IT'S NOT what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country... and don't expect your country to help you out when you need it." This is the message Bush and Congress sent out to the thousands of Americorps members when they refused to fulfill funding promises for the organization founded by Clinton and supported by Bush after September 11. Americorps is similar to the Peace Corps in that with minimal government stipends, volunteers perform community service. Americorps, however, focuses on domestic issues by volunteering at schools, soup kitchens, inner cities or anywhere help is needed.
Unfortunately for these hard-working, kind-hearted Americans, funding promises have not been met. Bush promised an Americorps force of 75,000; currently Americorps is talking of cutting down from 50,000. Granted, part of the mess is due to accounting snafus at the Corporation for National and Community Service, a subsidiary of Americorps, but Americorps deserves the $100 million bail out they are asking for.
Congress has responded half way. This Saturday, The Washington Post revealed the likelihood of an increase in spending for the 2004 fiscal year, but the fate of the much-needed and more-publicized $100 million emergency appropriations still remains in limbo. Considering the way Congress and the President have been throwing money around, the federal government should pick up the $100 million tab for the benefit of all Americans.
How much is $100 million in relative terms? In 2004, Congress plans to allocate about $340 million for the entire budget of the Americorps program. The Americorps emergency infusion ($100 million) would cost the government about .03 percent of Bush's new tax cut ($32 billion for 2003), or about 1.4 percent of the cost of Iraq this year ("Reconstruction of Iraq to cost $7.3 billion this year, The Washington Times, July 30, 2003).
The Senate passed a bill in July giving Americorps the money they requested, but the House believed it would be a bad investment. Bush refused to step in and throw his clout around -- despite promises in his 2002 State of the Union address to man a force of 75,000 in Americorps. Bush likes to keep his distance from the issue and blame the radical Republicans in the House, but he could easily push the bill through by a snap of the fingers. Bush owns the GOP -- if he believed in the program, he would not allow the Republican House to stunt Americorps' growth. To Bush, government-sponsored service only deserves lip service.
More importantly though, Americorps easily pays for itself. The Americorps' miniscule expenses give so much back to the community as well to the volunteers themselves. For scholarships or pathetic stipends, volunteers do work for much less than the market price. Volunteers do construction at less than union wages or volunteers help teach poor students how to read at much less than a teacher's salary. With just a slight push from the government, these people put their soul into what many of us do not have the time for: making the country a better place for the less fortunate.
The $100 million infusion is critical to the continual success of Americorps. While Congress will infuse more money in October for the fiscal year 2004, Americorps needs the cash now to support its infrastructure from collapsing. Without the $100 million, high turnover could plague the organization while new volunteers could be turned away. If the government can bail out the airlines, they can easily save their own program.
As more and more people remain unemployed, America needs volunteerism more than ever. During a booming economy when the government does not have to dedicate billions of dollars to homeland security and war, volunteerism becomes less important. With looming terrorist threats, volunteers can help keep the nation secure. In the year 2003, however, with the "Don't Tax and Do Spend" Republicans in control, the government needs help from the American citizenry.
But the American citizenry needs help too. Americorps gives people who normally couldn't afford to volunteer, the opportunity. Many Americans want to volunteer, but they cannot quit their job and starve for the sake of the less fortunate.
In a perfect world, civic duty would be more than a vocabulary word in high school government courses. Many Americans have the drive to volunteer; they just do not follow through on that desire. Americorps gets the masses out to better this country; why shouldn't we help out the service that helps us?
(Patrick Harvey is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at pharvey@cavalierdaily.com)
Read More
PARTING SHOT: Girl, what did you expect?
By Cecy Juárez | 9 hours agoAdvocate for yourself unabashedly, even and especially when you feel like you don’t belong.
PARTING SHOT: Revisiting old comments
By Claire DiLorenzo | 9 hours agoIn retirement, I am also trying not to be hard on myself — I don’t have to hold onto all the mistakes that I made as an editor.
PARTING SHOT: Prides and joys
By Shaleah Tolliver | YesterdayI have seen what student journalism can do — it can highlight the marginalized, influence the majority and spark conversations.
