President Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act is a radical left dream come true — albeit a clipped dream, thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. In effect, the measure is an all-inclusive social welfare bill intended to be as “transformational” as possible.

Well, inclusive for all except religious schools, as the bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. hopes to bring up for a vote Friday specifically bans religious schools from using infrastructure grants to renovate or otherwise improve their facilities. This being just one of many clues that betray the secular progressive authors behind the measure.

The bill includes a provision that provides infrastructure grants to improve child care safety, specifically to help child care providers “acquire, construct, renovate or improve” their facilities, Fox News reported, but Democrats took care to ensure that religious organizations like churches and synagogues that also have schools or child care services couldn’t benefit here.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., offered an amendment to strike the provision called the Religious Freedom Amendment, but it failed during the Ways and Means Committee’s markup in September, Fox News reported.

Kelly’s press secretary, Matt Knoedler, told the network the congressman was “disappointed” that Democrats prevented his amendment from passing.

“The congressman was disappointed that Democrats wouldn’t grant such a simple request to help our children during previous negotiations,” Knoedler said. “His Religious Freedom Amendment was an inclusive bill that would have given parents greater choice and allow them to pick a child care service that was best for them.”

Previous attempts to vote on the Build Back Better Act have been delayed by radical left members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who have been holding out over the insistence that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act must move together. Other issues like Medicare expansion and climate action provisions have been sticking points as well.

Pelosi holds a slim 221-213 majority in the House of Representatives and Republicans are united in their opposition, so she cannot afford many defections from her caucus and will not schedule a vote knowing the measure will fail. With the progressive caucus having 95 members, they pretty much control the process.

On excluding religious schools, some fall back on the “separation of church and state” claim — this being the same cabal behind the “Souls to the Polls” get-out-the-vote effort driving more and more politicking from the pulpit.

For a reason…separation of church and state

“recipients may not use the funds for modernization, renovation or repair of facilities that are primarily used for sectarian instruction or religious worship,”

— Eric Todd Johnson (@ToddJohnson1965) November 4, 2021

Here’s a sampling of responses with a different perspective from Twitter:

They can’t run their propaganda through a private school as efficiently as they can the public schools while they try to block parents from being involved.

— N (@bbq_is_good) November 4, 2021

This is ridiculous. The pandemic has revealed that public schools are worthless. It’s time to give school vouchers to parents and let them use the vouchers at private and religious schools.

— Craig Green (@Craig_543) November 4, 2021

So Bilk Back Better is anti-religion. I also understand that the free pre-k cannot be provided by any religious organization. This legislation is going nowhere.

— Mr. Irrelevant (@MrIrrel72789804) November 5, 2021

Just think about how every chance they they get to exclude your religious rights this country was founded on. https://t.co/6oVWGeUPD9

— Craig Fairbanks (@CraigFairbanks4) November 5, 2021

Its only build back better for the left. https://t.co/8PinBD7144

— Carol (@Carol38553) November 5, 2021

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Tom Tillison

Senior Staff Writer
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

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