Mrs. Obama spoke Tuesday to about 250 employees of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the latest stop on her listening tour of the federal bureaucracy. The deaths of her father and a close friend made her realize that she needed a change in direction, she said, and led her to quit her job at a law firm and choose a career in public service. She helped to establish Chicago's chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps community service program that trained young people for jobs in the nonprofit world.
Although the first lady worked at Public Allies until 1996, her most recent position was as executive vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals, a job with a six-figure salary.
"National and community service is near and dear to my heart," the first lady said.
"There is nothing more fulfilling," she said. "It's an opportunity to put your faith into action in a way that regular jobs don't allow." MSNBC
Read more about the bill here. Bill Clinton was there for the signing, which took place at the SEED school in DC. He founded AmeriCorps. Michelle ran an AmeriCorps program in Chicago, Obama said. Rosalyn Carter, Joe and Jill Biden and Colin Powell and his wife and others were in attendance. Obama spoke about starfish and his plan to plant trees today. Obama calls Ted Kennedy "one of the finest leaders we've ever had." Indeed.
Maria Eitel These national service programs, which promote volunteerism, are being dubbed "reeducation camps" by conservatives, namely the wacky Michele Bachmann.
President Barack Obama is picking a Nike vice president to lead the federal agency that oversees the country's national service programs. Obama's selection of Maria Eitel comes Tuesday as the president plans to sign a bill to triple the size of AmeriCorps and expand other programs that the corporation administers. Eitel is nominated to be chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a job that requires Senate confirmation. Eitel is also the president of Nike Inc.'s charitable arm, the Nike Foundation. She served under President George H.W. Bush as deputy director of media relations and later as special assistant to the president for media affairs. AP
The size of national service programs are about to triple. Obama will sign legislation today, which will be named after Edward Kennedy, who worked on the bill with Sen. Orrin Hatch, a republican from Utah. Kennedy is expected to attend the signing:
The AmeriCorps program started by President Bill Clinton will triple in size over the next eight years, and tens of thousands of other Americans will soon see new opportunities to give back to their communities. It's all part of a $5.7 billion national service bill President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign Tuesday to foster and fulfill people's desire to make a difference, such as by mentoring children, cleaning up parks or building and weatherizing homes for the poor. Bolstering voluntary public service programs has been a priority of Obama, who credits his work as a community organizer in his early 20s for giving him direction in life. AP
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the volunteer programs, says that applications are up significantly:
AmeriCorps has seen a recent surge in applications, according to the government-run Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the program. In March, the corporation received 17,038 online AmeriCorps applications, nearly double those received in the previous month and nearly triple the 6,770 received last March. The bill also ties volunteer work to money for college. People 55 and older could earn $1,000 education awards by getting involved in public service. Those awards can be transferred to a child, grandchild or even someone they mentored.
Obama signs the bill (see the full 20 minute video here):
These wingnuts, and that's the only thing to call them, have wrapped their "brains" around this national security thing. I've been reading it on all the radical fringe blogs for months now. I don't understand the their logic in relating it to Hitler.
Obama is just talking about volunteerism-- service in the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. The philosophy is that if we have good relations with other countries, if we are helping to alleviate poverty and other problems, that will promote goodwill and go a long way toward preventing world leaders from declaring war on the U.S.
But these fringe folk have completely distorted it.
CNN: “I regret putting it that way,” he told WGAC radio in Augusta, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I apologize to anyone who has taken offense at that.”
In an interview with the Associated Press earlier this week, Broun admitted to calling the future commander-in-chief a 'Marxist' at a recent Rotary club meeting, and said Obama has expressed support for policies similar to those of Hitler.
"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Broun told the AP. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may– may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."
Broun was specifically referring to a July speech by Obama, where the then-Democratic presidential nominee said he supports a civilian force helping the military when it comes to national security: "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded [as the military]," Obama said in the speech that was largely a call to national service.
