Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.
Well, voila, after the outcry from many, many people (including a lot of college kids who commented on my Facebook posting), that passage was mysteriously modified without any formal announcement to read:
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free.
The scary thing about the revision is it now includes "citizens of all ages" and includes middle schoolers in the 50 hour goal.
Let's just think for a minute a little more about this plan. Obama is going to want you to participate, and I'll just bet it goes back to being mandatory in the final form. But will you be able to choose the kind of service you do? For instance, if a high school kid wants to serve the community by working in the church nursery or teaching Sunday School, will that be allowed, or will they have to select from government pre-approved programs? You know, like driving winos to the polls during early voting.
And if the programs require government approval, just think of the layers of bureaucracy that will require. I'll bet before it's over there will be a new cabinet secretary - The Secretary of Forced Youthful Labor.
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