Michelle "I Am Not A Loon" Bachman descends deeper into nuttiness

Michelle "I Am Not A Loon" Bachman is at it again. She's now spinning
an idiotic conspiracy theory aboout Obama forming his own private army
of a million or so young people.

Bachmann's nutty theory is straight out of the conservative playbook,
accusing the Obama Administration of taking away basic freedoms held
by Americans. It's no different than Fox's absurd claim that Obama
wants to impose Sharia law, or their irresponsible attempts to fuel
fear of a gun ban, and it's yet another sign of just how badly broken
the modern GOP is -- and of how careless they are with the facts.

Hopefully it's not necessary to point out that there are no government
sponsored political 're-education camps' -- whether mandatory or
voluntary. If you need more proof, FactCheck.org has debunked
Bachmann's conspiracy theory.

Transcript:

-- quote
What's even more concerning about it is his focus is on young people.
The original language of the bill [Americorps] was mandatory service
for government, right now, the language is voluntary, but just this
last week, a Democrat colleague introduced a bill to make this
mandatory.

I believe when it's all said and done, this service -- I believe that
there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will
be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are
provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people,
where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the
government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of
these politically correct forums.

It's very concerning, it appears that there's a philosophical agenda
behind all of this.

-- end quote


Here are the details from FactCheck.org:

-- quote

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_congress_creating_a_mandatory_public_service.html

The national service bill does not mandate that youth must participate
nor does it forbid anyone who does participate from going to church.


We have received several inquiries about this bill, which has passed
both the House and Senate with significant bipartisan support. Some e-
mails and conservative Web sites say it requires the government to
draw up plans for a “mandatory service requirement for all able young
people.” Others say the bill forbids participants from attending
church.

These claims are false. Neither the House-passed bill nor the Senate-
passed version says these things.

H.R. 1388 was introduced in the House on March 9. It passed the House
a week later by a vote of 321 - 105, with nearly all Democrats and 70
Republicans supporting it. It passed the Senate on March 26, 79 - 19.
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, a cosponsor of the Senate legislation,
called it "probably the most bipartisan bill we will see on the Senate
floor this year." For the record, 22 Republicans voted yes, and 19 –
the only senators who opposed the bill – voted no.

House Republicans who approved of the bill said in the House committee
report: "[W]e applaud the inclusion of reforms that Committee
Republicans have long championed to ensure that recipients of taxpayer
funds are held accountable for results. We are pleased to join with
the Majority in supporting bipartisan efforts to strengthen the
national service laws and improve service delivery throughout the
country."

Called the GIVE Act ("Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and
Education Act") in the House and the "Edward M. Kennedy Serve America
Act" in the Senate, the legislation reauthorizes and expands
established national service programs including VISTA (Volunteers in
Service to America) and the National Civilian Community Corps, both of
which are AmeriCorps programs. The House bill sets a goal of having
250,000 yearly participants in such programs by 2014; the Senate bill
says there should be that many national service positions by 2017.
About 75,000 adults participate in AmeriCorps each year now; there are
4 million people total in various national community service programs,
according to AmeriCorps.

The act also aims to increase volunteer and public service
opportunities, including opportunities for retirees and the Baby Boom
generation, and to "support institutions of higher education that
engage students in community service activities." It calls for giving
students who complete an approved full-time national service job an
"educational award having a value equal to the maximum amount of a
Federal Pell Grant." AmeriCorps says this would increase the amount
its members receive upon completion of service from $4,725 to $5,350,
which they can use to pay for school or pay back student loans.


Forced Public Service


Some Internet postings claim the bill says the government must come up
with plans for a “mandatory service requirement for all able young
people,” but that phrase is nowhere to be found in either the House-
passed bill or the Senate version.

The bill as introduced in the House, however, did call for examining
whether this would be a good idea. It called for a congressional
commission to "address and analyze" several topics, including "issues
that deter volunteerism" and how they can be overcome, how expanding
international public service might affect diplomacy and foreign
relations, and "[w]hether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory
service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and
how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would
strengthen the social fabric of the Nation." The commission would also
investigate "[t]he need for a public service academy, a 4-year
institution that offers a federally funded undergraduate education
with a focus on training future public sector leaders."

All of that language is now gone. To be clear, the original bill
didn't call for a mandatory public service program, but called for the
exploration of whether one could be established. But the entire
section on creating a "Congressional Commission on Civic Service" was
stripped from the bill.

It is part of a separate piece of legislation, introduced on March 11
(two days after H.R. 1388 was introduced) by Democratic Rep. Jim
McDermott. H.R. 1444 was referred to a House committee. No other
action has been taken on the bill. McDermott introduced a similar bill
in 2007 and it died, never making it out of a subcommittee.

Furthermore, Hatch, a Republican cosponsor of the Senate's national
service bill, said on the floor of the Senate that nothing in the
legislation called for mandatory service:


Hatch, March 23: Consistent with our All-Volunteer Army and volunteer
opportunities and individuals' choice in communities, nothing in this
legislation is mandatory. This bill simply provides more Americans
more choices and opportunities to give back to their neighborhoods and
their country all through the means which they freely choose.


The only mention of anything being mandatory in either of the bills
passed by the House or Senate is in the definition for "youth
engagement zone program." Such a program is eligible for funding under
the bill, and it is defined in the House bill as one that provides
school-based or community-based "service learning opportunities" in
which "(A) not less than 90 percent of the students participate in
service-learning activities as part of the program; or (B) service-
learning is a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary
schools served by the local educational agency." That's not a call for
making public service mandatory, but rather an explanation of one type
of program that can get money under the bill. The Senate bill does not
include the word "mandatory," saying instead that "service-learning is
a part of the curriculum."


Thou Shalt Not Attend Church

Even though it would be an incredibly draconian law – and a clear
violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of religion, upon
which this country was founded – Internet postings still claim that
under this bill "church attendance [is] forbidden."

The postings, which repeat commentary by the Jonas Clark Ministries,
point to section 125, which lists "prohibited activities and
ineligible organizations." The section says that those working in
national service positions can't engage in partisan politics, union
activities or religious instruction. And the language mirrors what
AmeriCorps and Senior Corps tell their members about what they can't
do while working for those programs.

Specifically, the bill says those in national service positions can't:
attempt to "influence legislation"; organize "protests, petitions,
boycotts or strikes"; promote "union organizing; engage in "partisan
political activities, or other activities designed to influence the
outcome of an election to any public office"; and engage in "religious
instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as
part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or
worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious
instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently
devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form
of religious proselytization." That's the House's language, and the
wording in the Senate version is nearly identical. The Senate is
perhaps more clear in saying "[a]n approved national service position
under this subtitle may not be used for" all of these activities. In
other words, public service activities can't include anything overtly
religious or political. And this is nothing new.

The current AmeriCorps handbook tells volunteers much the same thing:


AmeriCorps handbook: There are certain activities, including lobbying,
political, or advocacy activities, that you may not perform as an
AmeriCorps member. Generally, you may not engage in any conduct that
would associate the national service program or the Corporation for
National and Community Service with any prohibited activity.

As an AmeriCorps member, you may not:

engage in any effort to influence legislation, including state or
local ballot initiatives or lobbying for your AmeriCorps program; for
example, you may not organize a letter-writing campaign to Congress;

engage in partisan political activities or other activities designed
to influence the outcome of an election to any public office;

organize or take part in political demonstrations or rallies;

organize or participate in protests, petitions, boycotts, or
strikes; ...

engage in religious instruction; conduct worship services; provide
instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious
instruction or worship; construct or operate facilities devoted to
religious instruction or worship; maintain facilities primarily or
inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship; or engage in
any form of religious proselytization; or

provide a direct benefit to a for-profit entity, a labor union, a
partisan political organization, or, in general, an organization
engaged in the religious activities described in the preceding bullet.

Senior Corps' RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) Operations
Handbook includes similar language. It prohibits members from using
their positions to engage in partisan political activities and
stipulates that "volunteers and project staff funded by the
Corporation [for National and Community Service] may not give
religious instruction, conduct worship services, or engage in any form
of proselytization as part of their duties." Organizations that offer
religious instruction can continue to do so, but not with government
funds. "If an organization conducts such activities, the activities
must be offered separately, in time or location, from the programs or
services funded under RSVP," the handbook says.

The national service legislation now goes to a Senate-House conference
committee to agree upon the language of the final bill.

Update, March 31: The House has approved the Senate version of the
bill, and it now will go to President Obama for his signature.

Update, April 6: AmeriCorps spokesman Sandy Scott offered us further
clarification on the political and religious restrictions in its
handbook and the legislation: "Both House- and Senate-passed bills
codify long-standing regulatory restrictions on engaging in certain
activities while "on-duty" as an AmeriCorps member. They do not cover
what individuals do on their own time at their own initiative," Scott
wrote in an e-mail to FactCheck.org.

– Lori Robertson


Sources
111th Congress, 1st session. H.R. 1388, as passed by the House.

111th Congress, 1st session. H.R. 1388, as introduced in the House.

111th Congress, 1st session. H.R. 1388, as passed by the Senate.

AmeriCorps. “Senate Passes Historic Bipartisan Expansion of National
Service,” press release, 26 March 2009.

111th Congress, 1st session. H.R. 1388 House Report 111-037.

111th Congress, 1st session. H.R. 1444.

111th Congress, 1st session. Congressional Record. S3596, 23 March
2009.

AmeriCorps. “A Guide for AmeriCorps Members.”

Corporation for National & Community Service. “RSVP: Lead with
Experience” Operations Handbook, June 2008.

-- end quote
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