The mosque, the federal grant and the president’s executive order

During the national debate over the wisdom of developers locating a mosque near Ground Zero, proponents of the mosque kept calling it a community center. I thought that was to soften the impact of the term ‘mosque’ when it was used in conjunction with a site attacked by Islamists who killed thousands of innocent civilians. But that was before I read about a grant application and a White House executive order.

Park 51 is (technically) the community center that will contain Cordoba House which is described by Park 51 as the “religious component of the center.”

Now The Daily Beast claims the mosque has applied for a $5 million federal grant that is part of taxpayer money set aside for redevelopment of lower Manhattan.

Those funds are channeled through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In September LMDC issued an announcement calling for grant applications. LMDC said the Community and Cultural Enhancement Program would make available up to $17 million for not-for-profit and government organizations. The application deadline was set for Nov. 5.

TDB said the mosque applied for the grant in early November—“The application was submitted under a ‘community and cultural enhancement’ grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC), which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development. The redevelopment board declined to comment on the application (as did officials from Park51), citing the still ongoing and confidential process of determining the grant winners.”

The US Report obviously cannot verify TDB’s claims so it’s up to you to decide whether they’re legit.

We have a complete lack of transparency here, a situation all too common when the feds spend taxpayer money.

However, there’s a curious turn of events at the Park 51 website when viewed in context of a presidential executive order.

Park51 gave a nod on Nov. 19 to President Barack Obama for signing the order “that strengthens the ability of faith-based organizations to help individuals, families and communities in need. Faith-based organizations may keep their icons, symbols, scriptures in their facilities, religious references in their mission statements and governance while continuing to receive government support and assistance for social service programs.”

Looks like a plan came together to me. You can read Obama’s executive order dated Nov. 18 at the White House website.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Nov. 22, 2010)