Believe In America.com

butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2269

A plan that would cut off the pipeline of taxpayer money that now flows into American Civil Liberties Union coffers has been advanced by the House Judiciary Committee.

The Public Expression of Religion Act, introduced by Indiana Congressman John Hostettler, now will move to the full House for a vote, he said in his announcement this week.

"This is a big victory for Americans who care about our rich religious heritage in this country," he said. "There is a lot of excitement about this bill."

It has been vigorously supported by the American Legion, where Commander Rees Lloyd described it as "a long overdue victory for justice, freedom, democracy, and the First Amendment."

"The American Legion has fought for reform of the attorney fee provisions of federal law which the ACLU has exploited to reap millions of dollars in taxpayer-paid attorney fees in Establishment Clause cases," Lloyd's statement said.

He said the ACLU has used the threat of the fees as 'a club' to bludgeon local elected bodies into surrendering to the ACLU's "secular cleansing demands."

The plan came about after the ACLU, "the Taliban of American liberal secularism," according to Lloyd, sued to tear down a cross on a rock outcrop erected by veterans as a memorial to World War I veterans in 1934 in the remote Mojave Desert.

Officials noted someone would have to drive 11 miles off the highway "to be offended" by the cross.

There had been no complaints against the memorial in 60 years, until the ACLU sued to have it removed, and then asked for and got $63,000.

"The American Legion," said former American Legion National Commander Tom Bock, "is in full support" of the plan. He said it would take away the authority of judges to award attorney fees to the ACLU in lawsuits under the Establishment Clause.

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http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51907