Hydrogen cars, drug benefits, tax cuts: This is war?

Already, it's been dubbed the "you can have it all" State of the Union address. In his one-hour speech Tuesday, President Bush proposed tax cuts, new drug benefits, major funding to fight AIDS overseas, a bioterror shield, hydrogen cars, a continued war on terrorism - and a possible war on Iraq.

But at a time of war, should the president also be calling for sacrifice? And if so, what? This question has been bandied about by pundits since the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001. Should Americans drive less, to reduce dependence on foreign oil? Should they be prepared to enlist in the military? Should they pay a surtax to cover war's cost?

The Founding Fathers cared deeply that the citizenry have a personal stake in any decision to go to war - by having themselves or loved ones serve, or by paying taxes to cover the cost. They "worried that if the question of war became an abstraction - if the question of whether the nation should go to war was not experienced as a question of whether I should go to war - then disaster might follow," says Cheyney Ryan, a political philosopher at the University of Oregon, in The Responsive Community, a journal of the communitarian movement.

Right after 9/11, as patriotism swelled and citizens seemed poised to do whatever their country asked of them, the president called on Americans to go on with their lives, return to the skies, support the economy, and hug their children. With time, there were also ways to help with homeland security: community emergency-response teams and the Citizen Corps, in which people train to help first-responders and guard public assets such as utility plants.

Some observers argue that the administration's concept of "sacrifice" has morphed into volunteerism - a perennial White House theme that predated this administration and 9/11. Still, this White House sees the melding of the two concepts - with the added ingredient of faith-based programs - as in sync with the needs of the times.

Citizen Corps has already enlisted hundreds of thousands, says John Bridgeland, director of USA Freedom Corps, the White House office that encompasses Citizen Corps, Americorps, Vista, the Peace Corps, and Senior Corps. Yesterday, President Bush marked the first anniversary of the USA Freedom Corps by proposing an additional $450 million for child mentoring, including programs for children of prisoners. He also announced a new President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

In last year's State of the Union, Bush made the widely noted call for all Americans to donate 4,000 hours or two years to community service. Applications to Americorps (though not enlistment in the military) skyrocketed after 9/11. But Congress hasn't leapt on the bandwagon. Instead, it's held up Americorps funding, forcing the young-adult community-service program to freeze enrollment.

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