Reprint from the Secular Coalition for America:
Last night Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) filed a D.C. voucher amendment to the second jobs bill under consideration by the Senate. The D.C. voucher program uses taxpayer funds to pay for parents to send their children to private religious schools. The program is called the “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” but a 2007 government report found that these vouchers do not give D.C. students seeking a private school education sufficient secular choices, forcing them to attend religious schools or remain in the failing public school system.
By design, voucher programs aid struggling Christian schools. A July 2009 report by Rutgers University on the D.C. voucher program concluded that the way the voucher program is structured “essentially push[es] students into Christian Association and Catholic schools, pricing out independent (non-religious) schools and Hebrew schools.”
By continuing this program, those of us who do not wish to subsidize someone else’s church will continue to be forced to do so through our federal tax dollars.
The vote will occur sometime today. Please take five minutes and email your Senators and tell them to vote against this amendment that would re-authorize this program.
The Secular Coalition for America opposes the use of government funds for religious purposes, including vouchers for religious schools. We agree with the founders of the United States that no individual taxpayer should be required to pay for someone else’s religion. We agree with James Madison. Senator Lieberman wants us to go in a different direction.
The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, with your tax money, funds and enables proselytizing and religious discrimination. Recipients of the vouchers who attend religious schools are not even allowed to opt out of religious activities at their school–a direct affront to religious freedom.
It is critical that you write your Senators today and ask them to oppose Sen. Lieberman’s amendment that would re-authorize this program and spend your taxes to fund the religious education of children in D.C.
great points Dave…to add…in a reach around squeezy they are also subsidized through our current tax system….I mean they get subsidized on both ends of our tax system….property tax breaks for the clubs and tax related incentives for club members and all to contribute to the special clubs…..
just when I thought I couldn’t be disgusted with religion more….
The good Senator is, religiously, a wing-nut. Just another politician trying to force people to conform to the ancient texts. Like in a couple of the Star Trek shows.
Lieberman/Palin 2012.Intergrity,knowledge,compassion.
Why on gods green earth is the secular coalition of america opposed to the colored children of the capital city getting a quality education.
Because they only want people attending their schools for the statist religion (i.e., the public schools). It’s most important for those most oppressed to learn to worship their oppressing god the state.
It’s been a year since I posted and I forget who was the gay atheist guy that I talked with here about blood donations allowing gays but it appears your day is coming. John Kerry and 16 other Dems and Bernie Sanders noted not a single piece of scientific evidence supports the ban in their formal letter to the FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
More proof Dave is not pro-choice. It’s not “struggling” Christian schools Dave. It’s kids who are forced to remain in FAILING public schools because of actions taken by groups such as AA. Clearly your cause is more valuable then trying to break the cycle of poverty that so many kids are trapped in, within our inner cities. More of that “higher moral standard” that so many atheists claim.
The concept of tax dollars somehow belonging to the Feds is another myth.
According to your view, seniors who collect SSI shouldn’t be allowed to tithe at their local church.
Is the tax refund check that we receive subject to your standards?
Clearly this is another lie to propagate an agenda…
seniors are getting their own money back dumb ass….they contributed by paying fica….
and unfortunately poverty in the us is race concentrated…that is there is a greater percentage of blacks and hispanics in poverty than whites….and your stupid religion provides instructions for racism….
In Western New York they are closing private catholic schools every year it seems…they would certainly love to have federal dollars to keep their dole coming in…I mean help the poor….
Quote from Charlie: “seniors are getting their own money back dumb ass….they contributed by paying fica….”
You mean the same as when everybody “contributes” taxes? You’re either ignorant of the truth, or being obtuse. The Supreme Court ruled 70 years ago that Social Security is welfare. It’s not insurance. It’s not a pension. It’s welfare funded by taxes.
what are you talking about geoih….FICA is “Federal Insurance Contributions Act.”….true they are taxes because congress can only collect taxes….but its clearly an employment insurance program and you have to contribute to – to receive the benefits of the program….
Theres been 2 supreme court rulings that had to do with constitutionality and taxing power rights of the congress….nothing about calling it a welfare program…..
please educate me….
If social security was “insurance”, then you would have contractual rights in it. That is what the Supreme Court ruled on. You have no rights in social security. That is why the government can change it whenever and however it wants and you have no recourse against it.
Putting the word “insurance” in the name of the legislation that created the program does not make it insurance.
your right we have no contractual rights….but phreedm is still a dumb ass
And speaking of lies…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100305/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_terror_trial
And AA really believes what the White House told them last week…Dave, remember your post AFTER the election where you complained about feeling used? At what point does a grown main learn from the past?
Dumbfounding. Stupefying.
@ what point does a grown man realize he’s not wanted, & goes away? Or that he’s not won a single debate ever, in the history of this blog?
Go away, phreddy.
Phreedm has a sound point KA the obama admin is a total fraud.How come liberals who bashed bush didn’t protest when democrats renewed patriot act last saturday.Or the increae in drone attacks, failure to close gitmo.Obama has increaed defense budget i don’t here liberals bitching about that.His healthcare plan is nothing more than corporate welfare.Obama the wall street tool will be picking cotton in 2013.
In my waning years, its so hilarious to watch these wannabe pundits try to pretend intelligence. Bush put our great great grandchildren in debt so that prick could go search for WMD’s in Iraq. Then Phreedork wants to blame Obama. McCain suspended his campaign to vote for the greed bailout, but now he blames Obama for wreckless spending. Palin can’t finish her term as governor after protecting us from Russia, but she can write a book, go on tour, and school us all on the political correctness of the word “retard”.
But, on the flipside, KA goes basing on Phreedork that he has never won a debate. I remember a debate about the Boys Scouts when he nicely cleaned Dave’s clock. His presentation was perfect, quoting opinions of previous previous presidents. He kicked some ass. While he might be an amoeba, at least the guy does his research.
NeoWolfe
Got link?
You then may want to take a page from his book – because no one’s seen you do that here ever.
I am generally opposed to vouchers because they funnel tax dollars to religious schools. However, I could be persuaded differently if there was any evidence that vouchers actually provide more opportunities for the kids who really need them. However, even with vouchers, the neediest kids get left out because private schools, including religious schools, are allowed to pick and choose who they will educate and the ones that need the most help don’t make the cut. Having a voucher doesn’t guarantee that a kid will get accepted into any private school.
Other than telling private schools if they want to participate in the voucher program, they have to accept a certain number of randomly selected school children, I don’t know what a possible fix could be.
Kathleen
Even the kids with the most academic/life potential could end up being sloths because the parents are gamers, facebook addicts, drug addicts, etc., and have no time for their kids. Not all teachers are stellar examples of the public educational system, but most are dedicated and truely care. Vouchers punish teachers, while the parents remain the same. How far can we bus students away from their enablers? Two districts? Five districts? Ten?
Bottom line, a good portion of education occurs at home. If there’s no follow up, teachers face a losing battle. How do we rectify that? Vouchers? What a joke!
Good for DC. Religous school or not, poor kids in a shitty district can at least have a shot at a decent education.
Religous instruction that parents find acceptable is much better than a bad district. I find the secular coalition to be on the wrong side of this battle.