Misc. scarey stuff

Am very upset about this. As I wrote to friends this morning:

[The Edward M. Kennedy] Serve America Act -

HR 1388 - formerly known as the GIVE Act (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education) passed the Congress in March and was signed into law by Obama on Tuesday. But Congress still has to approve the funding as part of the FY 2010 budget.

When The Husband first got alarmed about this bill, I went and read the text of it and and was relieved when I saw that it was only for a STUDY to determine how such a program could be implemented. Little did I know... that language was later dropped from the bill and now Obama's "civilian national security force" is the LAW.

 

Not only will this 'army' of community organizers eventually involve as many as 8 - 9 million people, it will be MANDATORY for anyone who gets federal student loans.

 

And check out the small print:

 

those in an "approved national service position" may not

• try to influence legislation
• engage in protests or petitions
• take positions on union organizing
• engage in partisan political activities
• be "engaging in religious instruction
• or
• 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 proselytization."

 

 

Unconstitutional? First Amendment, you say?

 

See any one of these for more (fears & information) about this law --

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95674

http://www.allamericanblogger.com/6886/hr-1388-or-the-obama-youth-brigade-bill-update/

http://www.floppingaces.net/2009/03/18/obama-ujana-the-plan-for-compulsive-service-under-the-guise-of-government-run-volunteer-service-reader-post/

 

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If you're still with me after all that, you will want to read the bill for yourself. It's only 142 pages:)

I just found a very interesting function at www.govtrack.us that allows you to compare versions of a bill side-by-side with all the changes highlighted.

Right now, I'm looking at this bill as it was first submitted to the House, next to the actual law that Obama signed.  Here are some of the random things I'm noticing:

• Service-learning impact study - which would have required a "10-year longitudinal study on the impact of the activities carried out under this subtitle" - DELETED.
• "Adults Age 55 and Older" changed to read: "Baby Boom generation and older adults"
• "Recipient of assistance" changed to read: "grantee"
• Requirement that recipients of assistance grantees establish certain "performance levels"  - DELETED.
• At first, required quarterly reports (on the program's "progress toward meeting the performance levels for the program") to be submitted to the Corporation [for National and Community Service] and the "appropriate State, territory, or Indian tribe".  Changed to: submit only to the Corporation.
• Section 189A: "Matching Funds for Severely Economically Distressed Communities" - DELETED.  This provision would have held that certain distressed communities didn't have to provide matching funds.
• Section 189C: "Restrictions on Federal Government and Use of Federal Funds" - DELETED.
• Requirements for criminal history checks changed such that "a search of the State criminal registry or repository" and a "national criminal history background" check are both DELETED.
• Section 1614, "Criminal History Checks for Individuals Working with Vulnerable Populations" -- DELETED.
• "Labor organizations" changed to read:  "labor unions."
• "Individuals" changed to read: "people."
• "Individuals with disabilities" changed to read:  "participants with disabilities"
• All references to "national service laws" seem to have been DELETED.
• Section 196B "Assignment to State Commissions" - which would have allowed assignments to State Commissions to increase efficiency and oversight - DELETED.
• Section requiring a "Study of Involvement of Veterans" [in the program] - DELETED.
• The House version called for a "Study to Evaluate Agency Coordination" [i.e. the Corporation would coordinate with the Department of Education, Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security], but the actual law DELETES any mention of Social Security or Homeland Security.
• Section 1712 "Study of Program Effectiveness" - DELETED.
• Added: "RULE - Of the grants received by the State Commissions... 1/3 of total grant funds received shall be awareded to organizations that maintain not more than 10-full-time staff and not more than 10 part-time staff."
• Both the House version and the actual law include mention of programs that would re-engage "court-invoved youth and adults," but the actual law makes this a "priority."

I just erased, by accident, the point requiring a "Civic Health Assessment," which I think was deleted... or revised into meaninglessness. I got confused; reading the output of the federal government is even more complicated and painful than doing your taxes.

I will say this, if you want to follow what they're doing in Congress, GovTrack.us seems the Absolute Best site.

 

Comments

[Bruce Kauffman]

As I read the bill, when it says, 'approved national service position may not be used for' these banned activities, it refers to what one would do withing the position, not within their own life. Thus, if you were teaching or helping people, you may not engage in any of these activities with regard to those people you are helping or teaching. But that doesn't stop you from engaging in these activities elsewhere. In reading the bill that you linked to, I see the words '55 and older', but I do not see the words 'baby boom', so is that bill the original and not what was signed?