President Barack Obama is looking for a few good men... but not for the military. The President signed a bill
Tuesday that put $5.7 billion into AmeriCorps service programs, according to AP, and he's now asking citizens to step up to the plate of national public service.
“It creates
opportunities to serve for students, seniors and everyone in between…
And it is just the beginning of a sustained, collaborative and focused
effort to involve our greatest resource — our citizens — in the work of
remaking this nation,” said Obama.
The new public service bill expands the reach of AmeriCorps, a government-funded group of 75,000 people of all
ages and backgrounds who seek to serve others through a network of partnerships with
local and national nonprofit groups. Under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, President Obama has created an "army of 250,000 Corps members" who would serve in paid positions of
national service.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would cost $1.2 billion in 2010 and significantly more in subsequent years.
The New York Times called the new bill
the "largest expansion of government-sponsored service
programs since President John F. Kennedy first called for the creation
of a national community service corps in 1963."
The new bill would will have a profound impact on charitable organizations, many of which have been seriously crippled by the economy.
“This bill includes a new Social Innovation Fund that will bring
nonprofits and foundations and faith-based organizations and the
private sector to the table with government so that we can learn from
one another’s success stories, " said Obama. "We’ll invest in ideas that work,
leverage private-sector dollars to encourage innovation, expand
successful programs to scale and make them work in cities across
America.”
The Serve America Act expands national service
programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community
Service, a federal agency created in 1993. The Agency engages four
million Americans in result-driven service each year, including 75,000
AmeriCorps members, 492,000 Senior Corps volunteers, 1.1 million Learn
and Serve America students, and 2.2 million additional community
volunteers mobilized and managed through the agency’s programs.
Is this good news? It's hard to tell, but most would respond according to party lines. Democrats see the new bill as a victory, while Republicans lay witness to the transference of charity work from the private sector to government. Either way, we're left wondering; is this a 2009 version of the New Deal, or simply Obama's plans from the beginning? Given his stump speeches about reinvigorating public service during the campaign trail, it seems to be more an Obamaism and less about economics.
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