About 90 million Americans do true volunteer work, and they have little trouble finding work to do. While the employees are not to blame for accepting an opportunity, another federal jobs program is not needed in order for young Americans to get into college. Millions of dollars in financial aid for college students currently goes unspent. Although it is presented by supporters as a domestic Peace Corps, the United States is not a Third World nation and it does not need the kind of help the Peace Corps provides. Citizens Against Government Waste says 40 percent of the employees drop out of the program and that the cost of the program doubled from 1994 to 1999.
Some employees wind up working, in effect, as temps for federal agencies and departments.
The General Accounting Office found a pattern of recruits being fired for chronic truancy and criminal activities. One audit pronounced the books unauditable. AmeriCorps is up for funding. Congress should pass a temporary spending measure at the current level, and after the election it should re-examine the justification for the program. Enter words describing a concept or keywords.