Un-Constitutional Agencies

Un-Constitutional Agencies The
Problem, Not Specific Grants

To: National Desk

PASADENA, Md., Jan. 19 /Covenant News Wire Service/ -- The four column-wide headline in a "Washington Post" story (1/27/05) reads: "Bush Urges End To Contracts With Commentators." What prompted President Bush's most recent remarks on this subject was an earlier "Post" story in which it was revealed that conservative columnist Maggie Gallagher had written favorably about Mr. Bush's "healthy marriage" initiative while working on a program under a $21,500 contract she had with the Department of Health and Human Services.

In a news conference, when asked if he thought it was a proper use of government funds to pay commentators to promote his policies, the President said: "No." When asked if he was ordering an end to such payments, he said: "Yes, I am. I expect my Cabinet secretaries to make sure that that practice doesn't go forward. There needs to be independence. We didn't know about this in the White House."

In another story, in the "Washington Times" (1/27/05), it has been reported that Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has asked the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to refund taxpayer dollars used to create and distribute an episode of a cartoon program that features lesbian parents. The particular episode objected to by Secretary Spellings is a "Postcard From Buster" program produced by WGBH-TV in Boston with an Education Department grant from the $23 million "Ready-To-Learn" program, a literacy initiative of Mrs. Laura Bush.

This "Washington Times" story says that PBS is supposed to deliver a total of 40 "Postcards From Buster" programs under a $99.7 million Department of Education grant that began in the year 2000. A "USA Today" story (1/27/05) says Secretary Spellings objected to the lesbian parents cartoon show because she felt that it "strays from the intent of the government program designed to prepare preschoolers for school." She says: "Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode."

But, if ever there was a person "not ready to learn" it's President Bush. By denouncing certain Federal grants to particular individuals, Mr. Bush is majoring in minors. He's talking about amounts of money that are, relatively speaking, mere drops in the bucket when contrasted with his vast ocean of un-Constitutional Federal spending.

The real problem here is not that columnist Gallagher got a few thousand Federal tax dollars or even that a few million Federal tax dollars have been spent to produce cartoons --- though these things should not have been done.

The REAL problem is that while he has been in office Mr. Bush has approved spending hundreds of BILLIONS of Federal tax dollars on a Federal Department of Education and a Federal Department of Health and Human Services --- both of which are clearly un-Constitutional. If neither of these un-Constitutional Departments existed, they, obviously, would not be giving un-Constitutional grants to anybody.

For God, Family and the Republic,

Michael A. Peroutka


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