"Yo!… Clinton, Guillani, Obama, Romney, Edwards, McCain… You need a bigger team!"

“Yo!… Clinton, Guillani, Obama, Romney, Edwards, McCain…
Your campaign promises and electing a new president, even you, is not a big enough answer…”

Huckabee expresses concern for helping people. Paul wants us out of the Iraqi occupation business and to just leave people alone. Romney wants us to respect President Bush’s military and privatization policies because they will help people the most. McCain thinks our presence in Iraq is swell, while torture is terrible…

Most Republican presidential candidates call for more military power as the answer to most of America’s problems. Some express concern for poverty, climate change, suffering Americans, and world citizens and see voluntary private solution as the answer.

Edwards attacks America’s increasing wealth concentration. Obama pumps hope as the glue that will reconnect our splintered nation. Richardson believes his executive and diplomatic experience is what America needs today. Kucinich believes opening a Department of Peace in DC will help bring peace in the world…

Most of the Democratic presidential candidates seem to call for more diplomacy and their acumen as the answer to most of America’s problems. They all express concern for poverty, climate change, suffering Americans, and world citizens.

All the candidates think Americans are the greatest, most caring, most giving citizens in the world. And that the world’s most indebted nation is the world’s strongest.

Most of the Republican presidential candidates seem to call for frugality and balancing budgets by continued borrowing from everywhere, and cutting any costs that even hints at communal benefits. The Democratic presidential candidates oppose more debt financing and propose pay as you go programs, while putting more tax burdens on the top couple percentile of wealthy Americans.

Sometimes, listening to the campaigns of both parties, one gets the feeling that they believe merely electing one of them is going to make a major improvement in prospects for world citizens, including Americans.

It doesn’t work that way. In trying times, a good leader sets a tone and charts a wise course. In the end, however, the character and efforts of a nation’s people fixes overbearing problems.

George Washington led us down Independence Avenue and relied on character rich farmers and freezing soldiers to pave it. Abe Lincoln envisioned a slave-less America and borrowed an army of bleeding Americans from McClellan to get it. FDR bellowed away fear, and then put Americans to work at home and sent them to fight a war machine overseas.

Maybe most Republican candidates think America is doing fine in the world, but polls such as PEW, BBC/ABC and the world reflects something different:
• 70% of 1/3rd of the world, most of whom have long been hospitable, friendly Muslins, hate America’s policies.
• 60% of Iraqis think it is okay to shot Americans.
• 70% of our 2006 troops want to come home within a year.
• Dangerously melting ice caps, with nine of our hottest years recorded in the last ten.
• Natural disasters piling up, with feeble responses becoming the norm.

Consequently, electing President Superman/woman will not itself repair much. When America has been burdened and behind, smart presidents have played a defining role, but character rich Team America won the wars.

Our Civil War, the Depression, World Wars I & II… were won by Americans serving at home and abroad, learning first-hand how to improve the world.

America will not win 21st century wars couching with High-Def TVs, cell phone chatting from SUVs, limiting national service to ½ of 1% in our military, and credit carding our national policies to oil producers, off-shored corporations, and low-waged economies, whose profits buy America from its middle class.

Here’s a proposal that a visionary leader and smart Congress should use to help America do well while doing good, and remain a power that can lead the world toward more justice and health.

Today’s proclaimed “Terror War” is not fought for independence, to spread civil rights, or to derail a fascist juggernaut. In a dangerous nuclear, biological 21st century, today’s battle is to increase sanity, understanding, and health by combating poverty and ignorance; and therein winning hearts and minds away from terrorist recruiters.

While rebuilding and wisely using our military for security, that’s the role the next leader of the barely 230 year America needs to define for Americans of character to confront. Without such an army, the next leader will not accomplish much and America’s preeminence will more rapidly end.

That peaceful, productive, terrorist reducing army is what People’s Lobby’s citizen-initiated American World Service Corps (AWSC) Congressional Proposals would produce. If enacted in this Congress, each year for the next seven years approximately 140,000 Americans would voluntarily choose to serve in their choice of the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity, Head Start, Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross, International Rescue Committee, OxFam, Mercy Corps, State Conservation Corps, etc. By the seventh year one million American World Service Corps members of all ages, or less than .6th of 1% of those aged 20-60+, would annually serve for a year or two at home or abroad in these existing governmental and non-governmental organizations.

After 20 years, Congress could consider sun-setting the AWSC legislation. After 27 years, 21 million Americans would have served at home or abroad to make life safer, saner, and healthier for all of the world’s citizens. (The key AWSC proposed bill is at
http://www.worldservicecorps.us/world%20service%20key%20proposal%202yr%20volunteer.htm )


All of the presidential candidates in both parties have been asked to take a stand and support People’s Lobby’s AWSC.

Some have even paid enough attention to use parts of the AWSC proposals in their campaigns. A few, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, have even taken the time to praise People’s Lobby’s AWSC Congressional Proposals. (Supporters link: http://worldservicecorps.us/supporters.htm ).


What do you think of the citizen-initiated American World Service Corps (AWSC) Congressional Proposals? http://www.WorldServiceCorps.us

Any interest in helping spread support for introducing and implementing the AWSC Congressional Proposals?