Transition Web Site Launched

President-election Barack Obama launched Change.gov on Thursday -- office of the president-elect. Much of the content is lifted from the campaign web site (compare this content with that content). There's an interesting job application page; the designers appear to value brevity so much that one has to wonder about the utility of the information. (Hint: check out the Plum Book)

The 2008 version of "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" is a pledge to expand "national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps." In addition, Obama pledges to "create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps."

AmeriCorps grew out of legislation signed by both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The 2008 fiscal budget was $856 million.

The Peace Corps, a U.S. federal agency, traces its roots to J.F. Kennedy. It currently has 8,000 volunteers; it has averaged about 4,000 volunteers a year since its founding in 1961. The 2008 fiscal budget was $330.8 million.

National service programs have a long history in the U.S. The University of Cincinnati founded the Cooperative Education Movement in 1903. F.D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Work Projects Administration provided jobs as the nation struggled to come out of the Great Depression. As part of the "War on Poverty," President Lyndon B. Johnson created VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), a National Teacher Corps, the Job Corps, and University Year of Action. And in 1969, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program was authorized under Title VI of the Older Americans Act.

In 1993, Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, creating AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service. VISTA and the National Civilian Community Corps became part of AmeriCorps.

See The Presidential Transition Process and the White House Transition Project.