I'm writing this thread, to see if I am alone in my deep concerna bout the presidents recent proposed budget decrease for Americorps, and especially the NCCC program. For those of you who dont know Amiercorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet our country’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.
AmeriCorps members serve with more than 3,000 nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based and community organizations. Since 1994, more than 400,000 men and women have provided needed assistance to millions of Americans across the nation through their AmeriCorps service.
AmeriCorps opens the door for citizens to serve in a variety of ways. Through their service and the volunteers they mobilize, AmeriCorps members address critical needs in communities throughout America.
Despite President Bush's promise in his 2002 State of the Union address to expand AmeriCorps by 50 percent, the national service venture is only weeks away from shrinking dramatically. Unless the president proves willing to face down GOP ideologues in Congress this fall, a decade of hard-won progress in building national service will be lost.
Before leaving town for the summer, House Republicans stripped $100 million in emergency funds for AmeriCorps from a supplemental bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate. Though chump change by Washington standards - $100 million amounts to less than one-hundredth of a percent of the president's tax cuts - this modest infusion would be enough to make AmeriCorps whole. Yet the White House declined to support the bill, with a spokesman declaring that the AmeriCorps situation is "not considered a disaster or an emergency."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0811/p09s01-coop.html
Under the President’s proposed budget, the $5 million the program would receive, a decrease of $22 million from the previous year, would only be used to close the five regional campuses.
I think that this is outragous. When I think about the billions we spend on war, and what this program means to so many people, and what little it costs the government. In conclusion, again, I'm writing this to see if there is anyone also willing to send the message to the government that cuts like these aren't acceptable, and that they wont simply be passed with little regard by its citiznes. I'm considering, after a long period of thought on this, a hunger strike. Its proven itself as a powerful and direct way of showing our disagreement.