Obama's Call to Action

Earlier this week, when President Obama delivered his address to Congress, the new President managed to squeeze in a topic that was held in high regard by many of his campaign followers during the election: the call to reward volunteer work. And in between the over-the-top clapping and applause served up by Congress, Obama seems to really have a solid notion of rewarding community work.

(Before continuing, I have to make a note of something real quick. Remember when Obama hit on the topic of healthcare and re-enforced an important notion that it is a tremendous weight that needs to be lifted immediately? Did anyone else think it was straight brass that any Congressional official had the moxie to stand up and applaud? Not that I disagree with Obama - I completely agree in fact. But these same politicians are standing up and applauding, nodding their heads, conveying a sense of "Yes, yes definitely. It's about time." Umm, riiiiiight.....and how long have you been serving in Congress? Ten, fifteen, thirty years? And what have you done concerning this issue since then? But you applaud anyway. Trust me, you're not fooling anyone.)

Back to Obama's plan: it's certainly time to reward good and honest work. Personally, I don't think there's any better way of restoring America's sense of integrity following an economic crisis caused by greed, profit-only thinking, and straight selfish activity, than a program which rewards the exact opposite. Plus, it'll likely reward the volunteer (if Obama was truthful during the speech) in the area of education by offering a tax credit or some other economic aid for higher learning.

Sometimes, although I don't like to admit that I ever give any politician a free pass or quick once over when scrutinizing his or her's intentions, it really does feel good to breathe a sigh of relief, sit back and marvel that Obama is truly serious about this program.

I would also hope that the overall popularity of this program (I have yet to see a poll on the topic but can't imagine it not being overwhelmingly popular) makes Rudy Giuliani and those at the Republican convention blush.

After all, it wasn't that long ago that the former New York Mayor made a "joke" about Obama being a community organizer. While on the surface, Giuliani was only calling Obama's resume thin at best, deep down - when combined with the historical context of the Republican party -the joke was much more than a simple jab. It was a "dis" towards honest work, helping those less fortunate, and the idea that a non-"me first" attitude is unuseful at best - a failure at worst.

Let's hope that rewarding volunteers leads our country into a new direction - a future where a jab like Giuliani's not only isn't funny (which is wasn't) but impossible. After all, in a society that helps each other and looks for other values other than money, the jab loses all context and is irrelevant. This program is a good start.