You haven't followed some of the news from the health care debate and pressure on family services from the government. The rule making would not be described as "appeasement".
People don't see how much groups like Catholic Family Services or ELCA help in a lot of places the government has ignored. They don't advertise how much they do.
There's a major difference between pandering and appeasement, I think. I'm not American but my perception is more that politicians pander to religious groups to sway large voting blocks, not with any actual intention of treating religious bodies with any future political reward.
