Vitter secures $100K for Louisiana anti-evolution group
Religous conservatives receiving funds have political ties to embattled senator
In a move ostensibly aimed at providing "better science education" in Louisiana schools, Sen. David Vitter has secured $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund an anti-evolution effort spearheaded by a religious group politically connected to the alleged prostitute-soliciting Republican.
Vitter secured an earmark in an upcoming labor, health and education financing bill for the Louisiana Family Forum, which The New Orleans Times Picayune reports has "taken the lead in promoting 'origins science,' which includes the possibility of divine intervention in the creation of the universe."
The group was founded by Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state lawmaker who now leads the conservative Family Research Council. The Louisiana Family Forum works to "present biblical principals" on public policy issues, and until a reporter questioned them about it, the group's Web site included a "battle plan to combat evolution," which argued the theory "has no place in the classroom."
Despite Vitter's admission earlier this year that he used a Washington, DC, call-girl service and allegations that he frequented prostitutes in New Orleans, the first-term Republican has maintained the support of religious conservatives in his home state.
In a YouTube clip posted by user "lafamilyforum," the group's executive director Gene Mills defended Vitter from comparisons to Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested in a restroom sex sting in June.
"The media's going to do whatever it can to smear any of the family values guys, and unfortunately Vitter has been elevated into that role, not because of what he has done on the family values front, which is commendable," but because of the prostitution allegations, Mills said. He went on to praise the fact that "Vitter has repented of the allegations. He sought forgiveness, reconciliation and counseling."
The political ties between Vitter and the group go beyond some much-needed recent PR help and stretch to the senator's first campaign in 2004, although the Family Forum's tax exempt status prohibits it from engaging in political activity, the Times Picayune reports.
"Dan Richey, the group's grass-roots coordinator, was paid $17,250 as a consultant in Vitter's 2004 Senate race," according to the newspaper. "Records also show that Vitter's campaign employed Beryl Amedée, the education resource council chairwoman for the Louisiana Family Forum."
Vitter's office downplayed the relationship between the senator and the group, saying it's not surprising their employees would overlap because of a shared philosophy.
"This program helps supplement and support educators and school systems that would like to offer all of the explanations in the study of controversial science topics such as global warming and the life sciences," Vitter said in a written statement.
Critics torpedoed the idea that Vitter's earmark was anything but an attempt to federally subsidize religious instruction.
"This is a misappropriation of public funds," Charles Kincade, a civil rights lawyer in Monroe, La., who has been involved in church-state cases told the Times Picayune. "It's a backdoor attempt to push a religious agenda in the public school system."
|
