Obongo will REQUIRE community service

[cj_hackett]

That is not the point at all. Like I said.

"Bitching about forced labour, the nature and direction of which is mandated by government, is nothing to be shameful of. Why would many of us who put our money and time where our mouth is, and not only work, but volunteer and provide to charity be ashamed of this political position? "

The concerns expressed here have NOTHING to do with selfishness.

I don't think it should be required, but I see nothing wrong with linking incentives to community service. I see nothing wrong with communit service as a prerequisite for receiving free money (grants) for college. Seems like w reasonable trade off to me.

[ElMariachi]

Every school I went to- in Israel, in Germany, in America- had some form of 'non academic' service. Clean up the neighborhood once a year, teach younger kids to read (even for kids who didn't want to major in education), food drives, etc.

Literally every one.

It's considered part of the 'educational experience'. Whether that's right or wrong, whether you think that should or shouldn't be a part of becoming a learned and 'educated' American, it's certainly nothing "new and sinister".

I did that too, but very few required anything, we were strongly encouraged to help out, and most people ended up doing so. For example I volunteered in high-school to go help rebuild houses in a small Mexican town for two weeks. I doubt that the wonderful experience I had there would have been as tremendous if I had been forced to do it.

[Duckenheimer]

look at everyone complain about spending about a week out of their whole year to help less fortunate people out and to clean up the country. And **** that socialism crap, speak to a real socialist and ask him if Obama is actually a socialist.

So? Many of us volunteer and give to charity. The valid problems expressed with GOVERNMENT MANDATED LABOUR here have NOTHING to do with selfishness.

Obama is not a socialist. But this is quite a socialist move. A truly socialist site (previously critical of Obama's capitalist/corporatist leanings)

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/arti...icleview/7656/

[saloman]

Yes of course I do, for the ones who study hard, by their own free will, not subjugated by group mentality...It results in more government control over your life and time and personal freedoms.

So if your given $4,000 for college, but you must do community service to get it, that is unfair in your opinion?

I recall in Texas that for a time those on Welfare had to pick up trash along the interstate or do other forms of community service. You should have heard the whining.

I didn't get it then either.

[Hulswig]

Obama failed at helping his community why should be clean up his mistakes?

I have my own damn charity fund set up to a hospital. Bitch is already taking away my money so I can't donate like I use to..

Pathetic and my funds save lives! for parents who can't afford treatment for family members..


makes me sick. This is why I live in the Cayman Islands!

[Gadsden]

Well I thought you'd know that I think you'd know that I thought that the Pope's hat is boss and you know that I think you know this.

matter of fact, I knew that you thought that I knew that you thought I knew. I just didn't know that you knew that I thought that you had thought that I thought you knew.

i hope this clears it up

[Organichu]

Well I never had the choice when I was younger. Granted I've only lived in one part of the US since I entered this country but it was never an 'option' for me.

[Fanatik]

Yep, me and my family left Poland for the same reason and this same s%^t is starting up here.

His looking to join ranks of Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin...

[CurDawg]

lol!? I came in here expecting riotous responses and you ****ing tools are saying that it's a good idea?

Wow...

[Fanatik]

Why do you hate Hope and Change for America?

Change into what? COMMUNISM?

[ElMariachi]

His looking to join ranks of Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin...

My family in the US is scared as hell. My family in Poland is more or less laughing at us, saying that we ran so hard away from Communism and years later, it has found us.

[Organichu]

We've had a mixed economy for many years. "More" of a mixed economy isn't communism.

[NoobThumper]

Yeah, I don't think so.

Not like he could get anything like this enforced anyway. They gonna jail a buttload of people because they didn't "serve their community"? Unlikely.

[martina92685]

Impossible.

I participated in Americorps for teaching. There is no way he can do all that. They can barely handle what they are doing now, which is suckering recent college grads into teaching in ****ty ****TY schools.

[Morbid_Mind]

We've had a mixed economy for many years. "More" of a mixed economy isn't communism.

"If I have a cup of coffee that is too strong for me because it is too black, I weaken it by pouring cream into it. I integrate it with cream. If I keep pouring enough cream in the coffee, pretty soon the entire flavor of the coffee is changed; the very nature of the coffee is changed. If enough cream is poured in, eventually you don't even know that I had coffee in this cup." -- Malcolm X

That's what Obama wants to do with our economy.

[jafomofo]

sign me up for the 4K tax credit in exchange for 2 hours per week thing.

we did community service in my high school too but it wasnt 50 hours per year it was just due be the end of senior year and they had programs set up that you could participate in, old folks homes, cleanup crews, etc...

i can see why you are all bent but i'll wait till I see something actually proposed not just listed on a website.

[Organichu]

"If I have a cup of coffee that is too strong for me because it is too black, I weaken it by pouring cream into it. I integrate it with cream. If I keep pouring enough cream in the coffee, pretty soon the entire flavor of the coffee is changed; the very nature of the coffee is changed. If enough cream is poured in, eventually you don't even know that I had coffee in this cup." -- Malcolm X

That's what Obama wants to do with our economy.

Bull.

[Inev]

the wording of that is incredibly bad. Here is a better wording:

Integrate Service into Learning

* Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation's Schools: Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. They will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama and Biden will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.
* Expand YouthBuild Program: Obama and Biden will expand the YouthBuild program, which gives disadvantaged young people the chance to complete their high school education, learn valuable skills and build affordable housing in their communities. They will grow the program so that 50,000 low-income young people a year a chance to learn construction job skills and complete high school.
* Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama and Biden will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
* Promote College Serve-Study: Obama and Biden will ensure that at least 25 percent of College Work-Study funds are used to support public service opportunities instead of jobs in dining halls and libraries.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/service/

[Gadsden]

Impossible.

I participated in Americorps for teaching. There is no way he can do all that. They can barely handle what they are doing now, which is suckering recent college grads into teaching in ****ty ****TY schools.

you mean to say a government agency is being run inefficiently? r u serious???

[rows_b4_hos]

Wow strong bitching ITT. You guys make it seem like you're gonna be working in the mines or something. I had to do 10 hours community service for HS. Worse case scenario: youre helping kinder gardeners with their home work.

[ajn]

THE FREEDOM TO DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR OWN TIME. Seriously, are you that $^&&&%^ daft? One of the greatest things about this country is that we can decide these things for ourselves. If you want to volunteer, you can, if not, more power to you. The vast amount of people in this country who do volunteer, who do share their time and financial support is tremendous.

So why are kids "forced" to go to school then?

I'm sure that's not what they want to do with their time, right?

Like I said before... we were "forced" to do community service to graduate from both middle school and high school. It was not some "evil Nazi experience." Honestly, we just saw it as a way to get out of class and be outdoors and joke around with our friends. But we were also doing positive work like cleaning trash from parks and waterways, or planting trees.

You guys constantly complain about the "entitlement" culture that starts with our kids. I see this type of thing as a good way to break that.

Of course, you'll never admit that Obama had a good idea. Don't bother replying if it hurts your pride too much to give him some credit. I'll grant you a pass.

[ElMariachi]

I wonder how much of this "community service" is going to involve the sort of bull**** indoctrination that goes on at the Barack and Michelle camps which are more about indoctrinating political correctness and "social justice" than any sort of volunteering.



Somehow I think that this isn't necessarily involving serving food at your church's soup kitchen.

[Thought_Riot]

It's if you want $4000 for college, you have to do 100 hours of community service.

Or, the equivalent of $40/hr pay. It's a good deal.

[grapemaster]

I will post this because several people in this thread scare me to death and are still clearly blinded, possibly because they have not seen the truth, possibly because they don't know ethics, possibly because they are caught up in the recent elections.

So to you posters who believe in this *requirement*... here is a message for you.

Please don't confuse forced volunteerism with good will. Please don't confuse forced volunteerism with kindness. And most of all please don't confuse forced volunteerism with any kind of virtuous nature. For it can have none.

Please do not argue whether it would be nice to give money to the homeless, or to help out with a neighborhood project, or to help clean up some trash on the street. This is NOT the issue and NOBODY in this thread will disagree with you. The issue here is the RIGHT you have to CHOOSE whether you will, or will not do this. The forced volunteerism directly imposes on the individuals rights as a human being. It is not your time they want, but your mind. They want you to subjugate your mind to group thought, to sacrifice your own desires to the wishes of others, to sacrifice your own, very one and only life, to their own personal interests.

Forced volunteerism, as written on the president elects page as it stands now, is totally immoral. It is not moral to subjugate your own will toward the group benefit of others, and ESPECIALLY not anything mandated towards your government. If it was so good for them, then why isn't it good for you to do what you want to do? Why should they accept your time, who is being truly virtuous then? The government nor ANY other group has the right to force you into volunteerism in whatever objective or policy it may put forth for its advocacy. The only thing they have going for them is to play on your guilt you by some illogical and immoral reason need to subjugate yourself to them.

Forced volunteerism is totally incompatible no matter its various implementations with any form of freedom or individual rights.

[jafomofo]

lol!? I came in here expecting riotous responses and you ****ing tools are saying that it's a good idea?

Wow...

i hear manlets will be excluded from the program so you are safe. good thing.

[KnjazVovk]

Wow strong bitching ITT. You guys make it seem like you're gonna be working in the mines or something. I had to do 10 hours community service for HS. The worse its gonna be is helping kinder gardeners with their home work.

I did about 20 hours of community service in HS. What's your point? No one told me I had to do it. Sure it looked nice on the resume, so there was some motivation, but ultimately no one forced me to volunteer.

Even if someone told me,"You MUST volunteer at this place for (a measly) 10 minutes," I still would be annoyed that someone was forcing me to do community service.

[ElMariachi]

This is probably the sort of volunteering that the Obama's have in mind.

Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Election '08: Democrats' reintroduction of militant Michelle Obama in Denver was supposed to show her softer side. But it only highlighted a radical part of her resume: Public Allies.

IBD Series: The Audacity Of Socialism

Barack Obama was a founding member of the board of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife became executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies in 1993. Obama plans to use the nonprofit group, which he features on his campaign Web site, as the model for a national service corps. He calls his Orwellian program, "Universal Voluntary Public Service."

Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded reeducation camps where they'll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of "social change."

The pitch Public Allies makes on its Web site doesn't seem all that radical. It promises to place young adults (18-30) in paid one-year "community leadership" positions with nonprofit or government agencies. They'll also be required to attend weekly training workshops and three retreats.

In exchange, they'll get a monthly stipend of up to $1,800, plus paid health and child care. They also get a post-service education award of $4,725 that can be used to pay off past student loans or fund future education.

But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about "social change" through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation ? the tactics used by the father of community organizing, Saul "The Red" Alinsky.

"Our alumni are more than twice as likely as 18-34 year olds to . . . engage in protest activities," Public Allies boasts in a document found with its tax filings. It has already deployed an army of 2,200 community organizers like Obama to agitate for "justice" and "equality" in his hometown of Chicago and other U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Washington. "I get to practice being an activist," and get paid for it, gushed Cincinnati recruit Amy Vincent.

Public Allies promotes "diversity and inclusion," a program paper says. More than 70% of its recruits are "people of color." When they're not protesting, they're staffing AIDS clinics, handing out condoms, bailing criminals out of jail and helping illegal aliens and the homeless obtain food stamps and other welfare.

Public Allies brags that more than 80% of graduates have continued working in nonprofit or government jobs. It's training the "next generation of nonprofit leaders" ? future "social entrepreneurs."

The Obamas discourage work in the private sector. "Don't go into corporate America," Michelle has exhorted youth. "Work for the community. Be social workers." Shun the "money culture," Barack added. "Individual salvation depends on collective salvation."

"If you commit to serving your community," he pledged in his Denver acceptance speech, "we will make sure you can afford a college education." So, go through government to go to college, and then go back into government.

Many of today's youth find the pitch attractive. "I may spend the rest of my life trying to create social movement," said Brian Coovert of the Cincinnati chapter. "There is always going to be work to do. Until we have a perfect country, I'll have a job."

Not all the recruits appreciate the PC indoctrination. "It was too touchy-feely," said Nelly Nieblas, 29, of the 2005 Los Angeles class. "It's a lot of talk about race, a lot of talk about sexism, a lot of talk about homophobia, talk about -isms and phobias."

One of those -isms is "heterosexism," which a Public Allies training seminar in Chicago describes as a negative byproduct of "capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and male-dominated privilege."

The government now funds about half of Public Allies' expenses through Clinton's AmeriCorps. Obama wants to fully fund it and expand it into a national program that some see costing $500 billion. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the military, he said.

The gall of it: The Obamas want to create a boot camp for radicals who hate the military ? and stick American taxpayers with the bill.

[dabbmw2002]

if this in fact true

a) where does the Constitution give the President or Congress the power to compel community service
b) what will happen if we refuse?

[EDC]

I can't see how you can call it forced volunteerism if it applies only to students. High school is all about making kids do things they don't want to do. As for college, no one is forcing you to be there.

A lot of schools already require volunteering. My sister is in college and doing twenty hours a week at an unpaid internship as part of her degree.

[ajn]

Forced volunteerism, as written on the president elects page as it stands now, is totally immoral.

Every middle and high school student in my state was "forced", and still is "forced" to do volunteer work to graduate from high school. And none of that bull**** you wrote applied to me or any of my classmates.

And if we got paid $4000 for doing the hours, kids would have trampled each other running to sign up.