GOP Congressman Warns of Obama Dictatorship

Have you read “The Plan: Big Ideas for America” by Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed?

Liberal Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel (on right), as most should know by now, is President-Elect Obama’s choice for chief-of-staff.Bruce Reed (on left) is president of the Democratic Leadership Council think tank.

DLC’s online Blueprint Magazine ran a book promoon “The Plan” in its October 18, 2006, issue.

Let us know if anything sounds familar here:

The Plan “offers an innovative agenda for America – with ideas that address the nation’s most pressing challenges by doing more for Americans and asking Americans to do more for their country in return. Each of these ideas offers a clean break with the status quo, yet all are positive, practical, and can be put into action right away.

“Built on the authors’ firm beliefs that politicians owe the people real answers, that citizenship is a responsibility, not an entitlement program, and that the Democratic Party succeeds when America succeeds, The Plan delivers, challenges, and inspires.”

Or how about here?

1. A New Social Contract: What You Can Do for Your Country, and What Your Country Can Do for You:

• Universal Citizen Service.
• Universal Retirement Savings.
• Universal Children’s Health Care.

2. Fiscal Responsibility and Ending Corporate Welfare
3. Tax Reform to Help Those Who Aren’t Wealthy Build Wealth
4. A New Strategy to Win the War on Terror
5. A Hybrid Economy that Cuts America’s Gasoline Use in Half

America Serves

Let’s focus on the same item in “The Plan” that has the blogosphere, which has suddenly discovered the book, talking — “Universal Citizen Service”.

Citizenship is a responsibility, not an entitlement program. If your leaders aren’t challenging you to do your part, they aren’t doing theirs. We need a new patriotism that brings out the patriot in all of us by establishing, for the first time, an ethic of universal citizen service. All Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 should be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic civil defense training and community service. This is not a draft — nor is it military. Young people will be trained not as soldiers, but simply as citizens who understand their responsibilities in the event of natural disaster, epidemic, or terrorist attack. Universal citizen service will bring Americans of every background together to make America safer and more united in common national purpose.

Now compare that — Emanuel/Reed’s “The Plan” — to this — Obama/Biden’s“America Serves” from change.gov:

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Contemporary Commentary on “The Plan”

Harvard Crimson staff writer A.J. Riesman, who reviewed “The Plan”, wrote October 11, 2006:

We usually reserve this section for classics or recently-released gems that might have gone unnoticed, but this book fits neither of those categories. Nevertheless, attention must be paid to this upsetting tome.

“The Plan: Big Ideas for America” is a frightening book. But any Harvard Democrat and anyone who labels himself or herself as “liberal” on facebook.com absolutely must contend with it. [...]

In short, these are the two men who are writing the playbook for the Democratic Party as we speak. Indeed, this short tome is that playbook. And it’s deeply flawed.

Riesman was most attracted to “The Plan”’s focus on “universal citizen service”:

The only truly outlandish part of their platform is a call for “universal citizen service” in the style of a state like Israel, in which all 18-year-olds would be required to perform a few months of community service and learn some “disaster preparedness” skills. Seems like a good idea, but good luck convincing the public that it’s not a draft.

J.D. Tuccille at the Civil Liberties Examiner provides an excerpt from pages 61-62 that precisely addresses this issue of “universal citizen service.”

Anything sound familiar here?

It’s time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service. …

Here’s how it would work. Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They’ll be asked to report for three months of basic civil defense training in their state or community, where they will learn what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we’re hit by a natural disaster. These young people will be available to address their communities’ most pressing needs.

Again, referring to the “compulsory” service requirement, Walter Russell Meadopined in the January/February 2007 Foreign Affairs:

The most important big idea in the book is that Democrats should stop defending the New Deal and instead concentrate on recasting it for a more mobile society. Portable pensions and health care are two of the cornerstones of this vision. Less hopeful is an idea that the authors appear to set great store by: a compulsory period of three months of national service and training for all Americans under 25. Wonks will observe that the time is too short to teach anything useful and that while the cost would be high, the real benefits would be few. Hacks will wonder whether even a short-term, nonmilitary draft is really the proposal best calculated to build widespread support among younger voters.

RBO’s take

Mead made the most valid point: “the time is too short to teach anything useful” and “the cost will be too high, the real benefits will be few.”

Keep in mind, Mead was commenting on a three-month training program stated in “The Plan”. The Obama/Biden concept is for middle school and high school students to do 50 hours annually of community service and for all college students to do 100 hours of community service in exchange for “a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free.”

If three months of continuous training was considered inadequate for a young adult, what do the 50 and 100 hours amount to? Very little.

“The Plan”’s plan would provide actual training. The Obama/Biden plan would amount to free labor at the hands of middle school and high school students.

On the other hand, college students who can press the number buttons on a basic calculator and do simple division should be overjoyed at the idea of being compensated at the rate of $40 an hour in exchange for a $4000 “fully refundable tax credit.” Sure beats flipping burgers at Mickey D’s at minimum wage — that is until they find out what the “community service” assignment actually is.

h/t doublethought

Updates: Webscrubbing: Steve Gilbert points out at Sweetness & Light:

What a difference an election makes. [...] Suddenly, all mention of “required” has been disappeared. And the college tuition incentive has been added.

Maybe this is what they mean by “change.”

Radarsite has more, including screenshots.