White House seeks to revive faith-based plan

The White House is trying to salvage a piece of its campaign to boost religious charities, pressing Congress to approve new tax breaks for charitable giving before year's end, the Associated Press reported.

President Bush's more ambitious effort to open new government programs to religious groups is off the table--at least for now-- derailed by questions about its constitutionality and eclipsed by the terror attacks. It passed the House but has been stalled in the Senate since the summer.

White House domestic policy adviser John Bridgeland said Bush still supports the broader plan but is willing to push the scaled-backed version, whose elements enjoy widespread support in Congress. "This is where the consensus is with the Senate," he said.

Among other things, the revised package would give taxpayers who do not itemize deductions a new break for giving money to either religious or secular charitable organizations.