Posted on 09/14/2008 11:53:43 AM PDT by Leisler
WASHINGTON - Leading Republicans and Democrats are calling for a new wave of volunteerism aimed directly at some of the most pressing problems facing the nation, from the high school dropout rate to energy efficiency to the rising number of unemployed. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the Serve America Act on Friday, a new sweeping bill eight months in the making that would try to attract 175,000 new volunteers in the next five years. The bill has the backing of both major presidential candidates. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both co-sponsors. They appeared separately Thursday at a New York conference on community service to tout the need for Americans "to serve causes greater than their own self-interest." Hatch said the idea behind the bill comes directly from his faith. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hatch served a two-year religious mission in the Great Lake states. "Like many from our state, I served an LDS Mission as a young man and was forever changed by the experience, not only because it increased my faith, but because it allowed me to be involved in a cause bigger than myself," Hatch told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Since then, I've always believed that everyone should devote significant time during the course of their lives to serving other people,period." Kennedy was not on hand to introduce the bill because he is continuing to receive treatment for a malignant brain tumor. But his office reached an agreement with Hatch's staff this week on legislation that would expand on presidentially created service projects initiated by President Kennedy all the way to President Bush. The bill, which is essentially an expansion of the Americorps program, would provide $5 billion over five years to help nonprofits, community organizations and faith-based programs create volunteer opportunities in five areas, or five new and distinct "corps." They include: * Education Corps: focusing on mentoring and reducing the high-school dropout rate. * Healthy Futures Corps: helping poor people enroll in health-care programs and providing transportation for the sick and elderly. * Clean Energy Service Corps: helping make the homes of low-income Americans more energy efficient. * Opportunity Corps: teaching the unemployed new skills, providing financial literacy programs and building new homes. * Reserve Corps: experienced volunteers would be on call to help out in the case of a disaster. "Empowering people and encouraging private organizations to do this kind of work will mean that, in the long run, the government will have to do less in these areas," Hatch said. Most of the money would go to state service commissions or multistate nonprofits, who would then provide grants to smaller groups. Any nonprofits securing funding would have to match the money, dollar for dollar. Participants could serve full-time or part-time and would receive modest pay and an educational stipend. While the bill is targeted at college-age people, 10 percent of the money would be set aside for programs where the majority of volunteers are 50 years old or older. The Kennedy-Hatch bill would also encourage volunteers to create their own programs, allowing them to apply for "fellowships," which would include some funding. Hatch said they decided to release the bill only weeks away from the end of the session to start the discussion, though he knows it would probably not face serious consideration until a new president is elected. McCain, who served in the military before being elected to Congress, has repeatedly called for more civic volunteerism, as has Obama, who once worked as a community organizer in Chicago.
Bend over.
Don't we already get taxed raped enough for gooberment skools?
Why can't people which fedgov stats say own their own houses, have cars, air conditioning, color tv...why can they not get a caulking gun, some caulk and insulation?
Teaching new skills? How about sweeping up at an auto dealer, then changing oil, then getting sent to trade school because you show up, are off drugs?
Financial literacy from fedgov that rapes and commits financial pedophilia on future generations? By a Kennedy? WTF Hatch baby? What are you smoking?
And of course, the usual suspects OBAMAMACAIN.
Some one nuke the Senate, please.
Spend, spend, spend, spend that chinese money!
Old Booby Hatch is still around? I thought he retired or died or something. He’s been consistently absent (as have they all) as the strident voice of conservatism counteracting all the liberal crap in the media.
Don’t you feel better?
“In an article entitled “AmeriCorps: Six years of waste and fraud”, Libertarian pundit James Bovard claims to have made several findings. In 1999, President Bill Clinton claimed that AmeriCorps members have “taught millions of children to read.” However, one unnamed official told Bovard “the real number is probably less than a dozen.” One reading tutor told Bovard, “We’re not teaching them to read... You just want them to think they’re doing a good job,” and that “much of the time where literacy teaching was supposed to be taking place was instead spent putting on puppet shows.” The article also states that as of 2000, nearly half of all AmeriCorps members quit the program before finishing their term of service”
I wish Jeff Flake would push Hatch out to the nursing home.
Paragraphs are nice. Paragraphs are your friend:
WASHINGTON - Leading Republicans and Democrats are calling for a new wave of volunteerism aimed directly at some of the most pressing problems facing the nation, from the high school dropout rate to energy efficiency to the rising number of unemployed.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the Serve America Act on Friday, a new sweeping bill eight months in the making that would try to attract 175,000 new volunteers in the next five years.
The bill has the backing of both major presidential candidates.
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both co-sponsors. They appeared separately Thursday at a New York conference on community service to tout the need for Americans “to serve causes greater than their own self-interest.”
Hatch said the idea behind the bill comes directly from
his faith. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hatch served a two-year religious mission in the Great Lake states.
“Like many from our state, I served an LDS Mission as a young man and was forever changed by the experience, not only because it increased my faith, but because it allowed me to be involved in a cause bigger than myself,” Hatch told The Salt Lake Tribune. “Since then, I’ve always believed that everyone should devote significant time during the course of their lives to serving other people,
even if it can’t be a consecutive two-year period.”
Kennedy was not on hand to introduce the bill because he is continuing to receive treatment for a malignant brain tumor. But his office reached an agreement with Hatch’s staff this week on legislation that would expand on presidentially created service projects initiated by President Kennedy all the way to President Bush.
The bill, which is essentially an expansion of the Americorps program, would provide $5 billion over five years to help nonprofits, community organizations and faith-based programs create volunteer opportunities in five areas, or five new and distinct “corps.”
They include:
* Education Corps: focusing on mentoring and reducing the high-school dropout rate.
* Healthy Futures Corps: helping poor people enroll in health-care programs and providing transportation for the sick and elderly.
* Clean Energy Service Corps: helping make the homes of low-income Americans more energy efficient.
* Opportunity Corps: teaching the unemployed new skills, providing financial literacy programs and building new homes.
* Reserve Corps: experienced volunteers would be on call to help out in the case of a disaster.
“Empowering people and encouraging private organizations to do this kind of work will mean that, in the long run, the government will have to do less in these areas,” Hatch said.
Most of the money would go to state service commissions or multistate nonprofits, who would then provide grants to smaller groups. Any nonprofits securing funding would have to match the money, dollar for dollar.
Participants could serve full-time or part-time and would receive modest pay and an educational stipend.
While the bill is targeted at college-age people, 10 percent of the money would be set aside for programs where the majority of volunteers are 50 years old or older.
The Kennedy-Hatch bill would also encourage volunteers to create their own programs, allowing them to apply for
“fellowships,” which would include some funding.
Hatch said they decided to release the bill only weeks away from the end of the session to start the discussion, though he knows it would probably not face serious consideration until a new president is elected.
McCain, who served in the military before being elected to Congress, has repeatedly called for more civic volunteerism, as has Obama, who once worked as a community organizer in Chicago.
Yeah, I know, thanks.
More taxpayer money spent unwisely.
>>>>>* Education Corps: * Healthy Futures Corps: * Clean Energy Service Corps: * Opportunity Corps: * Reserve Corps:
Marx and Lenin would be proud seeing the advancement of the socialist agenda.
I thought the article was good enough to fix it. Thank YOU!
I want to take a minute to thank my friend and colleague, Ted Kennedy....
I thought the point of volunteer work was that it required no money from anyone. WTF is this $5,000,000,000?
WHEN THE BLAZES ARE PUBS GOING TO LEARN? (Pardon the shouting)
How many times are you willing to let “my good friend across the aisle” stick it to you? Meanwhile, that little worm Reid uses the Senate floor to blast Senator McCain - and not one Repub has spoken up (at least, not above a mouse’s roar)!
“YES SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?”
Any fedgov making less than 100k/yr considers themselves volunteers, what with the short hours, mediocre cafeteria, slow broadband, waiting two years for a new laptop, long walks to the lav. It’s not all cake and cookies, don’tcha know? Sometimes the phone rings and there’s a civilian with a question or some mewing kvetch about a check being late.
I miss legal dueling.
More evidence that voting GOP is really not voting conservative...
What a horrible bill....and if the government sponsors or endorses anything called “volunterrism”...its not volunteerism.
Hatch should be kicked out of LDS for comparing what the Mormon church does to what the Government does...Hatch is a socialist
Is Hatch senile or was he always like this? Kennedy knows this is a five billion dollar jobs program for welfare state barkers to hustle the sheeple into the loving arms of the welfare state.
But Hatch? Is he senile? What's he babbling on about wondering around trying to hustle some converts fifty years ago?
And McCain. Please....
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