AmeriCorps Is On The Budget Chopping Block

[BEST45CAL]

More Clintonista fat gets trimmed. What was that all about anyway? That CityYear thang?
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WASHINGTON — After years of attacks from fiscal conservatives and underwhelming progress reports, the federal AmeriCorps (http://www.americorps.org/) service program has quietly taken its place on the budget chopping block and stands to lose its full-time civilian corps, most of which is currently serving in the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.


Story (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188385,00.html)

[Native American]

Good riddance to bad Clinton garbage.

[Wyatt_Junker]

Reminds me of the smashing success of midnight basketball.

Americorps was campy schlock like The Village People. Getting dressed up in green army pants and slapping on a gay beret. Then going out and handing out edible condoms to dying fags on the AIDS ward. Endless feel-good credits for losers with time on their hands for transferable electives, IOW, filler.

Clinton was a man of decisive action with this kind of happy-go-lucky bullshit and social do-gooding tax schemes for the retarded inner city.

[EdmundDantes]

Good Start! Now also cut Dept. Education, Dept of Transportation, Dept. Agriculture, Dept. Energy, Tennesse Valley Authority, Research into the gender differences between boys and girls, Money for National Endowment for the Arts, NIS, ACLU, PBS, NPR, etc.

[The_Sonarman]

That's a pretty good start, EdmundDantes. Cut all of those, and no one would even notice.

ROTFL. I remember when the budget was being fought over and the government ran out of money. They sent the employees home...... and the rest of "We The People" didn't even notice. That's how useless all those unconstitutional departments are.

[Riverboat]

Don't forget to send home the Chief Nanny Health Inspector, our Surgeon General. Remember when that clown Elders finally got her pink slip, and the position went unfilled for about a year? Did anyone notice? Did anyone care?

[DesertFox]

Yep, yep. Nope. Nope.

Next question.

[Riverboat]

Can I have his uniform after it's retired, or will they hang it in the Smithsonian?

[DesertFox]

You'll have to ax Warlady. That one's above my pay grade.

[Riverboat]

That one's above my pay grade.Pay grade? I'd be more concerned about the GAY grade. Festoon that outfit with a few rainbow ribbons, and you're good to go as the Grand Marshal of any parade in San Francisco.

[Rhino]

You'll have to ax ......Goin Jesse Jackson on us, Fox?

[EdmundDantes]

That's a pretty good start, EdmundDantes. Cut all of those, and no one would even notice.

ROTFL. I remember when the budget was being fought over and the government ran out of money. They sent the employees home...... and the rest of "We The People" even noticed. That's how useless all those unconstitutional departments are.


Hmmm, could add the US commission on civil rights, EPA, OSHA, US Dept. Labor, While we are reorganizing Government to make it more efficient, lets lop EVERY Wealth transfer program into one cabinet level DEPT. OF WELFEAR.... ooops meant welfare. Charity, not entitlement. One computer system to track every benefit each recipient gets, cut out the fraud, and abuse. Get rid of the damn charge cards, and make them clearly labelled FOOD STAMPS. Put the stigma back into gov't assistance.

[EdmundDantes]

Are you aware that if you simply took the dollar value spent on all the various welfare programs in this country and simply gave it to everyone below the poverty line in America each recipient would receive over $31,000 per year. Amazing what eliminating bureaucracy will do

[Native American]

Are you aware that if you simply took the dollar value spent on all the various welfare programs in this country and simply gave it to everyone below the poverty line in America each recipient would receive over $31,000 per year.

Yeah, but then they'd just spend it on crack, horse, meth, and booze.

Oh wait, they pretty much do that already....

[Beowulf]

Edmund, one question. Why the Tennessee Valley Authority? That's a pretty good hydroelectric program they've got down there. In a day and age where we're looking for cleaner, cheaper-to-generate electricity, I like the project.

[EdmundDantes]

Edmund, one question. Why the Tennessee Valley Authority? That's a pretty good hydroelectric program they've got down there. In a day and age where we're looking for cleaner, cheaper-to-generate electricity, I like the project.

Yes but is it federal responsibility? Where in the Constitution? and couldn't it be run more efficiently by the state or local government if it is to be gov operated, or by ideally a private enterprise?

[Beowulf]

I see your point, Edmund, but I just think the TVA is one of the federal projects that actually works. Just my opinion.

[DesertFox]

Not to mention that there are any number of things the govt does that aren't in the Constitution but that need doing by the govt -- paving streets, regulating plumbing standards, setting aviation standards, going to the moon are examples, though one can quibble about going to the moon.

[The_Sonarman]

All fine and good, DF, but I point to the many and varied unconstitutional Federal departments, which do nothing but spew forth reams of paper.

One Example:

"We" spend hundreds of millions on the DOE (Department of Energy) which to this day hasn't produced one watt of energy. This entire department could be eliminated today.

[DesertFox]

Not arguing that point, Sonar. No one in his right mind would ever hold that the govt today, or yesterday, or 50 years ago, was only doing what it should be doing. But the standard of so many libertarians is the impossible, "If it isn't mentioned in the Constitution..." That doesn't even make sense, but we keep seeing it turn up here.

The true limit on govt action relates to common sense plus a determination to keep to the Founders' vision. There will always come times when something needs doing, such as the Louisiana Purchase, but there's no Constitutional authority to do it. Rather than stupidly pass by such chances, the animating premise needs to be, "We recognize that there is no Constitutional authority to do this and we don't, by this action, intend a precedent." As we have amply seen over the past century, it's the hearts of men that make the Constitution work as intended, not some formulaic approach to it.

[Beowulf]

setting aviation standards
Funny thing is, it is the Judiciary that sets them as lawyers write the books on Federal Aviation Regulation. (FAR)
I rest so easy knowing this as lawyers know nothing about aviation yet they tell me how to do my job.

[cerberus]

Not to mention that there are any number of things the govt does that aren't in the Constitution but that need doing by the govt -- paving streets, regulating plumbing standards, setting aviation standards, going to the moon are examples, though one can quibble about going to the moon.
Excellent point DF. At the very, very least we need a lot of these programs to ensure health and safety that the individual cannot (EPA, FDA etc, etc). I think people tend to forget that while many of the more notorious government programs and agencies may have gotten bloated, they were formed for very good and necessary reasons. Meat inspection isn't in the Constitution, but does anybody really want to go back to the day's of Sinclair's The Jungle?

Beyond that however, I think there is some utility and benifit from programs such as AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, Dept of Education, Energy etc etc. For the most part "we" as a society have agreed on their utility. We could live in a world of Randian absolutist minimalist government and let the weakest rot, but as a compassionate people we choose not to, just as we reject complete government socialism depriving individuals of their incentive to grow and become independent. I don't think that's reallys a bad thing after all; finding some middle ground vis-a-vis the scope of government. The larger problem most people have with government isn't so much the scope of its services so much as the perceived efficiency of those services.

[Wyatt_Junker]

Meat inspection isn't in the Constitution, but does anybody really want to go back to the day's of Sinclair's The Jungle?


I was waiting for you to drop the The Jungle. Its usually trotted out whenever a lib wants to justify anything other than the government diddling with highly fissionable material.

Nukes, roads and a standing military. I'll say it again. The Fed can camp out on nukes, roads and a standing military. I trust the rest to fall into the cracks of minimal exceptionalism that DF already noted. Its not everyday that we need to deal with a Tennessee Valley Authority or a Lousiana Purchase.


Beyond that however, I think there is some utility and benifit from programs such as AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, Dept of Education, Energy etc etc.


No. There is none. Americrap? Turn it into the B leagues of the US military. Make them swill the shit of the real fighters and carry around plungers and mops. Peace Crap? Make them turn down the beds of the soldier and make them wear aprons and cook dinner and wait on the MEN. Dept. of Education? Kill it. Energy? Privitize it.

For the most part "we" as a society have agreed on their utility.


We haven't agreed to jack shit. Our voices have not been heard. We haven't been consulted. All those things have been ripped right out of our hands by do-gooding grifters.


We could live in a world of Randian absolutist minimalist government and let the weakest rot


In your world they would rot. Not in mine. In your world where only the government helps people they would rot as they do now. In my world where taxes are rolled back to 1901, compassion wins out in the end while the churches dig back into their roots of benevolence and almsgiving. Yes, I am a beliver. You are not. I believe God cares. I know for certain that the government sure as hell does not.

but as a compassionate people we choose not to,


There is nothing compassionate about the IRS.


just as we reject complete government socialism depriving individuals of their incentive to grow and become independent.


Tell that to the small business owner.


I don't think that's reallys a bad thing after all; finding some middle ground vis-a-vis the scope of government.

Its impossible. There is no middle ground. There is only a growing, ominous incrementalism. We started at Main Street and ever since, we've gone to full-blown Federalist concentration of power, each year worse than the next. There is no such thing as middle of the road when all roads lead to Rome.

[EdmundDantes]

Not arguing that point, Sonar. No one in his right mind would ever hold that the govt today, or yesterday, or 50 years ago, was only doing what it should be doing. But the standard of so many libertarians is the impossible, "If it isn't mentioned in the Constitution..." That doesn't even make sense, but we keep seeing it turn up here.

The true limit on govt action relates to common sense plus a determination to keep to the Founders' vision. There will always come times when something needs doing, such as the Louisiana Purchase, but there's no Constitutional authority to do it. Rather than stupidly pass by such chances, the animating premise needs to be, "We recognize that there is no Constitutional authority to do this and we don't, by this action, intend a precedent." As we have amply seen over the past century, it's the hearts of men that make the Constitution work as intended, not some formulaic approach to it.


While I agree with you, Just because it needs doing by a Gov't dont allow it. If it needs doing, put it on the ballot, and amend the constitution to allow it. There is a process for that. Dont just allow an increase in govermental autority because history has shown that once it starts it does not stop.

[DesertFox]

Completely impractical, Edmund. Not only does it take a lengthy period to amend the Constitution, but then that document would have a string of weird amendments such as, "The President is hereby empowered to purchase the territory of Louisiana. Congress will have the power to enact enabling legislation." One-time things aren't what the Constitution is about.

[Faithful_Servant]

Hmmm, could add the US commission on civil rights, EPA, OSHA, US Dept. Labor, While we are reorganizing Government to make it more efficient, lets lop EVERY Wealth transfer program into one cabinet level DEPT. OF WELFEAR.... ooops meant welfare. Charity, not entitlement. One computer system to track every benefit each recipient gets, cut out the fraud, and abuse. Get rid of the damn charge cards, and make them clearly labelled FOOD STAMPS. Put the stigma back into gov't assistance.
And make then about 4" x 6" and in bright neon colors, require a store managers approval whenever they are redeemed and then place all groceries purchased in hot pink bags with "I'm spending YOUR money!!!" printed on the side.

[Faithful_Servant]

The best thing we could do with DC would be a massive wetlands reclamation project there and return as much of it as possible to the swampland ti once was. Then ban air-conditioning and window screens. Once the heat, humidity and mosquitos start kicking in, i figure that DC will be the last place anyone will want to live or work. All of these Depts. would shut down for lack of manpower. Maybe they could start hiring illegals to run them or start out-sourcing them. "Hello, Inteerneal Reeveenue Seerveece, wheech country would cho like your call to be seent to?"