Congress Trying To Shut Out Poor

Conservatives in Congress want to take social services away from federal bureaucrats and hand them off to local charities. It’s a decent idea.

So why are they also trying to silence the charitable sector and hogtie it with regulations and reporting requirements?

Could it be that when it comes to the poor, the Newtzies want to plug their ears as well as wash their hands?

That’s the none-too-subtle impact of the Istook amendment. Named for its sponsor, Rep. Ernest Istook, Jr., R-Okla., it is tying Congress in a knot. Conservative Republicans threaten to oppose key budget legislation unless the amendment is attached.

Why? They take offense at political advocacy by nonprofit groups that receive federal aid. In Spokane and elsewhere, the funds in question help food banks in church basements, shelters for abused women and children, housing for low-income people, schooling and nutrition programs for homeless families - and more.

Nonprofit groups which provide these services do have a habit of speaking out for the needy people they assist. They preach sermons. They publish newsletters. They raise awareness of domestic violence and the shortage of affordable housing. They form coalitions devoted to particular social ills so that the large number of charities every town contains can focus and coordinate their efforts. They offer informed recommendations to government policy-makers.

All of these activities are protected by the U.S. Constitution. Political advocacy is the very essence of free speech and the right to petition government.

But all of these activities are threatened by the Istook amendment. It orders organizations that receive federal funds to report all “political advocacy” and to spend no more than 5 percent of their budgets on it. This goes far beyond existing limits on lobbying. Local charities, which struggle to find volunteers and funds for their central missions, have few resources for complying with onerous new federal paperwork requirements. To make matters worse, the amendment presumes nonprofit organizations guilty of violations by placing on them the legal burden of proving they’re not violating the rules. Conservatives deplore such mandates when they’re applied to their pals in the corporate sector.

Indeed, House Republicans voted down an effort to extend the Istook amendment to defense contractors and other for-profit recipients of federal funds. That speaks volumes.

If the right to speak freely applies to advocates for the B-2 bomber’s assembly lines, it certainly ought to apply to charities which extend helping hands to America’s poor.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board