Obama's chief of staff choice favors compulsory universal service

WTF is wrong with them?!?!

I love volunteering for my community and am always interested in doing more.

Believe it or not but there are not many opportunities, not as many as there should be due to a lack of organization.

Compulsory service is forced labor; forced labor is slavery. To add insult to injury, the State is going to force young people to serve the State and then hand them a bill from the baby boomer politicians that bankrupted the country. They're going to be forced to serve and then pay through higher taxes and inflation.

If people want to serve, they volunteer. Anything else is immoral, unjust and evil.

A bad idea is a bad idea no matter who it came from. Lets be honest or at least some what centrist, if George W. came up with this idea, this site would be overwhelmed with negative response. I do not want the govt. ordering me or my child at any age to do anything. Remember your rights will not taken all at once but a little at a time. Before your start goose stepping in lock step of the end of a cliff to a place you don't want to be,give it some thought.
Just How much kool aid did you people consume?

This article makes Rahm Emanuel service idea sound like they would have young people on the chain gain breaking rocks.That's very slanted reporting I worked many years with Germans they give one year of service in what ever capacity they have,If gave them more self confidence, and it was a good program, was there consciences. Young Americans are fat and soft for the most part they stay at home to long, this would be a win win program.

good thing to happen..works well in most countries..perhaps there will be less crime as well as less drugs being pushed around...

not only is it a good idea, i think it's a must for the future of our union. assuming it was service within the united states and not overseas, i'm all for it.

it should also be tied to post-secondary career planning and would give our national security agencies a fair shake at wooing the best talent available.

I hardly think it's tyranny to require everyone to do 3 months of CIVILIAN service to help and protect our communities and country - especially if there's college credit, job opportunities, etc. attached to it. It seems like a lot of people on Current.com like to talk about change and improving conditions in this country, but they don't like the idea of having to actually do it themselves.

I'm past the ages they're talking about, but I'd do it anyway.

This actually doesn't sound too bad. I would understand some of the nervousness from people. But, after reading it further, it's not that bad. It would help people open up to help others instead of wallowing up in their own bubble.

And from the way the original article described it, it's almost like they're trying to use fear to sway their audience against Obama and his decisions.

I don't want to be sent overseas or away from my family into some remote location of the world for 2 years.

This is genius! i have friends and family procrastinating that they'll get up and help the community 6 to 8 years ago. They haven't done anything but sit on their couches. It's about time i can see them get up and start giving back to the community like me. I've been contributing back to my community solo for 4-5 years now. It's time for everyone to get involved!

He's on face the nation tomorrow, maybe he'll talk about his proposals.

I actually agree, though I doubt it would get passed. It's a great way to solve joblessness and encourage people my age to get out and help peopple, as long as you are allowed to opt out (ie, if you want to go to college, or have a job, etc) and choose what you want to do. No being forced to join the army, instead you could join a community service or something.

Sounds good to me! Do a lot of people a lot of good.

yup, forced community service is TERRIBLE! i say we disband all institutions that push it! down with the beta club and juvinile judicial system!!

works for Switzerland

Are you Obamites getting worried yet?

Good for kids that sit on their ass outside of graduation from high school...but I want to go to college. This is disappointing considering I've seen Obama speak twice and I am a very strong supporter of him

I don't really think this idea is all that bad. Coming from a teenager I personally think that getting my generation out of their computer chairs and doing something good for the world would probably benefit them as much if not more than those they would be serving. Not to mention the discipline learned from the training wouldn't be hurtful either... Go Obama!

This is a very good idea,and I hope it comes about. It would get young Americans involved in there Government,why cant the US look at Europe and see what is working there and do that here.it worked during the depression but were afraid of words like Socialism.All of us must stop being self serving.Its time to serve each other,please support this. And maybe learn from the past. We need a new deal type program to fix our crumbling infrastructure.

Rahm is going to kick ass and take names while enacting OBAMA'S agenda.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."-J.F.K.

He was right and is still right today.

I think this is a GOOD thing. It fosters civic engagement and participation in government (which, despite the record voter turnout this time around, is sorely lacking). I'm all in favor of being more aware of how to cope with disasters...hey, it can't hurt to be safe.

THIS IS AMERICA not Israel, Germany or some other or some other socialist country.

In other countries this isn't all that uncommon. In Germany, youths are required to do something very similar to this. In fact I'd be all for this if you had the option to volunteer for a non-profit to fulfill your requirement, in addition to civil defense.

Remeber Mr. Reagan and his efforts to have volunteers do charity and social work. Maybe this could fulfill his request.

It's indoctrination anyway you look at it.

The only problem is that could be used for good...and that can be used for bad too, so you need to be REALLY careful about defining such things and designing lots of checks and balances and loopholes into it.

I'm actually for uniting America, but only if it TRULY to be used for good.

What is the difference between nationalism and religion?

What about freedom?

Well, at least maybe we could use such a force to clean up the streets of America, in which case I'm all for it.

If I have my stories straight:

There's actually more to this than meets the eye. Don't get swayed by right-wing media that's just trying to say "I told you so!"

The democrats have been throwing around the idea that they will also offers degrees to those who have completed their civil service duties and allow them jobs working for the gov't.

Thus, everyone from all income levels has a fair chance at public sector jobs (roads, environment,etc.) to make a decent living and provide for their families.

Obviously, this was not included in this initial announcement, but I think there's going to be more to this than what you see. This would have been a great question for the Al Gore Q&A tonight.

(I'll try to dig up a link, I heard about this on the radio)

I believe this is a step forward in rebuilding the pride of being an American. We should know what to do if their is an emergency in our own country. He's not, or doesn't appear tot be indicating military service, but on civil service.

Change you can believe in!

Ha. Now then, if it were my country and I were planning on running it as a military-type dictatorship (with me being the dictator of course) this seems like an excellent plan to brainwash people into believing whatever the hell I tell them.

On the other hand, if this is a free society, and we have no reason to be at war or in fear of fighting, this seems like an extremely unnecessary step.

Granted, I agree fully that the social fabric of large parts of American society has dissolved to unhealthy levels, but will 3 months of mandatory service actually make the bad people good people or the rich people care about the poor?

Will it turn gangsta rappers and thugs into upstanding citizens? Would it put Paris Hilton in her place?

F*ck if I know, but since I'm past the legal age of recruitment not unlike Emanuel, I'm really not that concerned about it.

The one caveat might be the fear that you are unknowingly being trained by the bad guys to protect corrupt institutions that are ironically the last thing that should be protected.

Was the war in Iraq really to protect our freedom or just to make money for a select group of opportunists that accidentally got handed the keys through lies and deceit?

Alright, here's a different question for you...

If the Bush Administration proposed such a thing in the current geo-political climate, would you buy it?

They why in the name of God would you buy it from Team Obama instead?

They are two different sides of the same coin kids.

I'm not so sure about this one. I has pros and cons. If I trusted the government I would agree that this is an acceptable way of uniting the people towards a common goal, however, in light of the CRIMINAL BAILOUT and other such nonsense going on, it really scares the hell out of me that this new administration seems ready to capitalize on Obama's Hollywood-created celebrity to potentially chain our citizens into military-type roles that could very easily be pitted against one another within our own country.

Hypothetically, if you are running the country into the ground that there could very well be a Revolution on the way, would you try to create some sort of propaganda-based civil defense force to brainwash as many people into defending the broken system as possible?

Riot police versus well-intended protesters?

Who are the real bad guys?

Do you trust this guy? Why?

I wonder what Ron Paul has to say about this. I wonder what Al Gore has to say. Seems very blue neo-conish if you ask me.

i like the idea. anyone who has ever done community service for school knows how great it feels to be part of society and the good part. having this would help enable those who voted for Obama to really participate in the government that they place and contribute to the America that they wanted.

how to get change in america.
1. right leader (*check)
2. right citizens... this is where everyone chips in to make it happen.

current, you and everyone else here is talking about "encouraging" and "volunteering". That is great, using incentives such as college tuition and credit for community service is a grand idea... forced service is wrong!

We just overthrew a regime that forced us into two wars, deregulation, bailouts, phone tapping... and we want to encourage the new regime to force service to the state?

What is wrong with you people? We just get rid of a tyrant and you want to empower another?

Encourage, reward, incentives, volunteer.. all good. Force, mandatory, compulsory... all bad! This is still a free society!

And what if you don't want to do it?

Government is not parent. They don't have and shouldn't have a say in how children are raised.

Oh yes, It's so horrible to encourage others (usually apathetic teens and college students) to participate in community service. I mean really, who wants a responsible, intelligent youth. Who wants a better community, a better state, or a better nation? Just those damn fascist, socialist, commies, right?
It's all fascism I tell you.

End of Sarcasm

Everyone who is complaining dosent get Obama's policy. Or to put it in another way, they don't want to understand Obama's policy. It doesn't force anyone to do anything. In fact, it gives credit(money) to college students who do donate their time.

Since I was 14 I volunteered in my community, I've planted trees, cleaned up trash, donated blood on a daily basis, and become the chairman of my City's Shade Tree Committee. I'm only 19 and I'm proud that I've accomplished something in my life. Teens my age need to learn how to help out and become responsible.The apathy level is disgusting in this nation.

Roosevelt took us from the ashes and created a powerful phoenix out of this nation through the New Deal. And I believe Obama will also.

i like it. i also like the idea of universal conscription (military training and duty for everyone) because when everyone is responsible for national security, people are less eager to go to war.

This doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. It's just 3 months and I think it would help the country a lot. Not only would the results of the work be beneficial, but it would also be beneficial to those completing it. Being trained in how to assist during a disaster, that would have been useful during Katrina. In Israel 18 year olds have to join the army for I believe it is 3 years.

I don't see a problem with it, it's essentially one summer and it would help you grow as a person, help the country, and you'd probably meet new people.

I not sure if I can trust this guy. I like the idea, but it can easily get out of hands, and shift too much powers into the federal government.
In South Korea, they already do this, and it's going perfectly fine. The government isn't a tyrannical overlord.

that's right prof. funk- it's just an idea. Emmanuel has no authority to enact any of this... so people don't FREAK OUT!

I had to do a minimum of 25 hours of community service every year in high school. I helped run food drives, assisted homeless shelters, and picked up trash off the highways. Though I wasn't always up for taking time out of my day for work instead of play, the work was fulfilling and taught me a lot, and obviously it helped my community.

Not only does 50 hours of high school community service not seem like a bad idea, but neither does three months of learning how to help your community in the event of some kind of attack or natural disaster. These are things we SHOULD all know. It's not a military draft, it's educating citizens in how to assist their community when things inevitably go wrong. How is that scary? Or a bad thing?

Two points. This isn't so bad - it's clearly not a draft and in fact wants to raise a more aware and alert citizenry. Fair I say.

Second - from what I understand CoS has no input to legislation so he won't be able to enact any of this.

Oh people are going to misinterperet this and FREAK OUT! I bet some people already are... it's a little socialistic, but what's wrong with that?

As long as the government sticks to the three month term and doesn't turn this into a permanent thing I think it could be beneficial... but it would need strict guidelines.

This is completely outrageous! Not only is it too far-fetched, but every country on the planet will look at it as if it were some sort of Nazi indoctrination and make us appear to be a war mongering people!

This is a baaaaaaaaad idea!

Bruce Reed, another member of the Progressive Policy Institute that supported the Iraq war. So fitting they want our young people to get war training.

Of ALL places I heard about this first on 4chan (you don't want to know what they had to say about it.)

This is interesting, but I've never heard Obama endorse something like this. Here is what the website says about community service:

"Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year, and will establish a new tax credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year."

And

"Obama and Biden will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 and they will focus this expansion on addressing the great challenges facing the nation. They will establish a Classroom Corps to help teachers and students, with a priority placed on underserved schools; a Health Corps to improve public health outreach; a Clean Energy Corps to conduct weatherization and renewable energy projects; a Veterans Corps to assist veterans at hospitals, nursing homes and homeless shelters; and a Homeland Security Corps to help communities plan, prepare for and respond to emergencies."

I had to do community service in my freshman year and senior year. It was great, I got a lot of experience and it actually helped me get the job I have now.

in almost all things I oppose the government of Israel.

However, i completely agree with 2 years of compulsory service for every american. I think it should include the option of military, health, social services etc.

Not only would this make the majority of american's more aware of the activities and actions of the government but it would improve cultural relations within the US (in the same way the military has).

This could be made into something very negative but it could also be extremely beneficial to America if implemented correctly.

Maybe this could be a good thing??? I mean get those lazy shits outta the living room and off their x-boxes and teach them some useful skills. I wouldn't mind... it'd be like summer camp or something!

My main question is, would they be paid to participate? Also, what would the penalty be if they did not?

This is scarrrry!!!