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A Bush administration bookkeeping decision has left a funding shortfall for the AmeriCorps national service program that could force enrollment cuts of as much as 50 percent -- instead of the 50 percent increase President Bush had promised.
The president embraced AmeriCorps, a Clinton-era program, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and has made it a central part of his "compassionate conservative" agenda. During his State of the Union address last year, he called for AmeriCorps enrollment to grow to 75,000 from 50,000.
Instead, it is possible that enrollment will be held to 26,000 this year unless changes are made, AmeriCorps officials said.
Maybe he's just redirecting the money to his new yet-to-be-announced "Bush Youth" program.