INDIANAPOLIS — In his first major policy address, Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush on Thursday proposed an $8-billion program to significantly expand the role of faith-based charities and other community groups in delivering services to the needy.
Bush told an enthusiastic, interracial audience at a church here that he would offer tax incentives, changes in federal regulations and new grant programs meant to give neighborhood groups a central role in tackling problems from day care to drug addiction.
"In every instance where my administration sees a responsibility to help people," Bush said, "we will look first to faith-based organizations, to charities and to community groups . . . ."
As intriguing as Bush's specific proposals was the speech's overall tone, which laid out his view of government's role more clearly than he has so far. He called for "limited" government and repeated his promise to offer a tax cut plan later in the campaign.
But he also pointedly separated himself from President Reagan's famous declaration that "government is the problem," as well as the rallying cry of congressional GOP conservatives that Washington should simply "leave us alone."
"The American government is not the enemy of the American people," Bush insisted. "At times it is wasteful and grasping. But we must correct it, not disdain it."
Bush maintained that one proper role for the federal government is to provide grass-roots institutions with resources to tackle problems themselves. By noting that government role, he went beyond a general praise of volunteerism, implicitly distancing himself from the "thousand points of light" theme that marked the presidency of his father.
In his speech, the Texas governor said: "It is not enough to call for volunteerism. Without more support and resources--both private and public--we are asking [religious charities] to make bricks without straw."
In all, the speech made clear that Bush, much like Bill Clinton in 1992, hopes to change his party's image with a message that blends its traditional goals with ideas usually associated with the other side of the political spectrum.
"This is the articulation of a new kind of conservative public philosophy," said John J. DiIulio, a professor of religion and politics at the University of Pennsylvania who advised Bush on the speech.
But Bush's effort to define an activist but limited role for government is likely to draw intense focus from rivals in both parties.
