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President Barack Obama is spending almost $600 million to build community health centers and to make medical records easier to find. The White House on Wednesday painted the spending -- part of the $787 billion stimulus bill the president championed during his first days in office -- as a way to add jobs to a struggling economy. Officials also linked it to the administration's broader push for an overhaul of the nation's health systems that remains unfinished in Congress.

Conservative Republicans are capitalizing on the troubles of community activist group ACORN—ranging from charges of voter registration fraud to embarrassing videos of its employees—to revive their long-standing fight against a federal law that grades banks on their investments in poor and minority neighborhoods. The 1977 Community Reinvestment Act was intended to end redlining, a practice in which banks in effect walled off many inner-city neighborhoods from mortgage loans. But some GOP lawmakers say it has outlived its purpose and is being used inappropriately by ACORN to shake down banks for money. They want to repeal the law, scale it back...

House Minority Leader John Boehner introduced legislation Tuesday that would break all federal government ties with ACORN, and Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder requesting an investigation by the Justice Department House Minority Leader John Boehner introduced legislation Tuesday that would break all federal government ties with ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. And Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder requesting an investigation by the Justice Department. He cited reports that ACORN may "have been engaged in illegal activity" by aiding and abetting tax evasion, prostitution, human trafficking, fraud and...

Here’s a thought to ponder. Let’s think of a community of families that each agree to put aside a minimum of $100 CASH a month. They agree that this cash will henceforth ONLY be spent within the community – and physical cash will be the only currency accepted. Any purchases not made in the community will be made with other resources. There would be no “central bank” within the community. There would be no central figure to “trust”. The only requirement is a verbal agreement to use that money within the community by buying and selling with other members, or...

"The Democrats did not lose Congress in 1994 because they failed to pass health care reform. They lost Congress in 1994 because they failed to rally the public behind health care reform. Had Democrats successfully sold Clintoncare to the public and then passed it, their majorities might have been saved. But had Democrats gone ahead and passed it anyway, under the conditions that existed in summer of 1994, their losses likely would have been even greater" "1994 was fundamentally a culling of Democrats who were too liberal for their Republican-leaning districts. Republicans defeated 34 incumbents that year." "There were two...

Students would pay out-of-state tuition and wouldn't get government grants or loans Community colleges in North Carolina would be required to admit students who are not legal residents of the United States if the state approves a proposed policy. The state Board of Community Colleges will consider a proposal that would admit students who aren’t in the country legally and require them to pay the out-of-state tuition rate.

Analysis: Critics co-opt Obama organizing playbookBy LIZ SIDOTI (AP) – 1 day ago WASHINGTON — There's a certain irony here. The 20th century community organizer who used 21st century tools for his people-powered White House campaign now finds himself besieged by citizens airing their grievances at 19th century-inspired town hall style meetings. Barack Obama's top legislative goal hangs in the balance and his popularity is suffering as critics co-opt his tech-savvy organizing methods, tag him as a boogyman and disrupt local gatherings on his proposed health care overhaul. Is the groundbreaking campaigner, whose White House political arm is aptly called...

I have a question to you, my fellow freeper community: Fellow Patriots: Forgive the vanity, but I have a question, and would like a solid answer(s) becuase it is really the only way that we will continue to build the movement? WE ALL KNOW that the majority of the population is against Obamacare/Nationalized Healthcare, however eventually we will reach a plateau of support against the President/Congress Plans (eventually protests, media against this plan) will reach a point where the numbers probably will not change mucy (I'd say 65% Against 35% for), anyway my question is how do we reach those...

YAKIMA, Wash. -- One of the most remote communities in the lower 48 states is finally set to get phone service. The National Park Service is allowing a small telephone company to use public land to bring service to Stehekin, about 100 miles northeast of Seattle in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Stehekin has about 80 year-round residents and is reachable only by boat, float plane or a several-day hike through the wilderness. The phone company, WeavTel, has been pursuing a chance to install telephone service there for years, despite opposition from some residents who don't want it. A...

Forget Norman Rockwell. The town hall meetings that many representatives and senators are holding back in their districts to make the case for a health care overhaul are turning into knockdown-dragouts. Some of the aggressive questioning, and even heckling, of legislators meeting with constituents across the country appears to be staged. A memo on "best practices" for disrupting town hall meetings has surfaced on the Web. A conservative group in Connecticut called Right Principles laid out how it "conducted an action" at a town hall meeting of Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) in late May, even calling it a "potential playbook"...

Robert Nisbet’s Quest Seattle, WA Robert Nisbet’s 1953 book The Quest for Community has rightfully achieved that rare and estimable status of “classic.” What Nisbet saw more clearly than most of his contemporaries - or ours - is that one of the deepest flaws of the modern era was its hostility to the reality of groups. Modern liberalism (developed, among others by Thomas Hobbes, and later John Locke - and, at its root, Nisbet argued, in developments of Protestant theology) was broadly conceived in the backdrop of a hostility to organizations, institutions, communities and groups by which people defined their...

We’ve all seen it. In our schools, our children’s schools, public meetings, television shows, leadership seminars, political speeches, and even in legislation supported by the President, the message is clear: we should all be doing community service. The fact is that the call to service is greater now than at any time in our country’s past, and the pressure to provide it even greater. The pressure to conform to the growing demand to volunteer your self, in body and bankbook, can be daunting. When confronted with a group of peers, all telling you how much you are needed, it can...

As tutors, mentors and role models, these young leaders make a difference in the lives of children, and transform schools and neighborhoods in 18 U.S. locations and Johannesburg, South Africa. Just as important, during their year of service corps members develop civic leadership skills they can use throughout a lifetime of community service.

PORT O’CONNOR, Texas, May 21, 2009 – Because soldiers spend most of their time with other soldiers, their everyday lives seem completely normal to them. But every once in a while, they run into someone who tells them that what they do is extraordinary. Motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard Riders show their support to servicemembers at the Warrior's Weekend in Port O'Connor, Texas, May 16, 2009. Local residents treated wounded soldiers and veterans to free fishing at the event. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Pvt. Michael Varner, a cannon crew...

However, at Maryland-based First United Corp.'s annual meeting of shareholders yesterday, one banker spent a considerable amount of time trying to set the record straight about who's responsible for the nation's economic woes, and -- more to the point -- who's not. (A slideshow of the presentation may be found here in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.) For those keeping track, the government gave First United a $30 million infusion of capital on Jan. 30. The bank got the money through the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program -- part of TARP -- in exchange for 30,000 shares...

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 27, 2009 – More than 240 Wardak province residents became the first to graduate from the new Afghan Public Protection Force program designed to enhance security throughout Afghanistan. After a rigorous, three-week training program, the graduates proudly accepted their certificates of completion yesterday in front of an audience that included high-level officials from the Afghan government, Wardak province elders, Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, and other distinguished guests. The Afghan Public Protection Force is an Afghan-led program that is designed to provide enhanced security to designated...

My mom was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer a little under five months ago. It had spread into the lymph nodes, and getting the news was one of those things that I will never forget. I would throw myself under the wheels of a bus if doing so would protect my mother; and hearing that she had cancer - the very same form of cancer that took her own mother's life - was frightening. My mom went through 3 months of chemo that left her as bald as a cue ball, and had surgery this week. She is now...

FORT HUACHUCA — Army soldiers are all volunteers. It is also said that when a soldier marries, the resulting family also volunteers to serve the country. Some soldiers and their families take volunteering a step further by being active in their local community. That can be said of the Dean family on Fort Huachuca. The family of four — Sgt. 1st Class Chad Dean, his wife Charity and their two teenage sons, Brandon, 15, and Bradley, 13 — spend hours in Scouting, youth football and other activities on and off the post. Like many parents who volunteer their services, Chad...

NEW YORK, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), together with other community groups, today met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion to express their concerns about the mayor's "uncritical" support for Israel's recent attacks on Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians.

CAMP VICTORY — Although Iraq has taken huge steps toward becoming a safe and democratic nation, there is still more to be done. To that end, The United States Agency for International Development is continuing its mission to bring peace and stability to Iraq through various community programs. “USAID has been in Iraq since 2003 and has spent over 6.1 billion dollars through various programs designed to promote peace and stability,” said Maj. Gita Velu, liaison officer to USAID. USAID is a branch of the State Department based in Washington D.C. with offices in developing countries all over the world....

Have you remembered to pay heed to Barack Obama worship services at his inauguration this Tuesday? If you are a Verizon customer you just might be getting an urgent reminder of this sacred duty in the form of a robocall as related by Brian Maloney of the Radio Equalizer: Yesterday, I was all set to write a smug, self-congratulatory post regarding my tremendous wisdom in finally dumping Comcast a few weeks ago for the complete Verizon Fios package, including cable. With Comcrap now establishing an all-Obama channel, isn’t it finally time to make the switch? Sadly, however, Verizon did something...

Although the number of uninsured and the cost of coverage in the United States have ballooned under his watch, President George W. Bush leaves office with a health care legacy in bricks and mortar: He has doubled U.S. financing for community health centers, enabling the creation or expansion of 1,297 clinics in medically underserved areas. For those in poor urban neighborhoods and isolated rural areas, including Indian reservations, the clinics are often the only dependable providers of basic services like prenatal care, childhood immunizations, asthma treatments, cancer screenings and tests for sexually transmitted diseases. As a crucial component of the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24, 2008 – Afghanistan’s government is preparing a pilot program in community policing that’s expected to debut in the near future, a senior Defense Department official said here today. Afghan authorities are starting to take a look at a community engagement type of program on a small scale, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. The program is designed to facilitate information sharing and build trust between Afghan citizens and their local, provincial and central governments, Whitman said. “This is an Afghan initiative that is supported by the military forces that are there [and] by the U.S. government,” Whitman...

I am so tired of hearing that conservatism is dead. Many of us want to get organized to influence the 2010 elections and beyond. We need to start now. I had never attended a Republican party meeting before, but went to the local meeting after the elections. I was disappointed in the agenda and the direction of the party. The turn out (about 30) was low, but evidently more than they usually had. We volunteered to help with the data analysis of the elections and generated some interesting abnomalities. I sent in the results that we had and asked for...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 3, 2008 – Afghan and coalition forces celebrated with local villagers Dec. 1 at a ribbon-cutting for a new low-water bridge near Kandahar city. The Commando Bridge will provide easier access to areas around the city, including a bazaar, a school under construction and a nearby highway. A rainstorm several months ago flooded the creek that the new bridge spans, making travel through the area difficult, and Afghan army officials approached coalition forces about the need for a bridge. The project was funded through the Commanders’ Emergency Response Program, which allows leaders to fund projects that meet...

Iraqi national policemen from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, Civil Affairs Team, gather with Iraqi children from an elementary school in the Doura community of southern Baghdad Nov. 20. The NPs are part of a freshly formed CA Team created by Soldiers from Company D, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to the 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. U.S. Army photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — The Iraqi National Police, dedicated to enforcing Baghdad’s rule of law, introduced civil capacity and municipality improvement to their skills set working...

BAGHDAD — With security conditions in Baghdad improving as the year draws to a close, U.S. Soldiers stationed at Joint Security Station Washash are finding creative ways to continue their offensive against the enemies of Iraq. Although there are fewer doors to kick down and attacks to counter, leaders like 1st Lt. Chris Ustler, a platoon leader with Troop B, 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, have not allowed the lull in violent activity to equate to a lull in operations. His Soldiers now find themselves walking the streets of Baghdad, handing out fliers...

AL-QAYARRAH — The 16th Sustainment Brigade took a major step in its effort to get water to the drought-prone Ninawa province in northern Iraq Nov. 5, 2008. Soldiers and contractors from contingency operating base Q-West began installation of a second high-capacity, multi-stage centrifugal water-pump at the Al-Qayyarah pump house at the Tigris River. The pump house, which provides water to many communities in the province as well as Q-West, has been shut down since September. By Keith Anderson 16th Sustainment Brigade AL-QAYARRAH — The 16th Sustainment Brigade took a major step in its effort to get water to the drought-prone...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2008 – More than 1,000 students, teachers and parents crowded into a Fort Mitchell, Ky., school auditorium Oct. 24 to thank Army paratroopers and their families from Fort Bragg, N.C., for their service. Army Spc. Mike Gaither enjoys a handmade card from a Beechwood Elementary School student. Photo courtesy of Beechwood Support Our Troops  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Fort Mitchell community “adopted” the 82nd Airborne Division’s Company B, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, several years ago after learning about America Supporting Americans, a group that connects communities with...

In recent years, as Wall Street boomed, Americans often dismissed Europe as a place for languorous meals and vacations, not economic innovation. London remained a financial hub, of course, but it was often treated dismissively — as a flashy aberration pumped up by petrodollars from Russia and the Gulf, an exception to the otherwise somnolent Continent.

Much has been made of Senator Obama's post-collegiate experience as a "Community Organizer" in Black (Negro) areas of the vast Chicago Southside. At the Republican Convention, the mere concept obtained some 'mileage' as a source for humor. The idea of an Ivy League College boy coming, full of the Leftwing theories & notions so popular in certain Colleges and Universities in post McKinley America, to tell those living in a large ethnic community how to organize that community is, admittedly, inherently funny. It is not humor in any way peculiar to the racial makeup of south Chicago; indeed, no different...

The Clinton administration has turned the Community Reinvestment Act, a once-obscure and lightly enforced banking regulation law, into one of the most powerful mandates shaping American cities—and, as Senate Banking Committee chairman Phil Gramm memorably put it, a vast extortion scheme against the nation's banks. Under its provisions, U.S. banks have committed nearly $1 trillion for inner-city and low-income mortgages and real estate development projects, most of it funneled through a nationwide network of left-wing community groups, intent, in some cases, on teaching their low-income clients that the financial system is their enemy and, implicitly, that government, rather than their...

If you haven't heard the audio of the particularly disgraceful Democrat talking point comparing Obama to Jesus Christ and Governor Palin to the man who sentenced Him to death by crucifixion, check out this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDA_sMqs564We really need anyone still riding the fence about how to vote, especially Christians in this case, to understand just how low the Obamaites have stooped and the blatant contempt they have for the things many of us hold dear.

Governors and Community Organizers I have seen of late the proposition that Jesus Christ was a "community organizer", and that Pontius Pilate was a "governor". The obvious connection that is implied is that Barack Obama is like Jesus Christ, and Sarah Palin is like Pontius Pilate. I guess one could possibly draw those conclusions I would agree that Barack Obama is more "community organizer" than "governor. However, it would be quite a stretch to take a Michael Moore connect the dots approach to comparing Community Organizer Barack Obama to Community Organizer Jesus Christ. Since this is all just silliness, let’s...

The radical left-wing 'community organizer' group ACORN is doing all it can to steal the presidential election in Michigan. According to the Detroit Free Press:Several municipal clerks across the state are reporting fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications, most of them from a nationwide community activist group working to help low- and moderate-income families.The majority of the problem applications are coming from the group ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which has a large voter registration program among its many social service programs. ACORN's Michigan branch, based in Detroit, has enrolled 200,000 voters statewide in recent months, mostly...

A New Model for Catholic Community by Eric Pavlat 9/12/08 To some, the phrase "Catholic Community" conjures up images of exclusive ghettos -- areas of faith-filled Catholics who live close together and are so different from the world outside that they fail to engage it in any meaningful way. At the other extreme is contemporary Catholic life, where churchgoers attend the parish of their choice (which may or may not be their neighborhood parish), rarely see their fellow Catholics outside of the Mass, and do not so much influence the culture as merge into it. Enter Chris Currie, who seems...

The predominantly frustrated battle-hatchets on "The View," ABC's Charles Gibson, and a host of other Barrack Obama rump swabs and lap dogs have been taking ill-aimed and demonstrably disingenuous potshots at Governor Palin lately, and it's time the two most glaring inconsistencies in their screed were addressed and put to bed. A typical liberal tactic is to change the topic of their losing argument by re-framing it with perjorative innuendo which implies your opponent has emplyed an unfair smear. This takes the focus off the fact that the Liberal is wrong, and often puts the opponent on the defensive, at...

But Obama was also worried about something else. He told Kellman that he feared community organizing would never allow him "to make major changes in poverty or discrimination." To do that, he said, "you either had to be an elected official or be influential with elected officials." In other words, Obama believed that his chosen profession was getting him nowhere, or at least not far enough. Personally, he might end up like his father; politically, he would fail to improve the lot of those he was trying to help. And so, Obama told Kellman, he had decided to leave community...

Ken Williams, left, and partner Allen Carrel helped make a South Side neighborhood a little bit nicer with a park "for all people." I don't have enough room to list everyone who helped transform a vacant lot into the beating heart of a neighborhood. That's good. It's good that the changes in Ganthers Place on Columbus' South Side -- and its new pocket park -- are the products of a multitude. It makes them feel stronger, more permanent and sure. When the city and Keep Columbus Beautiful dedicate the Ganthers Park for All People today, they doubtless will enumerate...

Really, am I the only one who thinks that being a "Community Organizer" is disqualifying? The only current day "community organizers" I can think of would be Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Both of these I see as shakedown artists. Maybe I could add Calypso Louis? Who else? ML/NJ

With the brouhaha on the left over GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's belittling of Senator Barack Obama's previous career as a 'community organizer' (note that she didn't offer any guidance as to what community organizing actually consists of or why she thinks it unworthy of respect) still in progress, it just occurred to me that Barack Obama is not the only member of the United States Senate who was a so-called community organizer. So was Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Byrd, who as president pro tempore of the Senate is third in the line of presidential succession, was a...

...But Obama did not decide only that "community organizing" was not for him. Judis reports the future senator took part in a September 1989 symposium in which he "rejected the guiding principles of community organizing: the elevation of self-interest over moral vision; the disdain for charismatic leaders and their movements; and the suspicion of politics itself." Later, Obama "would begin to construct a political identity for himself that was not simply different from his identity as a community organizer--but was, in fact, its very opposite."...

Hello fellow FReepers, Are you tired of Barack Obambi and the lamestream media tearing apart our SarahCuda? Barack Obama has just presented us with a GOLDEN opportunity to destroy his Get Out The Vote efforts - all from the comfort of our computer chair. Do you have 5 minutes to spare? You will be anonymous - and HIGHLY EFFECTIVE! Here are the details: Barack Obama has just started an on-line way for his "supporters" to actively participate in his Get Out The Vote drive. It is called "Neighbor-to-Neighbor". Essentially, you "register" on his web site and they provide you with...

Service Changes People’s CharacterJerry Kellman, Barack Obama's supervisor during the candidate's days as a community organizer, talks about the attacks from the Republican Convention—and the vital role organizers play. Newsweek Web Exclusive Sep 5, 2008 | Updated: 8:17 p.m. ET Sep 5, 2008 **SNIP** NEWSWEEK: Palin questioned what Obama did as an organizer, whether he had responsibilities. What was his job like? KELLMAN: In the beginning he was by himself, he would talk to me and I would support him but that was pretty brief. Mostly, he was on his own on a small budget. Out of those scarce resources,...

Iraqi Army Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, sort through a large cache discovered in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Aug. 14, 2008, after a resident informed the unit of its location. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott. PATROL BASE COMANCHE — In the three months since the Iraqi Army began patrolling inside the Sadr City district of Baghdad, the Soldiers conducting these patrols have worked hard to cultivate a relationship with the people there. Constant patrols, handing out food and water as well as providing medical services have helped advance this new relationship. In...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 14, 2008 – More than 100 local women who attended the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team Woman’s Shura in the province’s Anaba district Aug. 4 participated in discussions on the welfare of their villages and addressed ongoing issues. A group of Afghan women and Air Force Capt. Jillian Torango, of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, participate in a women’s shura, or community meeting, in Sangee sillage in the province’s Anaba district, Aug. 4, 2008. About 100 women attended and discussed their issues with the Panjshir PRT women’s affairs team. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2008 – Wounded and disabled veterans transitioning back into civilian life can continue serving their country through a program that helps them settle back into their communities as leaders. The Center for Citizen Leadership was founded on two principles, said Eric Greitens, its chairman. The center first builds on veterans’ strengths. “Our veterans possess incredible strength that comes from their service in combat. Some also have the strength that comes from learning to overcome and live with a disability,” he said. The second principle, he said, is that the Center for Citizen Leadership does not offer...

BAGHDAD — As the sun baked the urban Iraqi streets to a soul-melting 120 degrees, Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers continued a mission that has occupied much of the past four months for them. Members of the Scout/Sniper Platoon from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, walk and drive the streets of the Sha’ab neighborhood in the Adhamiyah district of northern Baghdad to meet the people and to help deter extremists from conducting attacks there. But, these Soldiers aren’t the only ones on the front lines protecting the...

Just outside his sealed bedroom window, beyond the chain-link fence that surrounds his next-door neighbor's yard, sit the reasons David Adams says he can't sleep: two bushy-tailed dogs that bark and howl all night. The Magnolia, Miss., resident plugged up his ears and even took his neighbor to court alleging a noise violation. But the barking went on. Finally he discovered a Web site seemingly tailor-made for such suburban woes: http://www.RottenNeighbor.com. "Nothing seemed to work. I couldn't get any help from the city," Adams said. "So I figured, let's try public humiliation." He posted a video of the troublesome pooches...

Here’s a possible silver lining for sky-high prices of gasoline: It could encourage more and more Americans to claim ownership over their communities. Years and years of cheap gas encouraged people to move farther and farther away from their workplaces. As cities became unattractive, workers fled to the suburbs, encouraged by cheap transportation. When they arrive at work, American workers have increasingly worked longer and longer hours, so as soon as they got a spare minute they could flee – screaming – from their lives. Cheap transportation has turned American life into one act of escapism after another. We don’t...