirmation, " We have no religious test for public office in this

country. " Roberts himself claimed, " My faith and my religious beliefs

do not play a role. " As conservative writer Andrew Sullivan has noted,

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote in one of her opinions, " the

separation of church and state as guaranteed in the Constitution " is

infringed when the government makes adherence to religion relevant to

a person's standing in the political community. "

 

BUSH SPEAKS IN CODE IN EFFORT TO RALLY BASE: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

correctly observed, " A litmus test is no less a litmus test by using

whispers and signals. " By alluding to faith, Bush is attempting to

send signals to his right-wing base that Miers will vote a certain way

on social issues without overtly saying so. The strategy is part of an

effort to stem damaging criticisms from the right. Despite the storm

of criticism, a few religious leaders, such as James Dobson and Pat

Robertson, have remained steady allies, and Bush is seeking to

maintain their support. Bush's comments came on the same day that

Dobson, founder of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, said he

had received assurances from Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove that

" that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian [and] that she is from

a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life. " At

the same time, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales went on television

and described Miers as " pro-life. " Jay Sekulow, counsel for the

American Center for Law and Justice and a staunch White House

defender, said last week in an interview with Pat Robertson that the

Miers nomination represented " a big opportunity for those of us

who...share an evangelical faith in Christianity to see someone with

our positions put on the court. " (Sekulow's recent comments were in

stark contrast to his earlier call to not make Roberts's faith an

issue.) Bush's allusion to Miers's religion is an attempt to diffuse a

real discussion that is needed: what type of approach will Miers take

to deciding cases? As Manuel Miranda, a conservative leader of the

Third Branch Conference, said, " We don't want judges who are

results-oriented. Saying to someone 'Oh, well, he's Christian or

Jewish' is an attempt to say he'll rule a certain way, not that he'll

rule a certain way for the right reasons. " Both liberals and

conservatives want to know her judicial approach.

 

WHAT DOES DOBSON KNOW: Dobson had previously claimed to have

information given to him by Rove that he was " not at liberty to talk

about. " Dobson claimed Rove released him from his confidentiality

pledge and he went on the radio Wednesday to reveal his secrets. A few

of Dobson's supposed secret information was that Miers was an

evangelical Christian and that she had challenged the ABA's stance on

abortion. Yet, in an interview on FOX shortly after Bush announced the

nomination, Dobson had already revealed those exact pieces of

information. Another mystery Dobson needs to solve is that he claims

Rove told him Miers had been a member of the Texas Right to Life. Told

of Dobson's comments, Elizabeth Graham, director of the 300,000-member

Texas Right to Life, said, " I don't know where he would have gotten

that information. I'm not able to confirm or deny " whether Miers is a

member. Graham said the membership list was not public. Senators had

previously indicated their intention to subpoena Dobson over the

alleged privileged information he had received from the White House.

Dobson's recent revelations should raise further concerns that Dobson

knows something the Senate doesn't.

 

TAKING RELIGIOUS GROUPS FOR GRANTED: Bush's effort to gain support

from faith groups by appealing to Miers's religion indicates a lack of

respect for the diversity of thought and opinion within the religious

community. As Jan LaRue, a Christian conservative and chief counsel

for Concerned Women for America, remarked, " We find it patronizing and

hypocritical to focus on her faith in order to gain support for Miss

Miers. " The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the pro-life

Christian Defense Coalition, said yesterday that it was " both

troubling and hypocritical " for Miers's supporters to promote her

evangelical faith to garner support from religious conservatives. Rev.

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of

Church and State, questioned, " Did Bush pick Miers because of her

religious viewpoint instead of her legal qualifications? If he did,

that is a disservice to the Constitution and the diversity of the

American people. " Bush's inability to appreciate the diversity of

opinions, even among evangelicals, may explain why evangelical support

of Miers is weaker than it was for Roberts.

 

TAXES

Tough Choices

 

Former Sen. John Breaux, vice-chairman of President Bush's Advisory

Panel on Federal Tax Reform, promised to make recommendations " without

regard to politics. " Yesterday, the commission followed through and

previewed proposals to place lower caps on two popular income tax

deductions. The plan " is likely to meet strong opposition from

taxpayers and lawmakers, " the Wall Street Journal reports. " Americans

already are worried about escalating health-care costs, and homeowners

regard mortgage tax breaks as sacrosanct. " The Washington Post added

that the ideas are " likely to be opposed by the housing industry and

other business interests. " Changes along these lines can be good

policy: high cap levels benefit high-income taxpayers

disproportionately. But it is unlikely that the net effect of the tax

commission's proposal will be progressive or that the president would

implement a policy that carries so much political risk. Yesterday, the

White House said the tax code should be " simpler, fairer, and more

conducive to economic growth, " but it refused to state a clear opinion

on the commission's recommendations. In fact, there is every reason to

believe the Bush Administration will continue to pursue a tax agenda

bent on shifting the tax burden away from the unearned income of the

wealthiest taxpayers and onto wages.

 

PANEL TO OFFER BUSH TOUGH CHOICES: Last July, the tax panel

recommended scrapping the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for

individuals. Originally meant for a handful of millionaires who were

not paying their fair share in taxes, the AMT will soon affect

millions of middle-class taxpayers. The problem is that AMT repeal is

" staggeringly expensive. " Over 10 years, repeal will cost more than a

$1.2 trillion. To keep their recommendations revenue-neutral, the tax

panel proposed limiting two popular features of the tax code: the home

mortgage deduction and the tax deduction for employer-provided health

care. Although they will not release the exact details of their plan

until November 1, the panel is considering lowering the current $1

million mortgage loan cap down to " about $300,000. " Reducing the cap

would largely impact people in high-income brackets, but there are

legitimate concerns that a cap around $300,000 could negatively impact

the middle class in high-cost areas of the country. Such a move would

be difficult politically, since nearly 40 million taxpayers claim the

mortgage-interest deduction. The panel also discussed putting a

ceiling on tax deductions for employer-provided health insurance.

Former Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL), head of the advisory panel said,

" Clearly, under present law, the higher-income folks benefit the most

from those two aspects of the tax code. "

 

PANEL REJECTED BAD POLICY: President Bush said last year, " I'm not

exactly sure how big the national sales tax is going to have to be,

but it's the kind of interesting idea that we ought to explore

seriously. " His own tax panel has explored the idea, and has summarily

rejected it. Panel members were concerned that the sales tax rate

would be as high as 87 percent. They also thought it would be " too

complicated to put into practice " and would lead to " rampant tax

evasion. " Reports of their findings quickly enraged right-wing groups

that have fought for years to make the tax code less progressive. Leo

Linbeck of Americans for Fair Taxation called the reform panel

" fraudulent political theater designed to protect the corrupt tax code

and those who profit from its manipulation. "

 

PROGRESSIVE TAX REFORM: There's a way to reform the tax code that's

consistent with progressive values. The Center for American Progress

released a plan earlier this year to restore fairness, simplicity, and

opportunity to the tax system while generating the resources necessary

to meet our nation's commitments. To restore fairness in the tax code,

the Center proposed taxing wage and investment income at the same

rate, reducing the share employees pay into the regressive payroll

tax, and increasing the take-home pay for working families. To

simplify the tax code, the Center's plan would reduce the number of

tax brackets to three, close corporate and individual tax loopholes,

and eliminate the AMT. By restoring fiscal discipline and offering

increased incentives to save, the plan would implement a progressive

growth strategy while making the tax system less complex.

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

MILITARY -- PENTAGON AWARDS CROOKED CONTRACTOR $28 MILLION: In April

2005, Interstate Electronics Corp. was placed under federal criminal

investigation after the contractor supplied defective emergency radio

parts to the U.S. military, which makes up 75 percent of company's

business. The Pentagon also suspected Interstate of supplying

" thousands of other, potentially substandard parts over the years to a

wide range of Army and Air Force weapons systems. " Evidently, these

wrongdoings weren't a problem for the U.S. military, which just

awarded the contractor a $27.9 million contract " to support the test

instrumentation hardware for most of America's nuclear missile fleet,

and all of Britain's. "

 

ETHICS -- MAJORITY LEADER FRIST SUBPOENAED BY THE SEC: On September

22, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) announced that he had

been contacted by both the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's office about

the divestiture of his family's shares of HCA, Inc. stock. In the past

two weeks, the SEC has subpoenaed Frist to " turn over personal records

and documents as federal authorities step up a probe of his July

sales " of the stock. As the Washington Post notes, a formal request

for documents usually signals an " acceleration of a federal probe. "

Frist will be testifying under oath in the coming weeks about whether

he had illegal insider information on the company, whose value dropped

sharply shortly soon after Frist and company insiders sold millions of

dollars of the stock.

 

GOVERNMENT -- WHITE HOUSE ARGUES AGAINST WHISTLE-BLOWER RIGHTS: Bush

administration lawyers " pressed the Supreme Court yesterday for a

ruling that would make it harder for government whistle-blowers to win

lawsuits claiming retaliation, " the Associated Press reports. The case

comes as Washington buzzes with talk that top Bush administration

officials may soon be indicted for leaking the name of a covert CIA

agent in retaliation against whistle-blower Joseph Wilson. Stephen

Kohn of National Whistleblower Center " said that a victory for the

government would mean 'whistle-blowers who expose waste, fraud, and

corruption will have less constitutional protection than Ku Klux Klan

members who burn crosses on their front lawns.' "

 

PUBLIC OPINION -- JUST TWO PERCENT OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS APPROVE OF

PRESIDENT BUSH: An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that, for

the first time, President Bush's approval rating " has sunk below 40

percent, while the percentage believing the country is heading in the

right direction has dipped below 30 percent. " The poll also reveals

stunning opposition to President Bush among African-Americans. " Only

two percent said they approved of his performance as president, the

lowest level ever recorded in that category. " Additionally, according

to NBC, " strong majorities don't believe that the recent charges

against GOP leaders Tom DeLay of Texas and Bill Frist of Tennessee are

politically motivated, " and " just 29 percent think Supreme Court

nominee Harriet Miers is qualified to serve on the nation's highest

court. "

 

HEALTH -- FDA REJECTION OF THE MORNING AFTER PILL ROUNDLY CRITICIZED:

In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected an expert

advisory panel's recommendation to make the emergency contraception

Plan B available without a prescription. A bipartisan group of 62

lawmakers are now calling on the FDA to approve Plan B and have

" chided officials for ignoring evidence. " A draft of a GAO report on

the FDA's actions has also been released, concluding that " the

decision was highly unusual, was made with atypical involvement from

top agency officials, and may well have been made months before it was

formally announced. "

 

GOOD NEWS

 

Philadelphia announced a 10-year plan to end homelessness in the city.

 

STATE WATCH

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE: 150 lawmakers ask the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down

the state law requiring parental notification by minor girls

attempting to have an abortion.

 

NEW YORK: NYC council overrides Bloomberg's veto of health care bill.

 

MAINE: Gov. John Baldacci (D) launches VolunteerMaine, the nation's

first statewide database connecting volunteers with service and

nonprofit organizations statewide.

 

ILLINOIS: Governor's office encourages the military to better serve

families of fallen soldiers.

 

BLOG WATCH

 

THINK PROGRESS: O'Reilly: " If Rove gets indicted, that could bring

down the Bush administration. "

 

RAW STORY: Vice President's role in outing of CIA operative under

examination, sources close to prosecutor say.

 

MYDD: Bush cronies on Amtrak board take major step towards dismantling

the railroad.

 

MATT YGLESIAS: The Gilded Age is cool again.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

[The Miers nomination is] a big opportunity for those of us who have a

conviction, that share an evangelical faith in Christianity, to see

someone with our positions put on the court. — Jay Sekulow, 10/11/05

 

VERSUS

 

To make John Roberts' faith an issue at the coming Senate confirmation

hearings would not only be wrong, but a big mistake. — Jay Sekulow,

9/11/05