Charities say President Bush failed to come through for them. Leading charities questioned the agreement to drop from the tax cut bill provisions aimed at spurring charitable giving. In negotiations over the $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax legislation the House and Senate approved, they agreed to do without $90 billion in breaks to aid charities.. The breaks to aid charities among Bush's first campaign pledges, were a key part of the president's effort to spur giving to charitable organizations so they could play a greater role in combating the country's social problems.

"Congress has passed a bill that will reduce charitable given and harm millions of Americans who rely on the vital services provided by charitable organizations," said Peter Shiras. Kenneth Gladish, head of YMCA suggested charities lost out to more powerful interests in the tax debate. The blow from the tax cut bill is twofold. It omitted a charitable tax deduction for those who don't itemize their returns, a provision that would have increased charitable giving by $15 billion a year, according to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers study. The legislation included the repeal of the estate tax, which deprive nonprofits of up to $6 billion a year from bequests, the group said. The legislation also dropped provisions that would have increased the among corporations could give tax-free to charity and allowed tax-free donation from individual retirement accounts. (40) Callers to CSPAN are disappointed in President Bush and believe he will only be a one term president.

The White House abruptly ended its consideration Tuesday of a regulation that would have allowed religious charities to discriminate against gays, after Senate leaders warned that such a move would imperil Bush's core "faith-based" initiative. Earlier in the day, White House officials said they were considering a request from the Salvation Army, the nation's largest charity, to issue a regulation that would protect government-funded religious charities from state and local laws barring workplace discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation. But Tuesday evening, after the matter caused a furor in Washington, a statement was issued saying it "will not pursue the [Office of Management and Budget] regulation proposed by the Salvation Army and reported today."

The retreat followed a report in Tuesday's Washington Post that, according to an internal Salvation Army document, the White House had made a "firm commitment" to issue a regulation protecting government-funded religious charities from hiring discrimination laws. At the same time, the Salvation Army agreed to use its clout as the nation's largest charity to boost Bush's "faith-based" initiative. The charity plans to spend between $88,000 and $110,000 a month to support the effort.

The Senators are very troubled by the President's secret deals. Senator Lieberman, an ally of Bush, said that the gay discrimination exemption puts a cloud over the president's desire to extend the faith-based initiative. What this decision accomplishes is that it will throw the final 10th amount of what was expected in funding into those organizations who legitimize homosexuality. In other words they get rewarded for going against the Bible. It will have a tendency to make other churches capitulate to accept that philosophy. (41)The Bible will very soon have to be totally rewritten to have one at all. Christians can only serve one or another. They can't serve both ideologies at the same time. (40) The Tampa Tribune, May 25, 2001 / (41) Ibid., August 9, 2001)