Americorpse  

It looks like Bush has changed his tune on Americorps - according to this WP article, the new budget will cut the program's enrollment considerably:

[...] the omnibus spending legislation approved by Congress earlier this month caps AmeriCorps enrollment at 50,000 for 2003 -- no increase. The administration has told Congress that an accounting change required by the White House Office of Management and Budget will leave AmeriCorps with a $64 million shortfall in its $100 million trust fund for volunteers' scholarships.

Based on these figures, the Progressive Policy Institute, a centrist Democratic group, calculated that AmeriCorps will have only enough funds for 28,000 slots.

What a disappointment. After 9/11, Bush made a lot of noise about providing opportunities and incentives for Americans young and old to serve their country, and not just in a military capacity. But apart from the callout associated with the federalization of airport security (which Bush opposed, in any case) I can't remember hearing anything else about it. And it's probably the only significant way Americans could hope to be support the war against terror here at home.

By the way, Bush announced this now-defunct Americorps expansion right after 9/11, echoing the ideas of John McCain, who has called for one or two years of required service - military or otherwise - for all Americans. Obviously McCain's idea is a non-starter, but adding volunteers to Americorps seems like a great step toward getting Americans involved in their government - and at a time when Americans want to get involved. But Bush has faced a lot of criticism from the right after the biggest expansion of government in recent memory, and the Americorps expansion was probably a good place to shore up his base. Too bad.