I think we ought to make national service manadatory, like the Israelis and
other countries do.  If I had told you I would believe this had you asked
me 20 years ago, I would have vehemently opposed the idea.  But I now think
our youth take too many things for granted in this country and don't
appreciate how much we really have compared to other countries.  Even those
too disabled to do physical labor could do techical service jobs in the
support of our country, even perhaps working at VA hospitals and other
government facilities.

Kat

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Kendall D. Corbett [log in to unmask]
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:19:24 -0600
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Some say US citizens need a war tax or a call to national
service.


Ken and Mike,

I've also thought that some form of national service would be a good thing.
I'd think that something like VISTA or the Peace Corps could be a viable
option for those who are philosophically opposed to, or otherwise unsuited
for military service.   Soon after I graduated from college, and was looking
for a job with a degree in political science, I got the card from the Army
that said "We Want You!" and the followup phone call from the local
recruiter.  I talked to him on the phone and didn't tell him about my
disabilities (they aren't apparent in my speech).  We set up an appointment
to talk more, and he was

I also think that there needs to be some mechanism to pay for the war other
than continuing to cut into social and educational programs.  I serve on the
advisory council for our state Tech Act project, and funding for that has
gotten rolled into the war funding bill that recently passed both Houses of
Congress with the provision for the US to be out of Iraq by the end of
2008.  President Bush has promised to veto this, if it comes to his desk
with the provision that we ar out of Iraq by the end of next year.  I
actually agree with that, because I don't see Iraq being stable by that time
on it's own.  I wish that weren't the case, but all my wishes, and Nancy
Pelosi's, and Dick Cheney's and George Bush's won't make it so.   That being
said, I think continuing the present tax cuts is a bad idea.  the
Pay-as-you-go (paygo) policy that was instituted under George HW Bush, and
continued under Clinton was a good philosophy, and is one that should have
been continued by the present administration.

With the number of service people who are returning with disabilities,
funding for Tech Act projects and other disability related services is going
to be very necessary.  From what we've seen at Walter Reed, I don't think we
can count on the Department of Veteran's Affairs to handle these needs
well.




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