Free Republic

Should the federal government tempt people to cease volunteering at churches and instead be paid to “volunteer” at government-subsidized projects? That’s the essence of the “Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act” which President Obama signed into law on April 21. Sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), the bill passed the House by a vote of 275 to 149. The multi-billion-dollar spending bill triples the size of federal paid “volunteer” programs including AmeriCorps while killing funds for the faith-friendly Points of Light Institute. The ayes list had 26 Republicans, including Mark Souder (Ind.), Chris Smith (N.J.) and Vern Buchanan (Fla.). The...

Passed the House, Passed the Senate, and outlawed Religion for those in 'volunteer' programs: last week, the House passed the Serve America Act (SAA), which will triple the number of federally funded "volunteer" positions, create a "Clean Energy Corps" to weatherize homes, and make September 11th a "National Day of Service." Like many federal assaults on the taxpayer, the SAA is a bipartisan offense: It passed by huge margins in both houses. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, the primary sponsor, got a standing ovation after the vote was in, and co-sponsor Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican, gushed that "the whole Kennedy...

Right on, Michele! I know the Left is going to go nuts with this as they continue their assault on Bachmann, but I don't think she is that far off! We are inching closer to Obama Youth! Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the Sue Jeffers' show on KTLK in Minnesota, 4/4/09

Bachmann warns gov't creating 're-education camps' @ 1:04 pm by Michael O'Brien The government is at risk of creating "re-education camps for young people," Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). "I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service," Bachmann said on a Minnesota radio show Monday. "And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go...

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday to strengthen national service by increasing funding for thousands of volunteers. The House approved 275-149 the Senate-passed Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. "Just one month ago, in his address to Congress, President Obama called upon Congress to pass legislation 'to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations,'" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "Today, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act is on its way to his desk to become law." Obama...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tens of thousands of Americans, from teenagers to baby boomers, soon will get a fresh chance to lend a helping hand in a time of need after Congress voted Tuesday to expand ways for people to serve the country and each other. The House voted 275-149 for a $5.7 billion bill that takes ambitious steps on public service, including tripling the number of positions in the Clinton-era AmeriCorps program, its largest expansion since the agency's creation in 1993, and establishing a fund to help nonprofit organizations recruit and manage more volunteers. Congress was sending the bill to...

The language about mandatory volunteerism that was "missing" from the HR1388 bill voted on yesterday in the Senate, is now showing up on this bill HR1444 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1444

Senators have tabled, or killed, an amendment offered by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) to the Serve America Act (S. 277 / H.R. 1388) by a vote of 53 to 43.The amendment would state that no funds within the underlying bill for various service-related programs can go to “ACORN or any of its affiliate organizations in any way.”ACORN stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. It’s a community organizing group for “low- and moderate-income people” according to its website.The group’s political committees generally support Democrats. You’ll recall that it came under fire in the media for alleged voter...

Interestingly enough an important amendment brought to the floor today was not in the H.R. 1388 when it passed the Senate today. The first presented by Sen Vitter (LA) wanted to insure that no money be made available to ACORN and its affiliates, on the grounds that it is a organization with possibly suspect behaviour and that including it in the bill would not be able to politicize charitable giving and activities. Saying that the bill doesn’t allow politicized does not necessarily protect the country from ACORN’s “so-called” charitable activities. ACORN has already received considerable funding from the government, for...

It is another sound good piece of legislation. H.R. 1388 has a creative title; The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. 321 representatives of the people voted approval for this legislation which, among many other things, strikes a blow to the rights of people to mount any protests against legislation. Listen closely, it outlaws the right to mount protests against proposed legislation.

The House of Representatives passed the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (GIVE), creating a mandate for community service among high school and college students. The bill spends $6 billion on beefing up government-paid and sponsored national service programs, and paves the way for future mandatory service by establishing a commission to explore the feasibility of such a plan. The stated goal of the Obama Administration is to require service programs in secondary schools, as well as for a period of three months to a year of service before, during, or after one’s college education. Leaving aside the already heavily...

With all the focus and attention on the TARP, the so-called “stimulus” bill, the nationalization of huge chunks of our economy and the various issues economic – lost in the weeds have been a host of destructive “programs” being developed and passed by the Obama-Democrat machine. Right now on the floor of the United States Senate is one of the most disturbing pieces of legislation I have seen in a long time. HR 1388, the “Serve America Act” is cloaked in feel-good rhetoric and supposedly noble goals, but it is nothing more than another Washington power-grab – this time targeted...

My parents taught me to read every word of any contract I signed. Obviously Congress doesn't follow that rule. Already we have Congress' frantic backlash from the AIG bonuses, which were in fact authorized by specific language buried deep in the stimulus bill that gave AIG its handout. Now we have more dynamite buried in the GIVE Act (H.R. 1388), already passed in a whirlwind by the House and being fast-tracked in the Senate. The GIVE Act reauthorizes the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, and also includes many more new...

The Senate Finance Committee’s top two members — Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Charles E. Grassley — teamed up today to introduce legislation that would provide money to help small and medium-sized charities get training and management assistance. The legislation, introduced as an amendment to a national-service bill now being debated by the Senate, would provide $25-million over five years to a “Nonprofit Capacity Building Program” within the Corporation for National and Community Service. The amendment would “strengthen small charities around our country, especially where resources are scarce,” Senator Baucus of Montana, who chairs the finance committee, told his colleagues...

Maybe it's just me, but I find federal legislation titled "The GIVE Act" and "The SERVE Act" downright creepy. Even more troubling: the $6 billion price tag on these bipartisan bills to expand government-funded national service efforts. Volunteerism is a wonderful thing, which is why millions of Americans do it every day without a cent of taxpayer money. But the volunteerism packages on the Hill are less about promoting effective charity than about creating make-work, permanent bureaucracies and left-wing slush funds. The House passed the "Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act" -- or the GIVE Act -- last week. The...

<p>Obama promised during the campaign to create a Socialist National Civilian Security Force similar to what they have in other Marxist regimes. Yesterday, the US House took the first step in organizing Dear Leader's dream youth service corp.</p> <p>German youth praising Hitler.</p>

HOT off the press! The Congressional Budget Office just released the cost estimates for S. 277 Serve America Act.(Senate’s version of HR 1388, Give Act) CBO estimates S 277 would cost over $6.1 billion dollars over the 2010-2014 period. Programs funded under National Community Service Act of 1990 (NCSA) and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (DVSA) received appropriations of $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2009, including $200 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...otherwise known as the PORKULUS/SPENDULUS Bill that passed that NO ONE in Congress read. Just lovely. Taxpayers would fund international...