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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (21545)	7/6/2003 10:48:50 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Bush Admin: "Indifference that is exceeded only by its incompetence.":Bush's unfulfilled promises to AmericCorps By Thomas Oliphant, 7/6/2003 WASHINGTONONLY IN AMERICA could an explosion of patriotic interest in national service be met by a national administration whose indifference has been exceeded only by its incompetence. What began this year as a laudable willingness by President Bush to support a major increase in support for the volunteers of AmeriCorps is for the moment barely treading water and may still face deep cutbacks. The problem was caused by epic bungling on the part of Bush's National Service Corp. appointees, and it has been exacerbated all year by the president's failure to put an ounce or two of his clout on the line to fix it. As a result, a Bush pledge - made in prime time during his State of the Union Address in the context of an expansive notion of homeland security - to boost AmeriCorps' enrollment from 50,000 to at least 75,000 young people next year remains unmet. Worse, people of good will in Congress from both parties have had to scramble to keep the popular and successful program from actually being cut by nearly half. There is a message in this madness that fits AmeriCorps' astonishing, 10-year history: The desire of Americans to give a year and sometimes more of their lives to grubby but vital service has always been strong, and right now has never been stronger; the problem is the government. Indeed the mess became apparent shortly after Bush's nationally televised speech, which featured several volunteers in the gallery. What happened would make an excellent case study at a public administration school in how to gum up a government program; a mistaken over-allocation of resources appears to have been compounded by an equally excessive contraction, and this goof was then made worse by a long-running accounting dispute between Congress and the administration. Cutbacks instead of expansion loomed. Chief executives who take their commitments seriously spend a small amount of time and energy gathering in the Oval Office to insist that problems be solved. This is not normally Bush's style, however - at least if the subject is something other than tax cuts. When he failed to act to fulfill his own pledge, his more reactionary pals in Congress figured he wasn't serious and proceeded with long-nourished plans to gut AmeriCorps. So far, they have been thwarted. In fact, Congress last month finally passed quickie legislation to solve the accounting dispute, and as a result AmeriCorps director Rose Mauck says 50,000 volunteers will get into the program this year. That still leaves the Bush promise of 75,000 unfulfilled, however, and there is no guarantee a similar mess won't unfold next year. The situation appalls the program's vocal supporters, who include business leaders and state government leaders throughout the country who actually administer the intelligently decentralized program. The most recent mess produced letters to the president signed by 49 governors, 51 senators (including eight Republicans), and more than 170 House members (including 26 Republicans); business leader also responded with full-page newspaper ads. The reason is that AmeriCorps works. There are already more graduates than the Peace Corps has produced in 40 years - young people who get a subsistence stipend for a year of work in local projects around the country (tutoring kids or running after-school programs, or fixing up parks) as well as assistance in their own higher education. In an era when the post-Cold War military is leaner, it is an ideal way to broaden the concept of national service, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks two years ago. Since its establishment under President Clinton's leadership, AmeriCorps support has grown both because of its operational success and because of its decentralization. It is run through commissions in each of the states, it has a substantial private sector component that has supplied at least $1 billion in resources over the years, and as a result its political support is deep - from conservatives like John McCain to liberals like Edward Kennedy. To grow next year, as Bush promised, it now seems unavoidable that the program will have to fight for its money at a time of horrendous deficits and escalating requirements like the ongoing mess in Iraq. Ironically, AmeriCorps may benefit because two states that have faced the deepest cutbacks in volunteers turn out to have been Alaska and Mississippi. Alaska is the home of chairman Ted Stevens of the Senate Appropriations committee; Mississippi is the domain of its ranking Republican Thad Cochran. Perils of Pauline tales in government can be uplifting, and certainly the outpouring of support for AmeriCorps fills that bill. However, the fact remains that the amount of work other people have to do to make up for a president who doesn't make his own commitments a priority is dispiriting. Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com. This story ran on page H11 of the Boston Globe on 7/6/2003. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.