Way up to, there was mention of "faith-based initiatives." Well, in Sacramento, the most important social service programs are run by liberal Catholics who invite everyone to work as volunteers. The nuns I work for at the women's center insist very strongly that they are non-sectarian - mostly because they don't want the bishop meddling with us. The food bank, founded by a Catholic priest as a parish ministry, has also evolved into a citywide nonsectarian program. The Loaves and Fishes Dining Room, which provides a multitude of service for the homeless, is also nonsectarian. But I suppose you could call all of these service faith-based, even though many of the volunteers have no religious affiliation.
Because they make heavy use of volunteers and because they know how to turn a dime into a dollar, these programs are the most effective services the poor people of Sacramento can get. A little Federal money would help, but the programs have been reluctant to accept it because they don't want to deal with George W. Bush.
If the money came from an Obama administration, that might be a different matter. Would it be so wrong for the government to give a little money to these "faith-based" programs? We sure could use a computer instructor...
I suppose that these programs wouldn't accept the money even from Democrats - they don't want to deal with government regulation.
-Joe-