Articles on Budget Cuts to National Service Programs

Here is a collection of articles (many opinion-based, many with factual errors that I correct below) on proposed cuts and talk of de-funding the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the grantmaking arm of the government that supports AmeriCorps, Learn-And-Serve America, and SeniorCorps, as well as the Social Innovation Fund.

FIRST: A few, unadulterated facts--> The proposal by the Republican leadership in the House has not proposed eliminating the CNCS, but rather, the Republican Study Committee, a conservative legislative group, has propsed scrapping the agency. This is not the official position of any party leadership, and I do not mean to construe it that way. These were some of the top articles I could fine, and while they do represent one point of view for the most part, I do want to point out that this is because it is entirely more likely that someone would talk about their feelings AGAINST any cut rather than FOR any cut. This was not intended on my part.

Best article: Nonprofits Brace for Obama's 2012 Budget by Suzanne Perry
*I say best because the Chronicle of Philanthropy is the most reputable source here, and I feel like the coverage is more fact-based rather than opinions, although both play a role in the convesration.

Idea of the Day: We Can't Eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service

Defund national service, cripple the nationm by Jana Hoffman
*To be fair, though, the TARP program that she refers to as 'throwing money' at "irresponsible banks, mortgage lenders and crappy car companies" actually made the government a good deal of money.

Republican Cuts Target Environment, Transportation (Bloomberg)

Eliminating AmeriCorps Would Produce More Costs Than Savings by Sam Willford
*The author indicates that AmeriCorps programs have been around since the 1960s, that's only partially true. VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), the program of which I am a part, has been around since 1964, but it was not "AmeriCorps" until the iteration of the CNCS in 1993. AmeriCorps is a 3-pronged program of VISTA, State/National, and NCCC--the National Civilian Community Corps (based on the former Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s).


A Cut We Can’t Afford to Make: Republican Study Committee Proposes Eliminating Corporation for National and Community Service Programs by Diana Epstein

Lawmakers Fight Proposed Budget Cuts for National-Service by Suzanne Perry

Thoughts? Concerns? Questions? I hope that people can find more articles and post them in the comments.