Interview With Former Director of Faith-Based Initiatives, Jim Towey

(Hat tip: Catholic World News)

From the Milwaukee Catholic Herald:

... Appointed head of faith-based initiatives

Towey got the job and for nearly four and a half years advanced the cause of faith-based initiatives and also advised the president on church-state and compassion issues.

Although he described himself as a pro-life Democrat, Towey said, “I liked President Bush instantly and I liked this initiative. That does not mean I agree with him on other issues necessarily, but on this one, he was dead-on right. President Bush put it best, ‘Government can’t love,’” he said, describing why he believes the initiative has been successful. “Government can’t put hope in a person’s heart or a purpose in their lives. I watched Mother Teresa and what she was able to do was love and affirm human dignity and invite individuals to change. I saw the limitations of what government could and couldn’t do. The reality is if we are going to improve the plight of our poor, government is not going to be our savior.”

Initiative is here to stay

Towey believes the faith-based initiative is permanent.

“I do think it’s taken root in the heartland. There are over 30 governors with faith-based offices, hundreds of mayors. The reality is people who are closest to the action on the streets realize faith-based organizations play a very important role in addressing the needs of the poor,” he said.

Towey said the president’s executive order creating this initiative has led to the equal treatment of faith-based groups and “I’d be shocked if a successor president would come in and say, ‘Let’s turn the clock back and discriminate against religious charities again.’”

President Bush’s legacy will include the success of the faith-based initiative, he predicted.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the initiative will not continue to be the target for groups that advocate strict church-state separation.

Court case challenges work

In fact, last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Hein vs. the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a case originally filed in 2004 (then called Towey vs. the Freedom From Religion Foundation) where the Wisconsin-based foundation sued to challenge the initiative on First Amendment grounds. The foundation argued that White House officials were using public money to help church-based groups win grants and contracts.

While admitting if the court sides with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, “it will grind the work of the faith-based organizations to a premature halt, because the offices would then be complying with sweeping document requests that will tie up all the employees,” Towey said he believes the court will side with the Bush administration and will overrule the court of appeals.

“I’m confident that the court heard the arguments last week and it will be a dreadful precedent to allow this kind of litigation which is meant to harass and intimidate government officials and designed to thwart the public policy of a duly-elected president. I would be astonished if the court would allow that kind of precedent,” he said...

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My Comments:
Jim Towey appears to be a very decent man who is nevertheless somewhat naive to the way Washingon works. Towey's naivete is betrayed by comments such as:

“I’d be shocked if a successor president would come in and say, ‘Let’s turn the clock back and discriminate against religious charities again.’ ”

and

“I’m confident that the court heard the arguments last week and it will be a dreadful precedent to allow this kind of litigation which is meant to harass and intimidate government officials and designed to thwart the public policy of a duly-elected president. I would be astonished if the court would allow that kind of precedent.”

I'll make no comments as to his self-identification as a "pro-life Democrat".

Please read the whole thing. Despite being a Democrat, Towey has some kind words for the President and dismisses the caricatures of him as "nonsense". He also talks about the "fair amount of hate mail" he receives from fellow Democrats because of his relationship with the Bush Administration.