The country signed itself up for a complete kleptocracy. And not just the sheer expense of the Trumps' jet-setting and security detail, but also the fact that he surrounds himself at Mar-a-Lago with the stakeholders in industries his policies will demonstrably affect. A little flattery Donald's way and he, as a matter of his only principle, will reward those closest to him. And Republican Congressmen can't be counted on to do anything to check Trump preemptively since they'll be destroyed in their district's primary by an opponent running on Trump's coattails. Thus in my mind, the only question is how bad will it have to get before a tipping point is reached and the country demands Trump's ass. I posted something on the night of the election (feeling guilty later for somehow jinxing the outcome, silly as that sounds). And it was Americans will always do the right thing… after they’ve exhausted all the alternatives. I was wrong then. Now I wonder if it'll ever come to pass before an irreparable amount of damage is done. In the meantime, so long AmeriCorps. Which--not that anyone here doubts the esteem in which I hold the program--changes lives, costs the tiniest fraction of the budget, and provides an important source of willing labor doing work the market doesn't find profitable. And also worth noting, the program provides the increasingly important function of mixing disparate populations from those so-called balkanized realities that practically everyone agrees is accelerating how quickly to-hell-in-a-handbasket and useless our political discourse has become.Fun fact: The NEAH got $149m last year, or $30m less than Ivanka sleeping in NY will cost us yearly.
Here's the thing. the NEA and CPB have been under the gun by Republicans since '92 or so. I'm unaware of anyone really giving a shit about Americorps before. Looks like CNCS gets a billion dollars. That's about a quarter of what they're trying to cut, and it funds stuff like senior care. Then there's this: If I were you? I'd brainstorm over what you're going to tell your representatives when you call on Monday to get them to help you volunteer and get the word out.The Republican number-crunching firm TargetPoint found in late December 80 percent of all voters support continued federal investment in national service. Asked directly if they would support a robust national service program proposed by the new president, a dizzying 88 percent of Trump’s supporters agreed.
We're on the same page. I'm actually thinking about writing an Op-ed. My local paper and its audience is heavily Democrat, so I would be preaching to the choir. But what about another paper? I can still try to go for the Baltimore Sun, the paper with the highest likelihood of acceptance since I'm a hometown boy and its a 2nd tier paper. But what about the WSJ or NYTimes, for example? All their guidelines mandate the submission be exclusive to their publication, so it's a single bet. What do you think? NB: I don't intend this as my only effort but as a complement.