Obama Keeps Bush's Religion Policy

President Obama always was a bigger fan of Bush's faith-based initiatives than many of his Democratic counterparts, but he surprised observers on Thursday when he decided to keep in place rules allowing beneficiaries of federal cash to factor religion into their hiring practices. During the campaign, Obama had indicated he would reverse the policy, saying in July that "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." Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA) told the Los Angeles Times that he was surprised by the apparent reversal. "You'll have to ask them why they think it's all right to discriminate," Scott said.