I propose an American Spirit Citizen Corps as our nation's greatest opportunity to renew American promise as Barack Obama intends. The Citizen Corps will be a national, non-military service organization providing immediate paid work opportunities in direct service to American communities. I offer American Spirit Citizen Corps as one idea of an inspiring name for this new civilian institution and welcome other ideas. 

Americans are struggling. Our jobs are being shipped abroad and our factories are closing down. Recent college graduates are seeing hard times as we carry huge debt burdens and face severe un- and underemployment. The business sector is shedding positions left and right, and iconic American institutions are beginning to vanish into mergers and bankruptcy.

In this climate of recession, there is also a great climate of inspiration and optimism, because of the hope President Obama's election brings. Now we must fulfill that hope by providing immediate work opportunities to all our citizens that will directly create our national renewal. 

Americorps is almost entirely a volunteer program. I'm sure there are many Americans like me who would love to contribute full-time to organizations in work that is almost always volunteer-based, because most organizations cannot afford to pay for these positions. However, we can barely afford to volunteer part-time, and need to work two, three, even four jobs to stay ahead of the rising costs of living. Yet volunteer we do, and we do this great work wishing every minute we could do this all the time for our country and still afford to live here.

As well, there are many reasons why patriotic Americans cannot serve in the military. Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a civil rights issue unto itself. Physical health. The need to stay close to family. The inability to commit violence towards another person, even as commanded to protect this country. However, we have great desire to build civilian lives in national service.

The American Spirit Citizen Corps (ASCC) will be our answer. The ASCC will have offices in every major city and ultimately small cities and towns. When you join the ASCC, you will receive paid training in general areas of civil service and in specific fields of your choice. You will work with a placement office to rapidly move into a paid position serving either your local community or any American community, as well as civilian positions in American outposts and efforts abroad.

Nonprofits and businesses that are apolitical and non-religious can sign up to offer positions through the ASCC, usually the unpaid volunteer and intern positions that they cannot cover in their own budgets. The majority of the budget for this program will come out of federal funds, with sliding-scale small fees paid by organizations offering positions and receiving ASCC's services through recruitment for their positions. Businesses can receive tax exemptions for ASCC interns, and nonprofits that care for communities will be flooded with determined workers whose wages are paid by the government.

Americans dedicated to the spirit of national community service should be able to sign up easily, and be judged not on their credit scores, educational background, or employment history, but on their willingness to better the nation and themselves in the process. We will be able to expect opportunities doing everything from managing homeless shelters to building bridges to visiting schools and educating children on their future voting rights.

Pay will begin at a living wage for the area of each position (NOT the minimum wage), and benefits will include free healthcare with no pre-existing conditions (available also to spouses, domestic partners, and children), free continuing education, credits towards paying back student loans, medical bills, overdue mortgage payments, and consumer debt, and the same discount advantages provided through many businesses to members of the military. 

ASCC can incorporate the new "green jobs" movement by providing after-work training in greening America in every field imaginable that translates quickly into paid work for the next assignment. And permanent residents can enter the ASCC as part of a route to citizenship. Veterans will receive automatic path options to move from military service to high-ranking citizen service that will honor what they have given all of us.

I voted for Barack Obama in part because I felt his language on the campaign trail encompassed this sort of vision for America. I want to see concrete action taken that will immediately change our lives. 

I placed this idea in several categories because I believe it effectively answers a wide range of challenges. 

Please VOTE UP this idea if you support the spirit of the ASCC concept! And comment with your own ideas about how we could accomplish its creation. Thank you!