More notes from last night's ServiceNation Summit Presidential Forum:

Barack Obama opened with the idea that we have commitments that are beyond our immediate self-interest. As president he wants to restore our sense of common interest. It's for that reason that he has proposed a national service plan.

National Service: Make sure it starts early, that it starts in high school, that to make college affordable, students give back.

Unions should not be a problem in creating this national service plan. Times have changed. We can't continue an education system that fails kids all the time. We need to create different paths to learning.

Obama believes we are at one of those moments in our history that Americans have realized we need to do better as a country. Income doesn't determine whether we serve. He anyhow agrees that the opportunities we provide our young people to serve are very limited. He himself earned $12,000 in his first job working as a community organizer: "Ironically it was harder for me to find that job than to find a job in Wall Street."

We need to take care of our military. Increase military pay, provide a new GI Bill. He was inspired to do community service by his grandfather. He was a veteran who benefitted from the GI Bill. He said that we have unfortunately lost our sense of obligation to those who serve our country. That's why universities like Columbia should accept groups like the ROTC -- but, at least for him, community service should be as important as military service. "I want to encourage military services as well as other forms of service, whether we are in a war or not."

Washington is broken and needs fixing, but we also want to remind people that if it weren't for our government we wouldn't have civil rights or parks. "Part of my job is to make government cool again." A president also has to inspire people to active citizenship -- to be aware of what's happening by serving. And make that happen through transparency in the government.

Volunteerism brings the best in the individual while connecting him to a larger community.

"The kind of President I want to be ... one that inspires."