"The Obama Youth Corps" - Update

As I predicted, HR 1388 has sailed through the Senate yesterday 79-19, and was renamed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, and Act to reauthorize and reform and national service laws (S 277). Not surprisingly, none of the 19 'nay' votes came from the Democrats.

An amendment introduced by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) which would have barred ACORN or any of it's affiliate organizations from receiving any funding from the bill was tabled before the vote. Vitter, you might remember, also offered a similar amendment to the 'porkulus bill' which was also defeated.

In reviewing the text of the Senate version I noticed something that may be of serious concern to all of us (the house version also contained this provision, and I apologize for having overlooked it).

It is found in sec. 1304;

SEC. 1304. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
Section 125 (42 U.S.C. 12575) is amended to read as follows:

SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) Prohibited Activities- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not engage in the following activities:

(1) Attempting to influence legislation.

(2) Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes.
......

(7) Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.

Nice! As a participant in Obama's Youth Corps one forfeits all rights guaranteed under the first amendment. Congress understands that they cannot simply suspend the constitution all at once, so they are just going to render it null and void for certain people at certain times, until, before we realize it, it no longer applies to any of us.

Our rights are given to us from God. We loan those rights to our government to do for us as a whole that which we cannot do for ourselves individually. This government has long ago gone well beyond the simple mandate afforded to it by the constitution, and we have allowed it. But, our rulers are not satisfied with the power we have unwisely allowed it to usurp. It now wants the power to tell us what rights we may exercise, when we may exercise them, and under what conditions we may exercise them.

Wake up America, the hour is late.

Obama die Jugend Korps

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded" – Barrack Obama, 2008

"When an opponent declares, "I will not come over to your side," I calmly say, "Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.”- Adolf Hitler


"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." - Adolf Hitler

While Americans were fully engaged in righteous indignation over the 1/10 of 1% of the TARP money that AIG paid it's employees in compliance with legally contracted agreements, the US House of Representatives passed HR1388. The media barely took notice.

On Wednesday, March 13, 2009, "Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act" (GIVE), an expansion of the 1993 AmeriCorps program, sailed though the House on a 321 to 105 vote. Even though the bill would have passed without them, 70, evidently confused Republicans joined ranks with the Democrats in passing the bill. See the text of the bill here.

Proponents of the bill suggest that volunteerism and charity are acutely needed in tough economic times, and that this legislation answers that need. Yep, we can't let a good crisis go to waste. Opponents, on the other hand, are concerned about several aspects of the bill;

1) That community organizations which will be utilized in the 'community service' structure will be of the leftwing 'ACORN' variety; and that re-education and indoctrination would be an integral part of the training. Larry Hart, director of government relations for the American Conservative Union had this to say about the bill,

"It's allowing taxpayer funding of the left-wing organizations. I think this is a problem that is rife throughout the federal government. When you dramatically expand the program, then you dramatically expand the ability for these left-wing advocacy organizations to get more funding. I don't see a lot of attention being paid to that, even from those who are critical. That's where the focus should be. Republicans tend to say its not that they oppose the program, they just want to spend less money. It's the program that's bad."

2) That the bill will be too costly, especially on top of the obscene spending that Congress has already done. Fox News reports that Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers AmeriCorps received an estimated $260 million in fiscal 2009. GIVE is an expansion of AmeriCorp, so one would expect that the funding will be increased accordingly. The legislation is estimated to cost $6 billion over the next five years.

3) That many young 'volunteers' would be forced into lengthy service due to the attractive 'benefits' and 'grants' offered to participants, but which come with length of service requirements attached. There are also very disturbing hints in the bill which suggest that mandatory service for all young people would be eventually required. From Fox News again;

The bill creates a "Congressional Commission on Civic Service." The bipartisan commission will be tasked with exploring a number of topics, including "whether a workable, fair and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the nation."

I have reviewed the text of the bill and disturbing does not begin to describe the uneasiness I feel about the organization that this legislation will create and how it might be used. But given how easily it passed though the House, I expect that it will likely pass the Senate as well.

So, look out America, here comes the Obama Youth Corps.