Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comPresident Barack Obama, who has called on Americans to perform more community service, is joining former President George H.W. Bush in urging citizens to volunteer.
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They have been better off sending our troops better flack jackets and bullet proof vests and to quit acting as if afganistan is a human relief mission. Cut our troops loose and let them do what we trained them to do. And to hell what pakistan thinks, if they dodn,t want to help tell them to get out of the way or the,ll get some too! We still have a couple of WWII vets around send them over to take charge and I bet the job get,s done a lot quicker. There,s a reason we called them the greatest generation!
That was a pathetic comment possom. Bush and Obama are honoring volunteers for heaven's sake.
It might helped if you joined the group and saw what it did before you blow your horn.
Gee. Looks like even a Bush Republican thinks community service is a good idea.
(Wonder why so many neocons made it sound like a 2nd degree misdemeanor in the last election???)
Agreed,hspirek, the first post for this storyhas nothing to do with the story! As for my opinion, Bush Sr. has always had so much more decency than the Shrub. I have been thinking of volunteering for our local Office for the Aging, delivering meals to the elderly. I have ms and am unable to work, it would make me feel more useful and help the homebound older people.Now I will go on and see how many people are ranting about President Obama "using" this for the wrong reasons.
4 comments in and the first reference to ACORN. Sheesh.
Well at least Bush Sr. gets out and does something unlike Bush(Shrub) Jr. where he just stays in hiding like the coward he is.
Acorn & the war in Afghanistan have nothing to do with this news item. Some of you people need to get a life and stick to the topic at hand!!!!!
Tom 286396, where have you been? George H. W. Bush started 1000 point of light in 1988. It has only taken 21 years for you to catch up. By the way, astronauts landed on the moon, and the cold war has ended - just to get you up to speed on a couple of other things that happened.
I would like to say that it is a good thing that President Obama is encouraging volunteers. Now if he could just completely cut off funding to a certain organization posing as a group of volunteers that would be the icing on the cake.
angry u smob you hurt my feelings!!!!!!! Waaaaaaaa!!!!!
Hey the timer ran out before I was finished editing I can,t help it if only two finger,s know how to type. damn I forgot what I was going to say now.
With unemployment as high as it it, people have plenty of time to volunteer.
We only made it till the third post b4 George W Bush showed up in conversation, btco.
One of the few things hat daddy Bush did that didn't go horribly wrong. He, like Carter, needs to sip warm milk and eat prunes by a fire, and never come out in public again.
RV in GB#1Tom 286396, where have you been? George H. W. Bush started 1000 point of light in 1988. It has only taken 21 years for you to catch up. By the way, astronauts landed on the moon, and the cold war has ended - just to get you up to speed on a couple of other things that happened.
-----------------------
RV, you missed the whole point of my post. I said that H.W. thought that community service was a GOOD thing, and I questioned why so many Republicans in the last election chose to belittle and resent Barack Obama's efforts as a community service leader.
Maybe they should have belittled H.W. as well??
It is nice to see a Democrat and Republican working together for the greater good. We need to see more of this.
I couldn't agree more with you, Catydid!
Yes a good Democrat and a good Republican not an idiot coward like Shrub(GWBush)!!!
I support volunteering, and do some myself. I will continue to do so until it becomes politically or legally mandatory.
And it's certainly a valid point to oppose media coverage of this crap when Zer0 the @!#$up is repeating Lyndon BJ's Vietnam screwup using the same strategy in Afghanistan.
And I'm an OIF vet, so save the liberal whining.
Four surgeons from my Clinic (including myself) volunteer our services free to our local VA Hospital at least once a month. Two of us are Conservative and two are Liberal but you know what, the patients have never asked our politics.
It's all these republicans that a whining all the time.
isn'tchangegood
Funny how you claim anyone that disagrees with you are Republicans. I for one am NOT a Republican and disagree with much of what Obama and Congress have done to date.
As far as ACORN being brought up.. well they are a community organizing group that obviously have a much different agenda then what they were supposedly founded for. Community organizations should be about the people, not a political party as ACORN announced during Obama's run for office. ACORN simply demonstrates how corruption can be found within a "national" community organizing group that is directly tied to Obama and the Democratic party. Community organizing groups should be supported locally and not nationally because every community has unique issues that can be specifically addressed by LOCAL community organizations made up by volunteers. There is no room for politics in community organizing.
I am for true LOCAL community organizing. I believe I understand Obama's motives, but, I'm not sure what Bush Sr.'s motive is if he has one, other than truly helping the American people which I have yet to see come from ANY politican in our government today.
Obama's own words from year 2001:
Obama is clearly for redistributive change, or socialism that takes our hard earned money and simply gives it to those that don't want to work for a living. He thinks his plan of redistributive change can be performed through community organizing.
angryUSmob, you're suspended for a day for violating #1 of the Code of Honor.
This entire discussion is kind of a derail.
Obama in New Orleans: The callous face of the US ruling elite
By Patrick Martin
17 October 2009
In a brief, four-hour stopover in New Orleans en route to a fund-raising dinner with millionaire Democrats in California, President Barack Obama made perfunctory promises to the people of the devastated city, barley disguising his indifference to their plight.
The visit, coming one day after the stock market soared above 10,000 and the Wall Street Journal estimated that compensation at major banks and financial firms would hit a record $140 billion this year, underscored the chasm that separates rich and poor in Obama’s America.
Obama has waited nine months from his inauguration to visit the city which in 2005 became a worldwide symbol of the failure of the Bush administration and the callousness of the US ruling elite, as more than 1,000 Americans died and hundreds of thousands of poor and working class people lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans visit was intended as a photo-op, with heartwarming footage of cheering school children and grateful citizens, but the reality of growing popular disillusionment and anger intruded when a college student challenged Obama during his appearance at a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans.
Gabriel Bordenave, 29, cited the continued stalling by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on funds to rebuild the main health care facility for the poor of New Orleans, Charity Hospital. “I expected as much from the Bush administration,” he told Obama, “but why are we still being nickel-and-dimed?”
Obama responded defensively with political boilerplate. His administration was “working as hard as we can as quickly as we can,” he said, citing unspecified “complications” in coordinating efforts with state and local governments—although he had just defended Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin when they were booed by the crowd during introductions.
“I wish I could just write a check,” he continued, and someone in the audience shouted out, “Why not?”
Obama was visibly put out, first by Bordenave’s question, then by the interruption. He proceeded to lecture his critics: “You say, why not? There’s this whole thing about the Constitution.” He then continued that in Washington, “everyone will attack you for spending money, unless you are spending it on them.”
This was a thinly concealed slur. His audience of hurricane survivors, Obama was suggesting, were just another special interest group seeking money from the federal government. Bordenave later told the New York Times, “I kind of thought (the Constitution reference) was a blow-off answer.”
While claiming that his administration would not follow the example of its predecessor in ignoring the suffering caused by Katrina, Obama mimicked one of the most notorious episodes of the Bush presidency. Bush left his Texas ranch to fly over the hurricane zone in early September 2005, on his way to Washington. Obama stopped off in New Orleans for three hours and 45 minutes on his way to a fundraising event in San Francisco.
At the Westin St. Francis Hotel, nearly 1,000 well-heeled supporters packed a ballroom, paying up to $1,000 each, while 160 high rollers chipped in $34,000 per couple for dinner with the president upstairs. Obama was introduced at the dinner by Mark Gorenberg, managing director of the venture capital firm Hummer Winblad. Joining them at the podium was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband is a multimillionaire real estate investor.
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post called Obama’s “brief display of drive-by compassion” in New Orleans “by far the worst outing of his presidency thus far.” Dismissing Obama’s claim that it was difficult to expedite the flow of funds to the storm-ravaged area, he wrote: “We now know that our government can make hundreds of billions of dollars available to irresponsible Wall Street institutions within a matter of days, if necessary. We can open up the floodgates of credit to too-big-to-fail banks at the stroke of a pen. But when it comes to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, well, these things take time.”
The contrast is indeed stark. While Obama boasted of having freed up $1.5 billion in federal funds for Gulf Coast recovery projects since taking office, this compares to more than $12 trillion made available to Wall Street financial interests—8,000 times more. Obama’s new money for Katrina recovery is less than one week’s expenditure on the war in Afghanistan.
It was not that Obama lacked time to go to these areas. The day after his stopover in New Orleans, he was back in the region for an event with George H. W. Bush, to mark the 20th anniversary of the former president’s “A Thousand Points of Light” foundation, at Texas A&M University. In all, Obama spent far more time with venture capitalists and Bush loyalists than with the people of New Orleans.
The visit to the Bush foundation was particularly provocative. It amounted to a message to the American people that when the next disaster hits, they should look to private charity, not the federal government, for assistance.
So Bush senior is a socialist too? I would have thought his long CIA career could have helped avoid that. I guess the Kool-Aid man even assaulted King George I.
Bush was a set-up just like Obama was a set-up.
All this volunteerisn is most likely getting people ready for the brown shirt brigade.
Was that an article or an editorial?Lot of second-guessing and conjecture.
YES I would Volunteer to help vote all our CONGRESSMEN out and sent them to the war zone with the for there human relief mission and none of them should be ablre to come back to USA let then stay The hope is not working
All you have to do is run for public office. If the job is so easy people would of course vote for such a wise person as yourself.
Critic, your post would might have had a point somewhere, but it was lost in the unintelligble way you said it.
Critic worked his name and IQ into a unique alias here on newsvine it would seem.
My daughter's public school requires community service hours for a grade in her social studies class. While we recognize that volunteering is a good thing, we think the impetus should come from within, and not mandated by government, or by extension, teachers.
The government is not mandating public service. "Urging" citizens to volunteer doesn't create an obligation.
I agree, in law school we needed to log a certain number of pro bono hours to graduate. While I didn't mind doing the free work, the idea of being forced to volunteer, just so the school can brag about the amount of public service its students do, is pretty absurd.
In this case, the government is simply making a request. Americorps (begun by Clinton I believe) is a great opportunity for young people to help within this country, and giving them more money to attract more volunteers is great.
Personally, I think it's a great learning opportunity for people when they volunteer. Grade school, law school....we all benefit. Don't knock it.
For pete's sake! Your child's school having the requirement of public service (many schools do, especially in Honors or AP classes) has NOTHING to do with the Federal Government or President Obama. Talk to your School Board if you are upset about it. God forbid your child have to do something for others. That's SOOOO socialistic......
When I was in HS, we had to buy a magazine subscription to Time for an Honors class and my parents freaked out about that (but at least they didn't blame the President). Do you really thing the Feds are at the root of all your problems? Don't be surprised if your kids grow up to be irresponsible whiners and blame you for all their problems.
At the price of college tuition today, a public service requirement is asinine, and one of the reasons that college financial requirements continue toi rise annually.
My children don't need advice from a school district, to decide if they want to perform public service. I have found it necessary to sue a school board in the past, and will be happy to do it again, when they start these prepostoruous requirements.
And yes I do believe that 90% of the problems faced by americans today can be traced to the federal government.
Should the two gentlement featred in this article really, want tp erform a public service, I wouldsuggest to Mr. Bsh, he return to sky diving and to Mr Obama, that, he resign.
The Public Service requirement is to gain real-life experience in alternative settings.
It's for the student's benefit; there is no "ulterior motive".
I am not depriving my children of the opportunity to do anything. If they choose to do it, that is their. decision, I will not have government or quasi government requiring them do do anything.
There if are too little epmhasis on cring for yoursself, in today's society, which is one of the reaons, that so many people are dependent on government programs and charity.
I do not include people that have lost employment, you can't control. that.
Look at the programs instituted by the government for the good of low income people, that got us into the current situation, not lot of help for low income people was it, didsn't do the middle claass any good, either, did it?
You can not hand anything to people and expect them to value it, that is not cynicism, that is aobservation founde don may years of dealing with people.
You and others like you, with the best of intentions, will be responsible for taking this country to financial disaster
Jerry,
After reading your posts, I think you should volunteer to take an elementary level english and spelling class. It's YOUR kind of thinking that has lead this country to a "me first and screw everyone else" attitude, which is exactly why we are in a financial mess.
Idiotic pandering aside, "mandatory volunteerism" is either a: Socialism, or 2) slavery.
In either case, the historically proven solution is to kill the perpetrators.
I absolutely agree with you Jerry.
It may not be very long before this volunteerism is forced and then what will a lot of folks think of it.
My kids school required community service for graduation. My son did some volunteering of his time at the schools sporting events. My daughter did JROTC and both helped set up booths during our towns Heritage Day celebration. Their volunteering had nothing to do with giving people freeby handouts or anything of the sort.
I guess their time could have been better spent playing video games
Randall,
I think you should volunteer to overlook peoples faults and mistakes, just like you do when you volunteer to help those less fortunate. Of course I'm just guessing that you walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
Jerry....ever heard of guidance? Ever heard of leading by example? Don't expect your children to be able to "make up their own minds" about everything without some good upbringing. Oh....I forgot....you sued your school district and are looking to do it again......I'm sure your children will grow up just fine.....maybe they'll become birthers.....you gotta be proud.
At no point in my comments did I blame the president. I simply stated that volunteering for a grade does not teach children to care about others. It teaches them to only be out for themselves. All of you who have chosen to attack need to take a deep breath.
Randall, please allow me a couple of days to think about it, I sure there must be something, I have less concern about, than your opinion.
KEVIN D It is not the function of a school to lead by example, that is one of he problems, we encounter, both from a cost standpoint and from the standpoint of being lead prorperly.
There is far too much emphasis on being politically correct and schools performoing functions, better left to parents.
My child did quite well thank you, he is marrried, the father of two children and is A vice president in charge incremental technology for a major computer manufacturer.
Not to derail the thread here, but that's been one of my criticisms of the US foreign policy vis-a-vis setting up governments in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Did you forget a sarcasm tag, or were you serious with this asinine comment? If so, will you be putting your money where your mouth is soon? When will you be taking your gun to the local school board? I'd love to come down and see the response to that...
Even better, on a couple of occasions I required students with failing grades or those who had missed mandatory meetings to put in some "sweat equity" around campus to make up for it. Should I e-mail you my address and wait upon your call? How do you plan to kill me, Mike?
This sort of direct-action eliminationist rhetoric, especially when predicated on such flimsy, misinformed reasons, is unnecessary, uncivil, and a large part of the problem in the public conversation these days.
“A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.” — Robert A. Heinlein
River, I think it's a deeper problem than that-- it's not mere rudeness, but a willingness to look at a large portion of the people in this country as someting suitable to commit violence on. It's the same type of pro-destruction propaganda that legitimated lynchings in the south or Japanese-American internment during WWII, which informs the most nativist of the anti-immigration rhetorics, the most violent of the anti-abortion groups, and some of the more vehement of the anti-Bush crowd.
Thing is, you'd have to go a ways back into history to find left-wingers shooting up a church or some such...
Amazing how trying to accomplish something good can attract criticism. Let no good deed go unpunished?
Look who is doing the asking.
When our "citizen" politicians go first and do their jobs without pay, and my overall tax assessments are radically turned back from the 45% it is now, then I'll think about it.
Taxing people up the wahzoo, taking three times the average in salaries much less all the extra bonuses congressmen et al get (haircuts, travel accounts, endless staff etc etc), and then talk about "volunteering" it's a bit too much to take.
So, again, it's the source. Having an obese person suggest you cut back on your portions while they shove another piece of pie in their mouth isn't going to resonate, is it? Conversely rank Statist thugs grabbing power and money every single day telling me to volunteer is a pile of BS.
oh, yeah, there's a BLACK GUY asking....that could be your problem, eh? Race is only a 'card' when it's not true. In this case, buddy, it is.
Andi,
I do not see where anyone even brought up race on this particular thread...except for you. You should be embarrassed by your comment.
Mike,
You are correct. It is funny how a good thing like a president and former president from two different political parties can come together to encourage volunteering can cause people to use it as a reason to criticize.
andi you are the one who threw the race card as typical when someone voices an opinion other than yours. If you actually tried to use that peanut of a brain you would have seen that he is talking about all politicians and in this case I totally agree. None of these people have ever done anything that didnt involve money. You lead from the front not from the pulpit. Nothing to do with black, white, red, green or any other color it has all to do with the priviledged expousing on how great it is that people get out and work for others when they sit on their behinds and that includes every sitting politician.
Andi-
You brought up the race card....not him. Shame on you.......
I bet you think Pelosi is doing great too...
"Amazing how trying to accomplish something good can attract criticism"
Mike, I agree with you but I do find it kind of ironic that many are all for this now but when the first Pres. Bush spoke of "a thousand points of light" people made all kinds of fun of him and acted like they didn't have a clue what he was talking about.
In general:
As for requiring community service? Well, that is basically the same thing as "requiring volunteerism" which is oxymoronic and would do nothing to foster care for our fellow human beings. Volunteering, aka community service, is a wonderful thing WHEN it is done with the right intentions
I think this entire point hinges on a matter of semantics. Usually, when activities outside school have been required of students as part of the grading rubric, I've seen the term "field project" or "service project" applied to them, not "volunteering"...
That having been said, if those projects lead to further work with the organizations after the grading period has expired, well, that's all good, is it not?
It seems like people are just looking for any whiff of controversy in anything that the current PotUS does-- so much so that they'll invent an issue to score points if they need to...
Ah, Barrak Obama: The smart son president George H. Never had.
Priceless! +1
That is pretty funny Dragonwagon5!!!! Too bad some people can't see what such a dumbass and coward Shrub was!!!!!
oh wait, I gave you a +1 because I thought you were making a statement about how Obama is just like Bush. I wish I could take that back.
Now less see,millionares tellin us peons to work for free ????????
Hey "raherner?" Do you have trouble with the English language? Read the story again. They're telling us that VOLUNTEERING for charitable, non-profit organizations to HELP people or help improve a neighborhood is a good thing.
Do you truly believe that helping children, seniors, people with disabilities, etc. is bad??
raherner: Before the President became a self-made millionaire (which I'm sure pro-Capitalists like yourself support), President Obama chose to make very little money by being a community organizer. He could have made tons of money as a Harvard-educated lawyer, but instead he wanted to give back to the community.
You say "millionaire" like it's a dirty word. Unlike nearly every previous President (*cough* Bush Jr.), Obama did not come from a wealthy background. Despite the enormous debt he acquired putting himself though school, he spent years giving something back.
I'm waiting for someone to call Bush Sr. a RINO, for not being completely anti-President.
Do you eat with that mouth?
Angry- Sorry you missed al my post bashing President Clinton, NAFTA_CFTA— closing of mlitary bases all over the country, downsizing our military, and I am a flaming liberal. I never bash Carter, the most honest and decent man that has served in the Whitehouse, just not where he needed to be, as good as he was as a man is how bad he was as a preisdent.
Angry, I truly hope Tyler is at this moment banning you from newsvine. You are disgusting, using a thread about community service to call Hillary a whore. You know her? You do nothing but show your fear of a strong intelligent woman
A right-wing loon black woman? No wonder you seem to hate so much, I would imagine that hate starts every time you look in the mirror.
Bill is a whore? Need I count the number of republican extra-marital affairs? Again, don't judge lest you be judged. And why bring the color of your skin into this?
It is my right to say anything non offensive that I want on this post. As for the bible, it was written by a bunch of men a thousand years after Christ died, and I have no use for it. It does however have alot of words to live by that fundamentalist christians ignore, My post name is such because my great grandmother how many times removed was hung in Salem because she refused to "confess" to the accusations of a few bored little girls. The bible thumping puritans released ALL of the people that did cave in and confess under torture. How is the bible so great?
So, Angry, would you pray for a liberal? Would you pray for a liberals sick child?' Would you pray for a liberal that gets beaten by a drunken husband? Would you pray for the husband to be healed?
Do you honestly think Jesus approves of your sanctimonious attitude? He was humility and grace, and he wanted his followers to practice the same. You can use your bible as a kingly crown and judge others using nasty words, your hatefullness shows me that YOU know nothing about what Christ was teaching.
the answer is: "PAYING JOBS..."
why does'nt the loud mouthed obama practice what he preaches and refuse his salary and turn the presisency into a volunteer position? with the lack of raises and cuts in salary a lot of workers are already volunteering time on their jobs. who can afford the gas to go anywhere to volunteer? big talk from a big mouth. why does'nt he volunteeraly bring forth his birth certificate to prove he is an american citizen? are they still trying to find paper old enough to have one forged? we have a muslim in office who's goal in life is to kill infidels,(all non muslims). proof he celebrated the muslim holy day then canceled the national day of prayer. wake up america before its to late.
hey, boomer - read the post below yours
take a chill pill
why don't you refuse your salary?
boomer: you first. When you start work next week, tell your boss you are a volunteer and don't need to get paid!!! Your post is made up of Conspiracy theories and have no basis in fact. Wait, I think you need to go back to grade school first and learn how to spell and write a complete sentence. Then you would sound intelligent in you posts.
boomer-go back in your trailer
I'm going to defend Boomer on the point that if Obama decided to volunteer for the presidential position, he could probably maintain a living off of his books, if Boomer tried that he wouldn't be able to support himself.
Lost my job 3 years ago at age 57. No job or even a good lead since then. Instead of crying in my beer and feeling sorry for myself I started doing volunteer work. No money but all of the personal gratification one could ever want. No matter how bad off you are there are others in worse shape. Make a difference in your community, help your neighbor, help a stranger. Waiting for the government to do everything is not the answer. YOU are the answer.
crocodile, good luck to you and know that you are admired for what you do.
I loved the rules when I was laid off and on unemployment. Maybe this was just NY, I don't know. I was told I couldn't do volunteer work while on unemployment. I still found time to volunteer with my church and said screw the rules. That always sickened me that I was told that I should be using that time to look for work. There are only so many hours a day you can realistically spend knocking on doors and sending out resumes. Why not spend some of that extra time volunteering? Oh my God! You might actually learn some skills, meet people, and make the connections needed to land another job. The horror!
@ crocodile: amen!
That's the spirit, croc. We're all rowing this boat together, and if we don't use our goodness to help others, who will help us when we need it?
This fellow volunteer sent you a friend request.. :)
Croc-- doing some myself, while I work through a job search in this economy. Keeping me busy, engaged, out of trouble, I'm learning more about my hometown than I did while growing up here back in the 1980s, it's well-appreciated by the folks involved-- benefits all around.
Amazing that there's so much opposition to the idea being expressed up and down this board...
Some of you are such sorry examples of Americans. You can turn lemonade into lemons. You act as if everything the President does has to revolve around your opinion.
President Obama is doing a great job and is trying to get people of this country to help others in need. He can't do it all himself. If you spent as much time helping out that you do whining and complaining, it would be easier to consider your 'opinions', but if all you do is rant and dis OUR President, only your own ilk will care what you have to say.
If Obama weren't handed a democrat congress, a filibuster proof majority in the senate, major popularity credits, and a news media that swooned over his every syllable, I would be more sympathetic toward the man. However, because he was given a royal flush at the beginning of his term, and has thus far decided to spend his political capital on a stimulus bill that was doomed from the start and living out Bush's third term, I can't help but criticize his failures thus far. I can only criticize him harder because aside from all the advantages given to him, he also decided to play along with the "transcending politics" garbage and has only invited criticism of his every breath on himself.
He's been given everything and he's done nothing. Until he succeeds at doing something relavent to improve the national situation, (and no, winning the nobel prize for idle chatter on the world stage is not an improvement upon anything. talk is cheap and so are feelings) everything else is a legitimate area of criticism, no matter how inane.
I think it's time for the draft again. No deferments this time. Time to get the sons of all the wealthy people on the front lines in Afghanistan. I'm tired of the middle class fighting all their battles.
I also think it's time for every American of age to have to do one year in service to America.
Disagree with you. I think every physically capable person in the country should serve one term in the military.
That would shut up a lot people with opinions and nothing to base them on.
That does not, in any way say anything derogatory about the current US military
Seems like the draft worked pretty good in WWII.
It's true angry, not an old wives' tale.
The only person I knew that went into the Viet Nam war was my brother in law, but he was Mexican. Amazingly he and all three of his brothers were drafted. After he was over there a few months my mother call our Congressman, who was a personal friend, and told him that "we want the boy home". He was back in the States in 3 days....honorable discharge...no fuss no muss...
And you can forget about the wealthy's people's kids going into the military. Our children are valuable to us and they are the future business leaders of this Country.
I told you Obama was tied in with the Bush's And also the same banks that financeced Hitler and senior bush are behind Obama. Now add the Unions, Acorn and Seiu and his under handed bailouts of the banks and wall street. His czars most would not pass a FBI screening but they are by passing congress this is illegal, Most claiming Socialist or communist Lovers. Tax Evading Pedophile loving. What the deal? Come on I'm a Democrat But even the Liberals should be scared of whats going on. Your fat gran children will be put in fat camps,The older population will be charged up to 4 times what a younger person will pay the will do end of life counseling to save money . And the Democrats and Mrs. Snowe are alright with this.
ex-go lay down.
Bush 41 felt that he needed to send out a letter asking his own political party not to embarrass him.
Let's see if anyone gets the memo.
Apparently not...
A lot of vitriol in this thread about community service, I hope that irony is not lost on everyone.
If that is the way you see the liberals, you should look with an open mind. I am not a liberal, I see to much of people using the system here in NY State, people popping out one baby after another to stay on welfare, trading food stamps for their drugs instead of feeding their children, good farming jobs taken from willing americans, going to non citizens, the list is long. Can we talk about Bush allowing illegals into the States to take our jobs? Where were you then? I DO NOT believe in the republican party bowing to the corporations and big money lobbyiests and that is all they are about. It is entirely refreshing to have someone in office that is thinking of the average American. He has a HUGE mess to take care of and I would love to see any republican do any better at it.
angry-I read your stuff and picture a person sitting on a porch in a trailer park. goes both ways dude.
And folks from the Left who had good things to say about GHW Bush also are being attacked and demonized here. Which is exactly what we have come to expect from the Right on the 'Vine as well...
It is kinda of tough to volunteer when your working two jobs to make up for the one you lost.
Reeks of George Orwell's forced volunteerism for the good of the state.
My thoughts exactly. I think the first line in this article says it all:
"Calling public service “the essence of our liberty,” President Barack Obama on Friday urged Americans to step up and volunteer in their communities."
Public service is the essence of our liberty? what on earth kind of koan is that? Liberty is about not having the government leash shoved up your rectum. It's rather bothersome thinking about what is on his agenda with City Year and the at home anti-terrorism service he's talked about previously.
I agree as well; sounded like Orwellian doublespeak. The "essence of your liberty" is having no liberty at all.
Its hard to tell whether people volunteer more now or less than before. When you think of the number of kids sports programs that did not exist 30 years ago, that are now run by volunteers, I would suggest maybe more people volunteer today than ever.
Also, another aspect of this is how litigious and fractious society has become. Between background checks and other prerequisites, its no wonder people hang it up.
Even local government is faced with a shortage of people wiling to serve essentially as volunteers. I used to work with a guy who served on the local school board. No pay, a bunch of hours, and a totally thankless job. But in these modern times there's no lack of means for someone to express an opinion. A generation ago this a letter or mayeb a phone call. Today its cell phone, twitter, pager, email, snail mail, and blogs. Why would anyone put themselves in that position.
The both can point their nose in each arse for all i care.
To volunteer is a great thing, I did in the early 60's and so did my brother, he the marines and I joined the Navy. I think all men and woman should volunteer and join the military at age 18 and be put on the borders and anywhere else they are needed. If we want to keep illegals out from all countries put them at the airports and docks as well.
Volunteering is a wonderful thing to do. The issue for many right now though, is employment. Jobs are not being created, and this trend will continue well into next year. I think most people would volunteer but cannot right now.
My problem with a volunteer group needing more money is that everyone doing the work is a volunteer. They do not get paid. If you are paid then it is a job not volunteer! So eliminate any and all payroll, only support the actual cost of operation. Nothing more! This would keep the costs in line and they would not need any increase in tax money. I know people say this wouldn't be mandatory but just watch. Pretty soon if you do not volunteer then you would be excluded from certain programs or other things to force you into serving as a volunteer. Then it crosses the line of being volunteer to mandatory. Then it becomes you continue to serve the leader or you get cut off. Sounds like "volunteer slavery" to me.
Volunteering is a good way to contribute to you local community. But I think there should be more emphasis on helping all the prople out of work and losing their homes. Start creating jobs instead of sending money overseas to help countries that that only want the money and want the conditions on their terms. We need more here for the people in this country.Volunteering does not pay the bills and put food on the table
Mr. Transparency and Mr. Read My Lips...now that's a pair. I already volunteer as do most Americans...we give tons of our tax money (much of it illegally collected but that's another story) to our gov't which "voluntarily" gives it (redistributes) to the have nots and other foreign countries. Looks like we all "volunteered" our grandchildrens future to the whims of this gov't.
Thank you Obama for your whining last night at the SF fund raiser. Wow you have been really mopping up after the last administration! Unemployment is now up, forclosures up, bailouts continue........... you are pathetic. Thank God Commanding Officers of military units dont blame the guy before them. Oh thats right; thats called leadership! Stop blaming and get to f@@cking work, take responsibility and ownership; start acting like a god damn leader!
douglas-
Democrats dont take ownership. It is best to just blame everyone else.
Volunteering would help a lot of charities and people that need asistance. I filled out an application to volunteer a couple of weeks ago and I am just waiting for them to call me to attend orientation.
Off topic: It's interesting how people can be so rude to each other. People they don't even know. Why put your talent of rudeness into somethng useful and volunteer your time (sorry I has to throw that in :) ). But seriously, what's the point of the name calling? What does it achieve, except more name calling?
It's part of the probelm with the "anonymity" of the internet... you can sit comfortably in your room, behind your screen, and be the type of person your parents would despise and probably didn't teach you to be when you were a child.
How far do you think these people would go, if they were having these conversations in person?
Probably not too far, they would know better. I would think. from reading what people write you can see who that person really is. Here they are able to hide behind a screen.
What is wrong with some of you? Volunteers are what we need most, we need people to jump in and help their neighbor. Bush Sr., Clinton, Obama are doing a good thing maybe if our children saw their parents give a hoot about someone and something besides themselves that would be a teachable moment.