I am proud to say that I have always worked in the service industry. I have washed other people's dishes, cared for adolescents who were homeless, educated children about their environment, and most recently encouraged college students to get involved in their community.
I am amazed by the impact that one person can have, and I hope that my efforts are creating ripples in the communities I have lived and worked in.
From the first - I knew that Obama was going to be my candidate. I had always loved Hilary for her intelligence and what she represented as a strong woman, but it was Barack's statements about national service that sealed the deal.
It has been so frustrating to try to explain to family members from another generation about what I do and why I do it. It paralleled my frustration at knowing that for at least 8 years, the administration in Washington had no idea either and could care less. Finally, I had found my champion. Someone who will uphold my values and speak out for what I believe in.
I know millions of other people in America right now are feeling the same way I do, for a variety of reasons, and I am so excited to meet with them to help President Elect Obama fulfill his mission to bring change to the people in this amazing country.
Let me know if you are excited too and let's start the movement right here in Boston!
That's a headline I would love to see, and certainly one that John McCain would not expect to see. Let me explain...
I've been challenging the Ayers smear campaign every day on-line in the major print media. I attack this fear and innuendo rhetoric by citing the fact that since 2003, the Bush administration has granted over 125,000 'moral waivers' to new enlistees in our military who have serious criminal records, many of whom are also members of organized gangs with names like 'Crips', 'Bloods' and 'Gangster Disciples'. It's about drawing a distinction between guilt by association, and the inference of a terrorist threat, and a real-world set of policies and actions which have led to real-world acts of terror here at home, by organizations which are, among other things, the terrorists we know.
Here's a link to my blog that provides details of that policy:
(http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/tedthomas/gGg7Fg)I believe these policies are seriously undermining our military by reducing the entry level standards to be a member of our armed forces. It's not just a policy that allows criminals to enlist in our armed forces, they have reduced the minimum educational requirements as well. I believe this reveals a degree of contempt for our military personnel on the part of Bush, McCain, and Lindsay Graham, all of whom opposed improving the education benefit for volunteers, and who have deliberately pursued policies designed to extend and exploit to the limit the enlistment contract in order to compensate for their own inability to contain and bring closure to the Iraq initiative. It is also profoundly hypocritical given the propensity of Senator McCain to wrap himself in our flag, and pose as the "true champion of our citizens in uniform".
I suggest that Senator Obama announce that he will end the practice of approving moral waivers on enlistees with criminal backgrounds, and discharge any enlistees who may have connections with domestic gang organizations. This would correct one of the most insidious aspects of this ill-considered policy, by restoring the expectation of all who enlist in the military that they are joining an elite corps that represents the best people in our country, rather than seeking out the dregs of our society from amongst those who have committed crimes. If we don't make this change, we will create a serious disincentive for the best among us to even consider volunteering for military service. What reasonable person would consider going into combat knowing that some of their comrades have a criminal history, or worse, have divided loyalties which include domestic terrorist organizations, aka: organized gangs?
He should announce tax credits for businesses who provide entry-level on the job training for returning Iraq veterans, and an extension of military health care benefits to veterans even after they have left the military and taken jobs in the private sector. By relieving prospective employers of the health-care costs of veterans, we create an incentive and an offset for training costs, and provide businesses with a means of sharing the burden of our foreign policy.
Finally, I think he should create a national recruiting campaign called the "Shared Service Initiative" under which Americans are encouraged to enlist in the reserves solely in order to relieve existing military personnel and their families of the crushing burden they have been asked to bear.The cost associated with these changes in policy can be offset by reducing the amount of money being paid to private contractors like Blackwater for security personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. I contend that if Americans believe their service commitment is respected by the government, and that our leadership is willing to ask all of our Citizens to share the burdens of defending this country, the call will be answered. That is the tradition in this country, and the failure of the Bush administration to ask Americans to share the sacrifices of these two wars has undermined the bond of trust between the nation and those who go in harms way in service of their country.
I firmly believe these measures are called for regardless of their impact on the Presidential campaign. But I think it would be timely to announce them during the campaign as a way of refuting the misconception that Democrats are somehow less tuned-in to the issue of national security, and pointing out the egregious disregard that has been demonstrated by the Bush administration and by Senator McCain towards our military, albeit beneath the public radar for the most part.
Anyone who reads this, if you agree, please make some noise about it, and pass it on up the chain to the leadership of the campaign. We could still lose this election...
Is it possible to do any level of National Service without affecting your job?
I recently became engaged to a wonderful soldier in the United States Army who is soon going to be deployed for his second tour of duty in Iraq. I am immensely proud of my fiance and his service to our country. Many of us have friends and loved ones serving overseas and I know it is easy to feel scared and isolated. However, I have found the best comfort and solace in knowing that not only military families are supporting my fiance's service to our country but so is the next president of the United States.
Whether it's Colorado Springs' brave men and women in uniform serving overseas or Americorps volunteers in Denver working in inner-city schools or Peacecorps volunteers from Grand Junction bringing much needed relief to a community abroad, he knows that working together we can strengthen our local communities, change the country and face common challenges we face here at home and around the world. I believe that Senator Obama is not only the leader who will bring my soldier home safely, but the one who has already brought people together from all over the country through all walks of life to make it clear that we have a hand a hand in our future and you should too. I believe that we can rely on him. I believe that we can respect him because he respects us and all those who serve us.
He wants us involved and all this ground up effort is the key to this...The people of America are hungry for something like this, so I know that there are going to be millions who take him up on his challenge... you want to be in the military, you want to serve your country, you want to be a teacher, you want to go to inner city schools. We will help you. What a fantastic two way street it is, in a time when Washington has been a one way street, a street away from us.
Looking at the current stand-off between “Yes, We Can!” and “Yes, We Will!” and considering the difference between “Vote for Change We Can Believe In” and “Standing Up for Jobs and Standing Up for You,” we see a movement based on belief opposed by a campaign founded on action. Let me offer the slogan--“Working Together to Change America”—to show how the Obama campaign would get us from here to there. In the contrast to Hillary providing “Solutions for America” where her gifts for the people could be found last Christmas already wrapped under Hillary’s tree, Barack’s message has always been inclusive. After years of being divided from one another, citizens are finally considering the notion of working together for a change—something we seem not to have done since Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
As we shift from belief to action, we need to consider how to initiate change. Rather than focus on long-ranged goals, we need to focus on the process that will get us where we want to go. Steps within that process provide the specifics that pundits and the public have sought from Obama. Let me share some specifics that seem, to me, safe to introduce into the campaign. These specifics are based on the belief that our national security depends upon our internal strength. That strength depends upon our working together to change America.
The first specific is the creation of National Service, whose mission is to “Retrofit America and Benefit the World.” This involves fighting Global Warming with “Cool Projects” like solarizing cities and towns. It includes military service for those so inclined and offers rewards for such service. It supports repairing our infrastructure and rebuilding areas, including the city of New Orleans, and it provides entry-level training for those needing employment. It also provides people (many of whom are at the point of retirement and are worried about making ends meet or wish to do more than enjoy an extended “Happy Hour”) with the opportunity to work as Ambassadors of Good Will, providing health and educational services throughout the U.S. and around the world.
These projects increase production, put money into the hands of workers, train people who might have marginal skills, purchase American goods, and provide services needed by the general public at more affordable prices. Each dollar put into circulation through public works has a greater effect upon our economy than six dollars given in rebates and tax breaks.
Tied to these projects is the belief that we should control our own destiny. We must take control of our towns through public franchise. Cities (and nations) have the right to regulate businesses that operate within their boundaries. Too often, we have been afraid to exact from businesses a fair price for their being allowed to make a profit from us. Civil Rights legislation was based on the idea that businesses had an obligation to serve all the people of the community. Zoning restrictions and other regulations can be imposed to guarantee that businesses are fair. Such contracts can insist that a certain percentage of workers hired for public works contracts be from the city or county where they are employed. Businesses can be asked to guarantee that they will remunerate the community if they decide to close down or go elsewhere. Those businesses could buy insurance to guarantee their ability to do that should they fall on hard times. Corporations can be forced to pay taxes if they choose to operate within our borders. Anything less compromises our sovereignty. Our national security demands that we protect ourselves.
As we look at immigration and the concerns raised about sovereignty and protecting ourselves, let us not disrespect people who have chosen to live and work here. One way to show that respect is to promote Heritage Language studies within our schools. This is not bilingual education. Rather, it is recognizing that teaching reading and writing—whether it be in English, Spanish, Mandarin, or Farsee—is the only way to guarantee that children will be literate and able to use that language well when dealing in our global economy. Heritage Language programs build self-respect. They also provide an opportunity for native English speakers to immerse themselves in a foreign language, getting help from peers who already speak that language. By working together in this way to change America, we strengthen ourselves within the global economy.
The first area where specifics have been called for is the Obama Health Plan. The specific that sparks the imagination the most is “choice.” Some people want midwifery care. Some want chiropractic. Many want counseling and the ability to choose their own counselor. Hospice care with time-off for relatives to see their family members through to a more comfortable end is a needed alternative to being strapped to machines and invading by tubes. By increasing our health care options, we enrich the entire health care industry. To make this work most effectively, our first step must be transitional. A mandatory program closes all deals and provides no option for growth or change. The costs could be so high that drug manufacturers and insurance companies would never feel the competition. Obama's program would consider research to evaluate what is truly safe and cost-effective. As well, it would consider what procedures and protocols could bring medical care to isolated groups now not easily served.
The truth is that America's best defense is to increase our internal strength. What is homeland security without universal health care, without a working infrastructure, without mutual respect, and without controlling our own destiny? It is time to become united and whole. To do that, we must work together.
As I was writing my last post, a story on the US hitting the 4000-casualty mark in the Iraq war ran across my screen. There were 3 salient points that are worth sharing:
Dear Senator Obama:
There are a few hot button issues out there that evoke strong emotional reactions the instance they are spoken. Veterans and the military are always front and center, especially in this time of conflict, but runs to the corp of our national being and as such has a bit of an untouchable/tread-lightly tint to it when spoken by politicians.
I joined the Navy Reserves in 2002 after long reflection on the events of September 11th, 2001. While I knew there were a number of programs available to volunteer for, I found my calling in helping my country by bringing my years of consulting in the computer industry to bear. Helping out where I could and since then I have been serving in Europe, the US, and other places around the globe. My active duty status will expire by the end of next year, God willing, and I'll go back to a well paying job in the computer industry again.
As a reservist I have the opportunity to see how our military functions from a viewpoint that active duty soldiers maybe don't appreciate but seeing how our young men and women leave home, many times at 18 or 19 years old, and give themselves up to the nation utterly amazes me on a day-to-day basis.
Senator, I don't know what you think about tax exemption but I think your campaign would make enormous strides by suggesting that all soldiers/sailors/marines/coast guard members would be tax exempt from federal taxes regardless of where they serve.
Currently the tax exemption applies only when we're in the war zone but daily I read that the Army, in particular, is having to lower its standards in order to obtain the recruiting numbers they need. I say, keep the standards as they once were but offer tax exemption. It would create an instant boost to the moral. An instant boost to the viability of serving to those who might have been on the fence. An instant recognition of your progressive thinking.
True, I'd benefit from these suggestions but only in the short term. I plan on heading back home, where I've been absent since October 2006, and enjoy living on the farm and consulting again.
You truly are different Senator. I've never given money to a campaign before but you have energized thought and action and for that I'm thankful.
God bless,
Enforce Labor Law
GLOBAL Standards
Border Patrol increase of 25,000
National Service for 2 years to earn citizenship
Former Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford met with Manchester voters this morning to discuss Barack’s plan for encouraging service. Senator Wofford served as a special assistant on civil rights to President Kennedy and played an instrumental role in the formation of the Peace Corps. More recently, Senator Wofford held the post of Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs the AmeriCorps and other service programs.
At a meet and greet with members of ServeNext NH, Senator Wofford told his audience that the Kennedy Administration succeeded in fostering a spirit of service throughout the nation, a spirit that faded after the turbulence and domestic divisions of the 1960s. He is supporting Barack, in large part, to restore that lost spirit of service to the nation.
He said:
I’ve been waiting for a long time to feel as inspired as I felt during the days of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Barack Obama has picked up the torch that they lit and can rekindle that lost energy and passion for serving our country.
The country is ready, Senator Wofford said, to create a lasting culture of service in which all young people are expected to spend a few years serving the nation and the world as part of their overall education. He remarked, “We have a tremendous opportunity in electing Barack Obama to unite this country around common goals and revitalize the sense that we’re all in this together.”
Senator Wofford, whose special election victory in 1991 helped put health care on the national agenda in advance of the 1993 effort to overhaul the health care system, believes the leadership we need to achieve real change on a variety of issues requires a clean break with the past.
He said, “I am so afraid of going back to the polarization of the 90s, and I was right in the thick of things when I served in the Senate. Barack bears none of those scars and offers us a fresh start.”
"John Kennedy was the first President I ever voted for," says Carole, a grandmother and former Peace Corps volunteer (pictured at left, manning the Peace Corps booth at a local job fair in Ohio.) "From the Kennedy era until now, I've felt kind of, "Oh well," about every President. There was nothing to be excited about -- not in the way I was about Kennedy -- until Barack Obama arrived."
"Barack inspires people, especially young people -- which is what I was when Kennedy was running. And that's who this election matters for, young people. I've knocked on doors before for ACT (America Coming Together), and I always tell people, 'I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for my grandchildren.' They're the ones will truly be affected by the decisions we make today."
It was John Kennedy of course who initiated the Peace Corps, but despite Carole's admiration for him, and despite her appreciation for the program, she wasn't able to join up like she wanted to in the 1960's. It wasn't until 30 years later, once her children were grown and educated, that she finally found herself working in Botswana, Africa, for the Peace Corps at the age of 55.
"It's important to do something when you don't get anything in return except the knowledge that you have helped," Carole says. "It makes us all better. It makes the country better."
Giving of yourself feeds the soul, not just for the moment, but for a lifetime.
Carole read Barack Obama's speech today at Cornell College in Iowa, and recognized in it the same qualities she was so moved by in the 60's. "At any other time, one of these other candidates might have been OK. But this is a unique moment in our history, and I just know that he's the only one who can bring the country together -- who can bring the world together."
Today, at Cornell, a room full of students heard Kennedy's call to service renewed. They were asked to be a part of the American story; they were asked to "step into the current of history."
"I'm not going to tell you what your role should be," Barack Obama said. "That's for you to discover. But I am going to ask you to play your part; ask you to stand up...[and] when the memory of this or that policy has faded, and when the words that we will speak in the next few years are long forgotten - I hope you remember this as a moment when your own story and the American story came together, and history bent once more in the direction of justice."
To read the full speech, click here.
Craig Newmark is the founder and owner of Craigslist.org
Hey, we really need to renew our shared spirit of working together in the USA, and Barack's serious about it.Our country needs someone to remind us of what our values are, and then we can remind the whole world that the America they believe in is still around.
(I'm flattered that he mentioned craigslist, but that's not consequential; what matters is the renewal of our values.)
Cross posted on Huffington Post
Former US Senator Harris Wofford (D-PA), helped to launch the Peace Corps under the Kennedy Administration and played a key role in crafting legislation that led to AmeriCorps.
From the perspective of four-score-and-one years, I feel lucky beyond measure to have this new leader who can touch our souls -- and move our minds and bodies into action. I haven’t felt like this since the days of high hopes with John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Barack Obama has picked up the torch that they lit.In the 1950s and ‘60s I was fortunate to serve in the White House with President Kennedy, to campaign for Robert Kennedy, and to work – and walk –with Martin Luther King. And I’ll never forget how students were in the forefront of the civil rights struggle, facing hoses, starting sit-ins, and going to jail. As they were out in front in the protests against the war in Vietnam – and how the enthusiastic response of students helped to bring the Peace Corps into existence.Before I introduce Barack, I have one story to tell – of another day on another college campus when a dynamic young presidential candidate came together with a group of college students and together they made history.Forty-six years ago, on a cold fall night in Ann Arbor, Michigan, some 10,000 people, most of them university students, waited till after 1 a.m. to welcome John Kennedy. Kennedy didn’t have a prepared speech. He spoke briefly, from the steps of the Student Union, putting questions to the students: “How many of you are willing to spend years in Asia, Africa, and Latin America? To spend your days in Ghana.” “Our future,” he said, “depends on your willingness to do that.”With loud, long applause, the students signaled their readiness. But they didn’t leave it at that. About 250 students organized as “Americans Committed to World Responsibility” and circulated petitions saying that if Kennedy started an overseas volunteer program, they were ready to go. When Kennedy heard that nearly a thousand students had signed the petition and had a long scroll to present to him, he turned to his staff and said “let’s give a major speech proposing a Peace Corps.” He did so six days before the election to a large enthusiastic audience in San Francisco. The press gave it favorable national attention, and Kennedy repeated the promise in his election eve address.Kennedy won by some 100,000 votes, and it is probable that far more than that number were swayed by his bold new idea. It’s even more likely that if the Michigan students had not undertaken their initiative, Kennedy would not have made that campaign promise, or made it a priority in his new administration. With their thousand student scroll, the students were not only there at the creation; they played a key part in the creating.Kennedy’s Peace Corps never reached the size and impact that he and we hoped for. We lost that opportunity, but the door to great new opportunities to serve, at home and abroad, is being opened again today—at this college campus. Are you ready to be part of history?Barack says that the amazing response of students in Iowa and around the country helps to fire him up. But if you follow his remarkable trajectory in life you know that he does not need to be stirred to action. He is ready for action to change the course of our country and to change the world. He needs you to help him see it through not just this election but also in the new administration. He is ready. Are you?The country needs you not only to answer his call to action but to be creative, in your own right to discover the best ways to serve and to build a better country and a better world. And we need Barack Obama -- to become the next President of the United States.
We need your service, right now, in this moment – our moment – in history. I'm not going to tell you what your role should be; that's for you to discover. But I am going to ask you to play your part; ask you to stand up; ask you to put your foot firmly into the current of history. I am asking you to change history's course. --- Barack Obama on National Service (12/5/2007)
It's been over forty-five years since a certain president instructed a generation to ask not what their country could do for them, but to ask what they could do for their country. It's about time someone renewed that call to service.
Today, while outlining a plan for national service, Barack Obama once again showed that he understands the capacity of young people to serve, the willingness of young people to serve. In the face of doubts about young people taking part in the process, Senator Obama put his faith in us to step up and tie our dreams with the American dream. The Obama for America rising tide is lifting student participation in politics and Senator Obama knows that if elected president he can parlay that enthusiasm for change into action.
And Senator Obama is willing to put the force of his administration behind tying the American dream with ours. He knows that it is growing increasingly difficult for college students in the US to afford their education when the cost keeps spiraling upward. He plans to create an American Opportunity Tax Credit that would ensure that the first $4,000 dollars of a college education is free to most Americans. That is two-thirds of the cost of tuition at the average public college or university. In return the Obama Administration would require 100 hours of public service a year. It's a visionary goal that invests in the future of America and provides incentives for public service.
My generation does see the need for service. We lived through 9/11. We lived through Katrina. We rallied together in opposition of terrorism. We went to New Orleans after the storm to rebuild homes and restore a city. We are overseas in the Armed Forces, protecting the freedom of the United States. We are overseas in the Peace Corps, lifting up depressed villages. We are dispatched around the country in AmeriCorps, providing relief after disaster. We are serving around the country in Teach for America pulling the achievement gap closed with both hands. But it is not enough.
A generation ago, President John F. Kennedy called on Americans to serve their country and they overwhelmingly responded.
Today, at Cornell College in Iowa, Barack Obama is calling on a new generation of Americans to step up, serve their country, and change the world.
Of all the candidates, Barack Obama is the one who, like Kennedy, can inspire a generation of Americans to respond to a call to service. After all, for Obama, public service isn't just a campaign slogan -- it's the cause that has animated his life.
When Barack graduated from college, instead of pursuing wealth on Wall Street, he pursued justice on the streets of Chicago's South Side. After spending three years working as a community organizer, he went to Harvard Law School, where he became editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. With that kind of resume under his belt, Obama had his pick of any of the top corporate law firms in the country. But he chose to return to Chicago and serve his community, heading up Project Vote and helping to register 150,000 new African American voters.
Barack Obama is, and always will be a community organizer and a public servant. And today, he's unveiling a plan that will create hundreds of thousands of new opportunities for Americans from all walks of life to serve their communities as well.
Barack Obama's plan to help all Americans serve their country will:
Click here for full details of the plan and stay tuned for more details from Jaime, who's at the speech right now in Iowa.
In the words of Ted Sorensen, John F. Kennedy's speechwriter and advisor, "Senator Obama’s stirring call to public service is the strongest since John F. Kennedy’s 1960 request that all Americans, especially young Americans, ask what they can do for their country.”
Tomorrow, Barack will deliver a speech about national service. In a recent interview with Time Magazine, Barack said:
One of the things I think I can bring to the presidency is to make government and public service cool again. There’s such a hunger among young people for some outlet for their idealism. That’s why you see these movements around Darfur or climate change. You don’t see it expressed in terms of people wanting to serve in the Justice Department or the foreign service. Why should they, when the core missions of those agencies have been gutted?
Barack’s forthcoming speech on greatly expanding youth participation in government and public service comes on the heels of efforts by his opponents to discourage Iowa college students with origins outside of the state from caucusing. At an event in Ames, Iowa that kicked off a college tour in the state, Barack made it clear why so many college students are supporting his candidacy:
Don’t let people tell you that you can’t participate. You are an Iowa student; you can be an Iowa caucus-goer, and I want you to prove them wrong when they say you’re not gonna show up.
Throughout this campaign, Barack has made youth participation in government and public service a central component of his message for revitalizing politics. At a recent event in Littleton, Barack reminded his school day audience at Littleton High School that all of the successful movements of the past—anti-slavery, woman’s suffrage, civil rights, and anti-Vietnam War—featured the energetic participation of young activists. The stakes in this election are so high, Barack said, that young people need to come together to make their voices heard.
As he told students at a “Meet the Candidate” event in Alton, “These problems we are talking about will affect you much more than they will affect me.”
New Hampshire students like Svea and Wes have responded to Barack’s call for greater political participation. They know that they can play a big role in selecting the next president if they take part in the process.
Add your voice to theirs and join New Hampshire Students for Obama.
Barack delivers the commencement address for SNHU class of 2007.
"National service can become a centerpiece for the United States in the 21st century, providing every American with common experience in building a stronger nation. We the undersigned call on the next President of the United States and the U.S. Congress to create a system of mandatory national service for all citizens."
This is the opening paragraph of the Everyone Serves petition. If you want an America where everyone shares in the responsibility for being a citizen, show your support and sign the Everyone Serves petition.
Join us at Everyone Serves and learn how the nation is addressing this important issue. Then urge Senator Obama to take a leadership role in shared national service.
