http://www.time.com/…

At various times in American history, public service and private effort

went arm in arm. After Pearl Harbor, Rosie the Riveter and Uncle Sam exhorted people to help the war effort, and Americans responded. But since F.D.R., and especially since J.F.K.’s launching of the Peace Corps, national service has been seen by some as a Democratic or liberal idea. In the ’90s, Newt Gingrich argued that the rise of big government programs robbed people of their initiative to volunteer. After Bill Clinton signed the bill to create AmeriCorps in 1993, then Senator John Ashcroft called it “welfare for the well-to-do.”

But these days there is a growing consensus on Capitol Hill that the private and public spheres can be linked. Democrats understand the need to support programs outside of government; Republicans understand that voluntary programs can be helped by government. In his first State of the Union address after 9/11, President George W. Bush called for Americans to give 4,000 hours of service and established the USA Freedom Corps. One of the early critics of AmeriCorps, John McCain, has since become a devout supporter. “National service is an issue that has been largely identified with the Democratic Party and the left of the political spectrum,” McCain wrote in a 2001 Washington Monthly essay. “That is unfortunate, because duty, honor and country are values that transcend ideology…National service is a crucial means of making our patriotism real, to the benefit of both ourselves and our country.”

THE PLAN

So what would a plan for universal national service look like? It would be voluntary, not mandatory. Americans don’t like to be told what they have to do; many have argued that requiring service drains the gift of its virtue. It would be based on carrots, not sticks — “doing well by doing good,” as Benjamin Franklin, the true father of civic engagement, put it. So here is a 10-point plan for universal national service. The ideas here are a mixture of suggestions already made, revised versions of other proposals and a few new wrinkles.

1. Create a National-Service Baby Bond
2. Make National Service a Cabinet-Level Department
3. Expand Existing National-Service Programs Like AmeriCorps and the National Senior Volunteer Corps
4. Create an Education Corps
5. Institute a Summer of Service
6. Build a Health Corps
7. Launch a Green Corps
8. Recruit a Rapid-Response Reserve Corps
9. Start a National-Service Academy
10. Create a Baby-Boomer Education Bond

Voluntary? Really? How long would that last? How voluntary is the collection of funds to pay for all this proposed government expansion.

Read More…

This morning on CNN:

And then at 1PM he was signing his new book at the 100 Broadway Borders book store. I arrived at 1PM with my copies of “The Revolution: A Manifesto” and “A Foreign Policy of Freedom.” The place was packed. They had sold out of The Revolution before I got there. He came in just after I did through the front door. Waited over an hour and a half in line. The Borders employees said they had never seen so many people for a book signing… including Greenspan. The line started on the third floor and went around the main walkway straight for two bends and then snaked through at least a dozen rows of books. I’ve no idea where it ended. They were letting 15 people at a time go down to the second floor where there was likely 40 people waiting. That’s where the table was set up for Paul. They didn’t allow for personalizing the signing because there was just too many people.

He’s going to be in Newark, NJ tonight at 6PM or so to do a fundraising for Murray Sabrin. I wasn’t in the mood to head down to Brick City but a few of the NYC Ron Paul Meetup members I saw are planning on going.

Update:

From Ron Paul’s publisher: “The signing [in NYC] was pretty remarkable. Sold out of 530 books before he even got there. More than 850 people showed up…2nd biggest signing in that store besides Bill Clinton. Incredible!”

Ron Paul on Judge Napolitano’s Radio Show: Part 1 and Part 2

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/…

I couldn’t stand to watch the whole thing… nor did I take notes this time but I’ve a few things to point out.

• The very first thing mentioned was the whole race/gender arguments going about. That they all wish to stop talking about it. That race nor gender matter and shouldn’t be part of their campaigns. The second thing mentioned is how the three on stage are qualified to be their. Hillary immediately brings up her gender and talks about what she has accomplished as one.
• They continue to make race and gender an issue throughout the first half of the debate and none of the candidates cared to stop the questions. Even after a member of the audience started yelling about how all the questions where referring to race/gender.
• Just like all the Republicans minus Ron Paul… the Democrats don’t understand economics. Their drivel about the economy was pathetic. It’s like a child’s ignorant view of the world. They speak of surface level issues.
• Hillary accuses all the Republicans of being prowar. Wanting to continue the Bush administration’s plans. Anyone who pays any attention knows that’s not the case. If Mr. Kucinich had been on the stage I’d hope he would have pointed that out along with how none of them on stage have a consistent stance on the war.
• None of the candidates attending obviously care much that others still in the race are ignored. NHGOP had the conviction to pull their sponsership when Hunter and Paul were left out of the forum in New Hampshire. Stereotypically the Democrats are supposed to be for equality even recently wanting to reenact the Fairness Doctrine. Yet Gravel and Kucinich are left out without even a mention.
• They spoke of universal healthcare. Unfortunately they lie and really mean compulsory health insurance. While they usually mean the same thing politically, conceptually they are very different. Universal heathcare as people generally think of is not possible and compulsory health insurance gives better rates and service to those who are worse off and hurts those who are healthy. It’s also a blatant infringement on a persons right to spend their money as they see fit. Throw it on top of workers comp, SSI, etc.
• Opposing Yucka Mountain is retarded. As is opposing nuclear power plants. They are the cleanest and most efficient forms of energy production we have available. I don’t care if opening a new nuke plant a week wouldn’t make a huge difference on CO2 emissions. It’d provide us with more and cheaper power so we can more easily remove coal plants. The nations fear of nuclear waste disposal is fairly unfounded by all accounts I’ve come across including my father’s who worked in the field for >15 years.
• They seemed to all support manditory civil service or at least encouraged it. I thought the 13th amendment stopped that kind of thing.
• I can’t recall much else. They all scare me.

One last thing. Bill Clinton the other day said something like: I don’t think race or gender has cost Hillary or Obama any votes… put it probably got them some. Is it really good to admit that your supporters are bigots and supporting you just because of your gender/race? I thought the Democrats were against that kind of thing. If a Republican had said that they were getting votes because they are male and white in contrast to the woman and the darky their would have been outrage.

Summary of the Paul family walk in New Hampshire:

• Manchester had more bums than I had expected. One guy who walked around in circles picking up random trash and throwing it away. Without a shirt on and lots of facial hair. A woman who walked up and down Elm Street with a Dunkin Donuts plastic cup who would stop every block or so and sip the nothing that was in it. There seemed to be a 50/50 split of drunks and possibly mental defectives.
• NH is surely more politically inclined than NJ and NY. Lots of stores had Cox|Dodd|Richardson|etc for president signs. Ron Paul and other candidate stickers all over Manchester. Ron Paul signs on route 93 exits. Private homes had a higher percentage of political signs.
• Stayed at the Fairfield Inn which happened to be the same hotel that the Paul’s were staying in. We ended up kindof hanging out with Ron’s wife Carol, his children and grandchildren.
• It was interesting to see who was at the hotel and rally. In the hotel I met a nice older woman by herself. Probably in her mid to late 60’s. A middle aged man who claimed Bill Clinton made him move from a liberal Democrat to a conservative Republican and George W. Bush made him move into the libertarian realm.
• The rally was filled with people of all ages. Whole families showed up with babies and dogs in tow. People with large NH flags and even a guy dressed up in late 1700’s clothing. Ron Paul t-shirts being sold by a Pennsylvania meetup group. Other people selling car magnets and stickers.
• Laur and I got a chance to briefly meet Ron Paul and got a photo (will post photos later).
• We figured the Manhattan Meetup group already had a full group of people for the canvassing so Laur and I stood in line to be matched up with a driver. We were paired with two Free Staters, Dale and Phil.
• Our canvassing packet gave us a bunch of people to visit in condos. Those people had mostly moved since the last primary so Dale called to get a new list. The canvassing headquarters was at Murphy’s Taproom which I had forgotten was in Manchester.
• When we showed up we went to the second floor and saw a guy hunched over a laptop editing a video of the 9:30AM rally. Turned out to be Dave Ridley. We only talked briefly but it was nice to meet him after reading and hearing so much about him.
• After canvassing (which was a wash, a lot of people had moved, a lot didn’t answer the door, those that did weren’t interested) we went to Murphy’s and hung out with some other Free Staters who are part of the 9/11 Truth movement and we argued 9/11, Ron Paul and other random topics till about 5:45PM when we decided to head home.

It was really enjoyable. It feels great to be around people who have similar beliefs and are willing do something with them. Pairing up with Dale and Phil was great to get a better feel of how that community works. I’m looking forward to visiting NH again. It’s a beautiful area too… like South Jersey with more hills, less fields and less animals.