Faith-based Obama rejects Constitution — updated

Boy, does he become more conservative in more ways every day.

Now, Barack Obama wants to expand Bush’s faith-based programs, including faith-based hiring and firing.

Err, Obama, the Constitution says:

No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. (Emphasis added.)

That’s public trust, like faith-based programs, not just public office.

And, this idea of “segregating” funds so that faith-based groups “only” hire/fire in the non-federally funded portion of their activities? Yeah, and how well does that work with funding non-wall building portions of Israel’s budget?

David Kuo, a conservative Christian who was deputy director of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003 and later became a critic of Bush's commitment to the cause, said Obama’s position on hiring has the potential to be a major “Sister Souljah moment” for his campaign.

Yesterday, he threw MoveOn under the bus; today, it’s secularists, and the Constitution, for the second time in 10 days. How many “Sister Souljah moments” does Obama have up his sleeve?

Oh, and what’s with having Kuo consult on all of this? This is a man who criticized Bush for not going far enough with faith-based initiatives

What next? By the time we get to the Fourth, we won’t have anything left to be patriotic about if we follow Obama.

Here’s Obama’s full speech, via TPM. Here’s the takeout graf:

First, if you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we'll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.

As I note above, this “segregation of funds” has been nothing but an enabler and pass-through when it comes to Israel and its building of the West Bank Wall.

Second, if you’re serious about this issue, how much is it going to cost for that much monitoring of faith-based groups that get federal funding?

Third, are faith-based groups going to try to avoid or dodge that scrutiny?

Fourth, I’m sure this WILL wind up being no less a photo-op than it was for Bush.