Obama Signs $5.7 Billion National Service Bill Into Law
Originally Obama’s Change.gov website called for this service to be mandatory:
Soon after the election, Obama’s web site announced plans to require students to perform unpaid community service every year. “Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year,” announced Obama’s change.gov web page. Community organizers would no doubt welcome all the unpaid labor this makes available to them.
After no small amount of public outcry (and very pertinent questions as to the legality of such a requirement) Obama dropped that party and opted instead to spend on the bill 57 times what his administration just announced in spending cuts that were supposed to indicate Obama’s dedication to fiscal discipline.
WASHINGTON – People who want to give back to their communities through service will get more opportunities to do so under a bill being signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama.
The $5.7 billion bill triples the size of the AmeriCorps service program over the next eight years, and expands ways for students and seniors to earn money for college through their volunteer work. It aims to foster and fulfill people’s desire to make a difference, such as by mentoring children, cleaning up parks or building and weatherizing homes for the poor.
I think Obama’s next step, to make this about as mandatory as he can without drawing a winning legal challenge, is to tie this paid government volunteerism to financial aid for higher education. Want to get tuition subsidies? Does your college want to keep its federal funding? Well then service to the government in this “volunteer” program will be required.
And what sort of service will these kids be doing? Why, whatever sort of service the government wants of course. And you can bet that it will be less about serving the community than indoctrinating the kids into liberal orthodoxy.
