Yesterday a nonpartisan group released a study claiming that the amount of federal grants given to faith-based organizations has declined from 2002 to 2004, as the total amount of funding available for federal grants has decreased over the past three years. The study was conducted by the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy. The group examined 28,000 grants made by nine federal agencies over three years. Kay Guinane of OMB Watch was quoted yesterday in a Washington Post article about the study, staying that it:

"is confirmation of the suspicion I've had all along, that what the faith-based initiative is really all about is de-funding social programs and dumping responsibility for the poor on the charitable sector. It sounds warm and fuzzy, but they've been cutting down the size of the pie all along."

Washington Post: Grants to Religious Groups Fall, Study Shows