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Obama Launches Change.gov
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:47 PM
from the transparency-in-government-would-be-great dept.
from the transparency-in-government-would-be-great dept.
mallumax writes "Obama has launched Change.gov. According to the site 'Change.gov provides resources to better understand the transition process and the decisions being made as part of it. It also offers an opportunity to be heard about the challenges our country faces and your ideas for tackling them. The Obama Administration will reflect an essential lesson from the success of the Obama campaign: that people united around a common purpose can achieve great things.' The site is extensive and contains Obama's agenda for economy and education among many others. They first define the problem and then lay out the plan. Everything is in simple English without a trace of Washington-speak. The site also has details about the transition. According to many sources, Obama's transition efforts started months ago. The copyright for the content is held by 'Obama-Biden Transition Project, a 501c(4) organization'."
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Obama (Score:5, Funny)
First Obama
Re:Obama (Score:5, Insightful)
i'm not a big fan of the bipartisan system--personally, i'm a Nader supporter--and i'm not too excited about having a former drug Czar as a VP. but how is this not news for nerds?
the president-elect has launched a website to lay out his plans for government reform (letting us know what we should expect in the coming term) in an accessible online format, and also to solicit thoughts and opinions about policy issues from ordinary citizens. AFAIK, this is the first time any U.S. president has embraced IT and the world wide web to such an extent as a means of engaging the citizenry in public discourse.
i honestly believe that the web is the key to realizing a true participatory democracy on a federal level in a country as big as the U.S., so this is certainly something to take notice of. this may be just the first small step, but at least it's a step in the right direction. along with the THOMAS [loc.gov] system, which gives the public easy access to bills, legislation, and congressional voting records, the web is gradually increasing the level of transparency in government. perhaps in the near future online referendums can be conducted, if not for deferring policy making to the public, then at least to poll public opinion on key issues.
this kind of interactive digital democracy eliminates any ambiguity as to what the general mood of the public is, how the public feels about key issues, and what the will of the people is. it's vital for an online dialog to be opened between political officials and their constituency, especially with the growing gap/disconnect between the political elite and the daily realities of the common man. at least then politicians and can't plead ignorance.
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Re:Obama (Score:5, Insightful)
I do not think that McCain would of had a website like this. Also, I do not give excuses to Clinton or Bush for not having this. Perhaps if Bush had cared what the people had thought then he wouldn't be so reviled.
Parent
Great! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Great! (Score:5, Funny)
I agree. People should be able to post their comments to a publicly viewable forum so that an open discussion and debate can occur.
Parent
Re:Great! (Score:5, Insightful)
I had a long hard thought about this.
We have tons of fanatics anyway. So it's better they fanatically follow a reasonable man, that some religious loony.
And then we still have many reasonable people left. It's not as if there were only fanatics.
So in the end, while not perfect, it's at least a very good deal. Better than the old shit by far... :)
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Re:Great! (Score:5, Insightful)
Obama's going to take care of my Mortgage AND Gas! [youtube.com]
These people actually voted and voted in large numbers. A black friend (no he wasn't African American. He was Jamaican) asked me what I thought about the first black president during the time they were showing all the celebrations. All I said is that anyone who voted for him (or against him) simply because of his skin color needs to be deported.
Vote for his policies, senate voting record, anything but race.
Then again I do hope that Obama gets up and gives a speech like Bill Cosby gave to the NAACP [americanrhetoric.com] and this time people actually listen.
But then again I'm racist for thinking any of this, right?
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Stresstest (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Stresstest (Score:5, Interesting)
"Begin Intellectual Property Reform: rather than just the usual extension of copyright terms, Obama's staff recognizes the "need to update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated." That includes "opening up the patent process to citizen review [to] reduce the uncertainty and wasteful litigation that is currently a significant drag on innovation."
"Obama's running mate has been criticized for supporting current policy on copyright, but an exposure of government policy to sources of light outside of the lobbyists currently illuminating the dark caves of Washington is likely to change things dramatically."
What an Obama Presidency Means for Technology [roughlydrafted.com]
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"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
I know this is probably gonna get me marked down from some of Obama's more, ehm, "faithful"--and I'm not excusing anything past politicians have done, in either party, oh no--but this seems too much like propaganda. "Ministry of Change", heh.
It also seems like he's unveiling things he didn't talk about that much:
The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nationâ(TM)s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
Mandatory community service? Great, let's send a bunch of unmotivated kids to do stupid work. Hell, that kind of shit would have been a nightmare for me at that age when I had massive social anxiety and was extremely uncomfortable in such situations.
Of course, people will come out of the woodwork to say how because it's something that people "should" do (because helping people IS nice, after all...) that Obama should MAKE you do it. Please, someone explain to me how you justify that leap.
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Informative)
They did talk about it, actually. [barackobama.com] There was also a YouTube video, one of the "Blueprint for Change" series. [youtube.com]
Whether or not it's a good thing... I don't know. It seems perhaps a bit much to force students to help out... but then, it could do some serious good as well.
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Interesting)
We have mandatory community service in Ontario, to complete their highschool education, I for one was glad I was far out of reach of such policies. I'm not a fan of forcing people to go out and do things such as 'voluntary-mandatory community service'. With any luck, if he does decide to pull this bullshit through the air, people will run across fellows who remember this and happily do one thing(should it be a requirement for say graduation/etc), pay them for it; like many do here now.
Community service should remain that, a choice. Do it, great, nice job on you. Don't do it...well, it doesn't look as good and you might get passed over, but it doesn't matter in the end. It's the choices that make you what you are, not what the government is telling you what you should do.
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Interesting)
Still not quite getting it. Community service is supposed to be a choice, that's it. Good moral standing character, doing good for the community, looks good on applications, looks good on whatever else. Telling everyone to do it, not only removes that, but it also add in resentment for various things.
Ontario requires 40, I had to see if I could find the original pamphlet "Students are to volunteer for compulsory community service." I always loved that sentence. So yes, bullshit. Don't try to sugar coat, forced labor to me.
I should say I graduated probably 7 odd years after they brought it in or more.
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
This man is dangerous, this is just more proof that there is truth coming out of his mouth, how can we possibly survive when politicians don't lie every time they open their mouths?
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Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
So already, refusing to participate in the Obama's Grand Plan is equivilent to cheating on your taxes.
I think I'll reserve my spot at the re-education camp early.
>There is no necessity that such a freedom should exist in a free society
To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary - Che Guevara
I think you two would get along.
Parent
this country (Score:5, Interesting)
as well as many others, have fought important wars with drafted soldiers
"Mandatory community service? Great, let's send a bunch of unmotivated kids to do stupid work. Hell, that kind of shit would have been a nightmare for me at that age when I had massive social anxiety and was extremely uncomfortable in such situations."
so you have a problem with the fighting forces of world war i and world war ii? where we gave 18 year olds guns and made them serve on the front lines of mayhem and death? i'm just saying, you'd better have a problem with the idea of a military draft, for the sake of intellectual honesty
although, i've heard stories of many countries with mandatory military service as nothing more than a chance to learn smoking and peel potatoes. so mandatory civil service might prove stupid... or really good, can't tell
but i do like the idea of paying off part of your student loans this way. because it serves as a carrot and a stick. if your civil service effort is poor, you would be punished by having to still pay your loans in full, for example. this at least provides motivation
Parent
Re:this country (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, I do have a problem with it. One of the key force multipliers that the brass has identified is that a voluntary fighting force is many times more effective than a drafted force. One of the key issues in WWI and WWII is that our men were dying without ever firing their weapon.
It's not that they never had an opportunity, but rather that they were not professional soldiers. Being pressed into service with the fairly limited weapons training of the time did not train them to respond on instinct. They thought too much before pulling the trigger, and it got a lot of good men killed.
However, the draft was a necessity for WWI & II. It wasn't until Vietnam that the true horrors of a draft became apparent. How many good men died in a war where we never lost a battle but lost the war? How many vets came back to be spat on, beat up, and otherwise disowned by the American people? How many vets lost limbs or were crippled only to come back and find hatred rather than care?
The draft is an evil thing. Sometimes a necessary evil, but evil none the less. I can only hope that the US will never have to issue a draft again.
Parent
America, land of the ....? (Score:5, Interesting)
land of the free. where freemen understand that freedom is protected by banding together, and fighting off threats to freedom. threats that exist abroad, in battle with evil ideologies that are antagonistic to freedom, or domestically, in poor areas of the country where freedom is threatened by economic misery
you are not free if you are poor. the battle for maintaining freedom is a domestic and a foreign battle. if you think it is only a foreign battle, you do not truly understand the nature of freedom
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Dear Sir (Score:5, Informative)
The government is paying a good chunk of your tuition in exchange for 100 hours of community service. Sounds like a fair exchange for me.
Do you know what this program is? The government lets you to earn college credit while you are in high school. Many of my classmates were able to graduate with a bachelor degree a year before us chumps who didn't take uncle sam up on the offer.
How do you know this? Maybe it would have got you over it sooner. In fact, I wager most of the people in head start did it to get away from their high school foes and sit around people who respected smarts.
If you dont want to do it, pay full freight on your college tuition instead! Nobody is pointing a gun at your head saying "cash this government check!!"
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Re:Dear Sir (Score:5, Interesting)
Exactly which part of the constitution are we deliberately misinterpreting to give the federal government the authority to do this?
Parent
Re:Dear Sir (Score:5, Informative)
It's this part: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
In the same way that the drinking age isn't "mandatory"?
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Informative)
Mandatory community service? Great, let's send a bunch of unmotivated kids to do stupid work. Hell, that kind of shit would have been a nightmare for me at that age when I had massive social anxiety and was extremely uncomfortable in such situations.
Maybe it would have made you a more well-rounded person. /shrug
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Interesting)
Did You Read It?
Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation's Schools: Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year.
seems reasonable to me, i remeber doing a lot more than that in school, I imagine most schools aready do that... think canning drives, fund raisers etc...
Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama and Biden will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
again seems reasonable to me. You want money, do some work for it. Where else you gonna make $40 bucks an hour in college?
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Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Interesting)
For instance, instead of cramming all the troublemakers into the cafeteria for Saturday school, they could me made to do various community service. The community would benefit and it would be more fun for the troublemaker than the alternative. Many would rather paint over graffitti or pick up trash as long as they could socialize with their fellows.
The GP laments about how that would've been torturous to his introverted psyche, but what he dosen't realize is that it may have been very beneficial to interact with others who have a common gripe(having to serve out their "sentence") as a team-building exercise.
Additionally, there are many high school organizations which do community service and offer some kind of carrot(say, a trip to a theme park), as a reward. Working with the mentally challenged is a very eye-opening experience...those little funny-looking bastards are much smarter than we think they are.
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Insightful)
Slavery?? like math class? or being forced to read books as homework for English class? Requiring a couple days of community service over the course of 4 years of high-school does as much good for the student as it does for the community (small but potentially significant). At least in this case, the student can pick whatever he wants to do.
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Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:"Propaganda" (Score:5, Informative)
Read the actual page the GP was quoting (here [change.gov]). That was a real quote, not made-up text: "Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year."
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Wow a President that plans ahead!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Yes We Can - Draft you! (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.change.gov/americaserves [change.gov]
Classic double-think
"When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood....
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.
Obama's chief of staff choice favors compulsory universal service [examiner.com]
Obama and Hillary Call for a Draft Live on MTV [barackswar.com]
Text of H.R. 393: Universal National Service Act of 2007 [govtrack.us]
Obama Calls For National Civilian Stasi [prisonplanet.com]
Constitution, what Constitution?
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Parent
Re:Yes We Can - Draft you! (Score:5, Insightful)
And if the draft had been in place, I think this nonsense of a war in Iraq would have never started, and if it did, it would not have lasted this long. The only reason it has lasted this long is that most of the poor stiffs dying for you and me in the sands of Iraq have no career options back home (I am not talking about genuine volunteers, just the poor kids who use military service as a way to get out of the hell hole their otherwise gang and poverty infested lives are.).
In that sense, given how much we are going to need the military (Bush has after all started so many wildfires around the globe), it might not be a very bad idea to re-institute the draft - it will give us the manpower we need, and will keep future chicken hawk oil-thirsty traitors like Cheney from driving this country into wars it does not need to be involved in. It will make participation in our government also that much more personal as a matter. And boost voting percentages even more, making the government even more representative of the people than simply a few shrill interest groups (if you have done any stats, you know what I am talking about).
And yes, I could also be drafted.
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Re:Wow a President that plans ahead!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
No it hasn't. Bush & Co. spent years planning their assault on the constitution.
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Why only one "blog"? (Score:5, Interesting)
Shouldn't there be blogs and forums so users can actually communicate with each other and make their opinions known to each other? That would be a powerful force, as they could band together to keep Obama in line if he strays too far from his promises. The way it is set up currently, it simply is a bullhorn for Obama, while his users can "share their vision" with a recycle bin. I don't see much (yet) to get excited about. It reminds me of CNN's "talkback", which is heavily censored and filtered.
In other news... (Score:5, Interesting)
Joe the Plumber has launched:
http://www.secureourdream.com/ [secureourdream.com]
Yes, sadly now that his dreams of owning a plumbing business have crashed to the ground, he decided to become a political watchdog and "take it to the streets."
Who knows what we'll be saying about him 4 years from now? A 1 year "Freedom membership" costs a mear $14.95 .
Freedom, who among us is against that?
From an Obama supporter (Score:5, Insightful)
As for the 'submit your own idea' functionality, I think it's a great move. Even if they ignore most/all of the suggestions, isn't that the same results as not asking for them in the first place? At worst this is a waste of time and at best it's a huge step forward in citizen understanding of and participation in government.
here comes the partisan hacks (Score:5, Insightful)
story summary: obama and team put up website communicating their efforts
take home message, pro obama: all the good i feel about an obama administration is taking effect
take home message, anti obama: all the bad i feel about an obama administration is taking effect
its just a communication tool folks. last i checked, communicating what you actually intend to do is never a bad thing
for those of you who don't like obama, think of it as your enemy telegraphing his punches, allowing you to prepare your rebutal, or providing a convenient record for you to accuse him of not doing what he promised to do. see? its good all around
Dear President Elect Obama (Score:5, Funny)
I know you are new to politics so I thought I would let you know. Now that you have won, you can stop campaigning for about 3 years.
South park (Score:5, Funny)
Prepare to defend your 2nd ammendment rights (Score:5, Insightful)
As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.
Repeal the Tiahrt Amendment- This would be a very bad idea go read up on why the Tiahrt Amendment exists that information should remain unavailable to the public for privacy reasons if nothing else. Also the reasons given there are incorrect at best.
Making guns in this country childproof- Safe storage is a good idea, but I have yet to see a good safe storage law.
Making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent- This is very bad.
I prefer this guy because he is better than the alternative, but I knew this was coming and it concerns me.
*sigh* (Score:5, Insightful)
i grew up rural, and i live urban now. i shot shotguns in the swamp behind the house with my granddaddy, a mile from our nearest neighbor, at gamebird and targets. i understand the need for your own form of protection when the police are half an hour away
now, living in an urban environment, i see the other side of guns. guns are not only tools of virtue. they are frequently tools of mayhem. guns are not always in the hands of those who intend good, nor is there some magic wand which can tell who should or should not have a gun. such that in an urban environment, it makes sense to let the police be armed, and everyone else to have suppressed gun ownership, amongst common people. it simply cuts down on needless death
and, as a side issue: no, arming only the police is not a formula for fascism. in fact, it is those who appeal to visceral force, who appeal to the gun, who are more likely fodder for embryonic fascist movements, not the police. really, read your history. random guys in the country is not a protection from fascism, it is the soil in which fascism grows
back to the larger point: gon control is the approach to guns as it exists in europe. europe is mostly urban. meanwhile, the usa has mostly been rural throughout its history, but is shifting to majority urban in recent years. therefore, it is natural that attitudes towards guns will shift from a rural attitude to an urban attitude, and experience a watershed moment in the coming years against gun ownership
and its simply a rural versus urban dynamic. currently, there are people dying in urban centers for the sake of a rural legal approach to gun ownership. in the future, there will be people dying in rural areas for the sake of an urban approach to gun ownership. its the majority deciding the legal approach. and either rural, or urban folk, suffer for the benefit of the other. for those of you want to keep your guns, urban blood is on your hands. for those of you who wish to curtail guns, rural blood will be on your hands. simple as that really
personally it would be ideal if you could own a gun in the country, but not in the city. but this is nearly impossible to enforce
and finally, the second amendment referred to posses in the countryside against native americans and british and french colonial forces. its completely taken out of historical context in reference to modern gun ownership needs, really folks. i don't know why the second amendment is so depended upon as a some sort of supporter of your right to have guns. are you the minutemen? the second amendment does not support the concept you think it does
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Privacy Policy (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, I tried e-mailing them yesterday to point out that their privacy policy looks to not match their actions (as they're linking to Google Analytics, so the cookies used to tracking people _are_ being shared with another website), and the e-mail address _on_their_privacy_ page bounced with an authentication error.
So I e-mailed postmaster@ptt.gov, and got:
cmon people (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:.gov? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, how dare he inform the public of what is actually happening in one of the most important transitions that can happen in government!
Whether or not it should be .gov is really a technicality IMHO. He is the president-elect, after all.
Parent
Re:.gov? (Score:5, Informative)
This is not an uncommon use of a .gov domain. Just look at the Dem [dems.gov] and GOP [gop.gov] House Caucus sites. The GOP caucus has a nice set of articles on "THE COST OF THE DEMOCRAT CONGRESS" and the Dem site, while not containing any hit pieces, has a lot of advocacy.
Not saying it's appropriate, just there's a precedent for it and it's not beyond any pale of anything.
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Re:Excellent... (Score:5, Informative)
The Obama tax plan reaffirms the Bush tax cuts on all but the highest brackets past 2010; the salient change is that the $250k bracket simply returns to where it was when Bush took office: see here [barackobama.com]. In the end, the total tax rate of the country is still below where it was during the Reagan administration. It's astonishing to think we went through the first decade of expansion this century without collecting any money to pay down our debt; through the 50s, the highest brakcet had a marginal tax rate of over 90% [truthandpolitics.org], in order to pay down our war debt, and that was a tax code submitted by a Republican congress and signed by Eisenhower. At the time thus amounted to a huge wealth redistribution since the paper on the war debt was in war bonds, which were universally subscribed, not to mention the costs of the GI Bill and Marshall plan, which educated millions and could also be considered a form of debt repayment or infrastructure invetment.
It didn't help that he wasn't spending much; if we trim up taxation while spending gobs on infrastructure like in 1933. Of course back then, they didn't have $10 trillion in debt.
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Re:Sick of "change" (Score:5, Funny)
Two years of debates, at least 20 in the primary and three in the general. Unremitting press coverage. Two books, one specifically on Obama's political philosophy, written by the candidate in his own hand. Huge websites [barackobama.com] with encyclopedic overview of everything the candidate intends to do. This country's (to date) most expensive political television ad compaign, with issue ads, attack ads, 527s, the whole schmear.
I admit I am having trouble finding the "promise of improvement," but then again I can never see the Angeles national forest when I drive through it: there's too many trees on either side of the road and they obscure the view.
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Re:html change (Score:5, Informative)
Looks like he's at least getting some decent web developers behind him.
Well, let's see:
Interesting commented-out content:
This isn't good HTML. It's HTML copied from several other sites and cobbled together by an amateur. Lame.
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