In an effort to further weaken the wall separating church and state, President Bush is seeking to expand his faith-based initiative to the state and local levels. He is pushing state and local governments to adopt rules and policies similar to federal regulations that favor faith-based groups in government-funded programs.

While House and Senate negotiators are beginning to advance must-pass export tax repeal legislation (H.R. 4520, S. 1637 ), some lawmakers are beating down doors to slip legislation harmful to nonprofits into the bill by the backdoor -- a bill that would allow church electioneering.

Low turnout among young voters is often ascribed to apathy, but part of the problem is the barriers young people face when casting ballots or trying to work at the polls. Nonprofits can help remove these barriers. In many states, to register to vote, you must establish a "fixed and permanent" address. Yet many young people's "fixed and permanent" address is miles away from where they spend eight months of each year. College residence generally does not qualify as "fixed and permanent" for purposes of voting, since it does not demonstrate intent to establish residency.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee rejected a resolution last Wednesday that would have sought information on Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force. The resolution sparked a rowdy and highly partisan committee session in which no debate was allowed before the vote. Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced House Resolution 745 on July 22. If passed, it would have asked President Bush to provide the House with specified task force information within two weeks. The information would include: