Will this Supreme Court case mark history as 'The Day the USA Changed Forever"?

Question

For 6 years now the Bush Administration, using repeated signing statements to bypass Congressional approval, has been implementing numerous faith-based programs... many of them are now embedded within government programs such as Homeland Security. Also, the Bush Admin uses taxpayer dollars to promote these faith-based programs.

Amazingly, the simple question before the Supreme Court now is 'Do taxpayers even have the right to object to this?'

Source
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0135290020070228
'Bush's faith-based program debated in court'

The administration was urging the top court to limit the right of taxpayers to sue over government funding of religious activities as a way to derail another larger question over whether President George W. Bush's federal program to funnel federal dollars to religious groups is unconstitutional."

I don't have much faith this Republic Supreme Court will do the right thing and stay with the constitution.

You?

Iran's government is a 'Islamic Republic of Iran'.

Are we soon to be a 'Christian Republic of the USA'?

Will this preventing our citizen's power to question our government mark this transformation?

Answer 1

I am a lawyer but not a constitutional law expert.

If I wrote the rules, I'd say this:

If the government is giving aid to groups performing charitable activities - running soup kitchens, etc. - it can't discriminate on the basis of a group being religious, or non-religious. In other words, you can't fund just the Christian soup kitchens, the Muslim soup kitchens, or the atheist soup kitchens. Religion can't be a criterion either way.

I do believe funding of the non-religious activities of religious institutions is constitutional - maybe that's the issue here. I believe "aid to the student, not the school" such as allowing public school buses to take kids to Catholic school is permitted.

Again, being half-certain of the law is worse than knowing nothing sometimes.

But I would not call aid to church-run organizations unconstitutional just because the organization receiving funds is church-related. It depends on the activity - you can't say everyone can apply for funds as long as it's NOT a religious group. That would clearly be discriminatory.

Can the religious and other roles be disentangled? Perhaps. There could be rules set up for that too.

Or the government could just not give any of our money to any groups, and let people make their own decisions about charitable donations. That's a solution too.

Should be very interesting.

Answer 2

I think if anyone opens that door, there will be a flood of "debate" in the federal courts about many things the federal government does with tax dollars.

Social Security would have a hard time being defended on constitutional grounds, as would medicare, medicaid, farm subsidies, and a host of other "entitlement" programs.

I hope that the Supreme Court will in fact review the issue and will open that door. I believe that both the Executive and Legislative branches of our government are up the river on many issues without a constitutional "paddle".

Answer 3

I thought that this issue -- taxpayer's standing to sue government for violations of the Establishment clause -- was already settled law per Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, (1968).

You think that this case marks a dramatic turning point in the history of the U.S.? **chuckle** I guess you left-wingers always overdramatize your wonderful constitutional doctrine ....... as well as your theory that nothing ever gets done right in the U.S. unless the Supreme Court is doing it.

Answer 4

Don't worry so much about faith based programs... i supposed you are talking about Christianity .Worry that 3 men wer sworn in to the US Senate while their hand was on the KORAN.....
Homeland Security? Whose homeland is secure ? Not ours! Read about how our "SECURITY" systems are letting millions of illegals into our country......They are pouring over the boarders of the southwest....The cities are full of illegals.....Bank OF America is issuing credit without social security.numbers.....
Theres bigger fish to fry ......America is being inundated with problems we cannot possibly deal with......Theres no way, all we are hearing is talk......
When we have another 9/11 ,the very same people who threw God out of America will be begging Him for protection.....No wonder everything is out of wack.......America has no morals, and our ethics are twisted.....We are entertained by the antics of drug crazed whores and rich heiresses who contribute nothing to our lives.........
Don't worry about the faith based "problem" God is being kicked out of our country and He may not come back...

Answer 5

Oh, Sandra Day O'Connor. . . why did you leave us when we needed you most?

If this argument proves valid, I would hope that it will open the door for a lot of related ones, such as why churches use tithes to support candidates and still recieve tax exemptions. Theocracy to me just doesn't sound like that much fun.

Answer 6

I think you lost my support when you tried to say this would make us like Iran. Such over the top hyperbole was unneeded.

Answer 7

No. And Reuters is only slightly more reliable that the national enquirer.

Let's save law for the lawyers.

Answer 8

your question is so boring that I lost interest in it. if you don't like the way things are done then either run for office yourself and do something about it or you can just leave

Answer 9

The Constitution says Congress cannot establish a national church.

Faith-based programs are not Congress establishing a national church.

-Aztec276

Answer 10

Republicans claim to want to reduce public spending, yet all they do is funnel OUR money to their supporters: the nutso "holy" rollers, Haliburton, etc.

typical.