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3/20/2009
Volunteerism - at your expense
But not the volunteerism your grandmother knew. No way, not close. This is your government-sponsored type stuff. The New York Times explained it this way: The legislation, which passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 321 to 105, would more than triple the number of service positions by expanding AmeriCorps and creating volunteer programs focused on education, health care, clean energy and veterans. The total number of positions would grow to 250,000 from 75,000 now in AmeriCorps.
…. The broad expansion of AmeriCorps, at a cost of nearly $6 billion over the next five years, would establish Mr. Obama as the boldest proponent of service programs since Kennedy exhorted Americans to “ask what you can do for your country.”
…. Critics, however, expressed concern about the cost of the measure, and some said the money could be better spent, perhaps on raises for members of the military. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), proclaimed
“This is not about programs; this is about value.” Hmmm. Contrast that with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) who raised quite a stir Wednesday when she objected to the GIVE bill. Oh horrors. Strike the Last Word gave her the ultimate chutzpah award for comparing the “public service bill” to the AIG bailouts.
In both cases, we’re sending money out the door with no standards for effectiveness. Wow. Hear, hear. Chutzpah? No way. That’s truth-to-power, baby! Here’s more from Representative Foxx:
We are teaching our people to go to work for the government. What a shame! Shame on us! This country was not built on working for the government. It was built on volunteering and on the private sector. We are taking this country over with the government. The only place I could find that quote duplicated was via a commenter at the Daily Show blog, though I also heard the first and second sentences reported on a NPR newscast Thursday morning. Here’s a piece of what Rep. Foxx said this week that was widely printed.
Well, I think it’s important that we encourage volunteers, but this is a paid job. This is a government-authorized charity. Wow. You go girl. I’m lovin’ it.
Righteous Rantings offers a helpful analysis of “GIVE.” This disabled vet ably quotes the Congressional Research Service, describing in pretty good detail all the pieces of this big new “volunteer” complex. He then goes on to discuss exactly what conservatives must do to capitalize on all this goody-goody stuff.
If we simply sit back and complain about such programs and not offer our experience as competent and moral Conservatives to these youths who may very well be "drafted" (probably by court order in some cases) into it, then we will have no one but ourselves to blame if it breeds a mass of young ideology-driven Liberals.
…. Blind opposition without real action is Obstructionism. Taking a program that may very well have been conceived to strengthen the Liberal base, and turning it into a springboard for tomorrow's Conservatives is how you counteract these things. Now, that’s good stuff.Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Remember, Hitler was elected, and 96% of the voters agreed with his original platform of getting Germany back on track. He had his government-sponsored youth volunteer organizations. Not just the Hitler Youth; there was the national service stuff, too. He also had cozy deals with the mining, steel, chemical, and BANKING industries. He likewise "forgot" to declare some of his income in doing his taxes.
He passed laws squashing small businesses, leaving only the giant corporations. "Millions more had jobs", but the gap between rich and poor grew. "Sports...were organized on a massive scale", and "the workingman in Berlin...was somewhat cynical about the promises...(but) had no more hankering for revolt than anyone else".
Yes, the National Socialist German Workers party even had the USDA (oops, I mean the Blut und Boden) promising farmers interest-free loans; there were farmland preservation laws and university extensions where farmers could get up-to-date information.
"Two basic laws...reorganized the entire structure of (farm) production and marketing", and the USDA and FDA (oops, I mean the Reich Food Estate) had "authority over every conceivable branch of agriculture".
All quotes above from "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". I wonder, what will people be writing about the US in 80 years' time?
emily matthews (Fri Mar 20 10:31:41 2009)
I wonder, what will people be writing about the US in 80 years' time?
fox cities news, appleton, wi
emily matthews (Fri Mar 20 10:31:41 2009)
I suppose that depends on who is writing the history books. FDR is wrongly credited with saving capitalism and getting us out of the Great Depression, when any rational look at the facts would indicate that his policies were not that much different from his predecessor, only he greatly expanded the interventionist approach, and that these actions greatly prolonged the Depression.
I suspect that this go round will be similar, because if anything, socialism is even more entrenched in academia now than it was in the 30's and 40's.
Ken Van Doren (Sun Mar 22 12:27:22 2009)
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