Jeez this story is full of crap:
The service law expands ways for students and seniors to earn money for college through their volunteer work.
If there’s one thing I know about volunteer work, it’s that you don’t get paid for it.
It aims to foster and fulfill people’s desire to make a difference, such as by mentoring children, cleaning up parks or buildings and weatherizing homes for the poor.
No, it aims to pay people to mentor children, clean up parks or buildings and weatherize homes for the poor. Whether differences are made or desires fulfilled is beside the point. We know this is true because if there is no money paid out to “voluteers,” the program will be considered a failure; so long as it is paying out money to “volunteers,” though, it will be a success, even if no person’s desire to make a difference is fostered.
Bolstering voluntary public service programs has been a priority of Obama, who credits his work as a community organizer in his early 20s for giving him direction in life. The president cited his work in Chicago as an example of how one person can make a difference.
“All that’s required on your part is a willingness to make a difference,” Obama said. “That’s the beauty of it; everybody can do it.”
Oh good grief! I remember back in the campaign when people were looking at young Barry’s days as a “community organizer” (he was paid; it wasn’t volunteer work either), no one could show an example of him “making a difference.” The only person who seems to have concretely benefited from that time period is him. “Making a difference” – to the extent that phrase has any meaning at all – is not about willingness, it’s about resources and competence. Neither of which did our president have during his “community organizing” days.
AmeriCorps offers a range of volunteer opportunities including housing construction, youth outreach, disaster response and caring for the elderly. Most receive an annual stipend of slightly less than $12,000 for working 10 months to a year.
Not a lot of money; also, though, not volunteer work.
Alan Solomont, who chairs AmeriCorps’ board, said former President John F. Kennedy’s call to service inspired more people to help others than just those who joined the Peace Corps. He said this national service legislation could produce the same effect.
“It is not unlike the moment in 1960 when President Kennedy asked Americans, you know, to serve, but it is certainly going to engage millions more today,” Solomont said in a conference call arranged by the White House.
First, Dwight Eisenhower was president in 1960. Second, Peace Corps maxed out in 1966 with around 15,000 people; it currently has 7,876. It has a budget of $330,800,000, which means it costs the taxpayers right at $42,000 per “volunteer.” The wire story is noticeably short on facts about how the law’s $5,700,000,000 will be spent, and the White House’s website is a fact-free zone since it became Changeland™ a few months ago, so I can’t really break down how much each Americorp “volunteer” will cost. But in the Age of Obama, nothing costs less than 10 digits, not even inspiration.
Posted by Apollo in CHANGE!, Politics and the English Language