Hillary Introduces a Federal Blog

I just witnessed History.

At the final major event of the NH primary Hillary said and I may misquote some, she said "We'll put every department's budget on the internet so you can see where your money goes. We will also start a government blogging team and every department of government will communicate what they are doing on a daily basis."

That is making real change, right now. No broad promises but a real fundamental change in how government works with and for the people.

Imagine what it can be. Imagine what it can change.

Imagine Open Government.

I was involved in the genesis of the idea so I have a good grasp of what she's promising. I don't think she or anyone on the team fully understands the possibilities because, like the Internet itself, a federal open blog system that all departments are required to use.... will quite simply change everything.

Let's discuss it here.

Imagine a top level commission or committee of Internet software, hardware and blogging experts. They work to define how best to implement a bi-directional blog system that covers every single department of the government. The issues are big but wow! Yes, it would have to be highly moderated and managed. Yes it will be a change for managers to spend a portion of every day replying to or discussing what they are doing.

Imagine 300 million people discussing and suggesting ideas and improvements directly to those that matter. Discussing medical ideas, tech ideas, ways to save money....

Let's discuss it.

Just imagine where it could go that we cannot even imagine today.

Thanks K&R

Good ideas are good ideas

Create a Transparent and Connected Democracy

* Open Up Government to its Citizens: The Bush Administration has been one of the most secretive, closed administrations in American history. Our nation’s progress has been stifled by a system corrupted by millions of lobbying dollars contributed to political campaigns, the revolving door between government and industry, and privileged access to inside information-all of which have led to policies that favor the few against the public interest. An Obama presidency will use cutting-edge technologies to reverse this dynamic, creating a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens. Technology-enabled citizen participation has already produced ideas driving Obama’s campaign and its vision for how technology can help connect government to its citizens and engage citizens in a democracy. Barack Obama will use the most current technological tools available to make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists and promote citizen participation in government decision-making. Obama will integrate citizens into the actual business of government by:
1. Making government data available online in universally accessible formats to allow citizens to make use of that data to comment, derive value, and take action in their own communities. Greater access to environmental data, for example, will help citizens learn about pollution in their communities, provide information about local conditions back to government and empower people to protect themselves.
2. Establishing pilot programs to open up government decision-making and involve the public in the work of agencies, not simply by soliciting opinions, but by tapping into the vast and distributed expertise of the American citizenry to help government make more informed decisions.
3. Requiring his appointees who lead Executive Branch departments and rulemaking agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so that any citizen can watch a live feed on the Internet as the agencies debate and deliberate the issues that affect American society. He will ensure that these proceedings are archived for all Americans to review, discuss and respond. He will require his appointees to employ all the technological tools available to allow citizens not just to observe, but also to participate and be heard in these meetings.
4. Restoring the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best-available, scientifically-valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials.
5. Lifting the veil from secret deals in Washington with a web site, a search engine, and other web tools that enable citizens easily to track online federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and lobbyist contacts with government officials.
6. Giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days before signing any non-emergency legislation.
7. Bringing democracy and policy deliberations directly to the people by requiring his Cabinet officials to have periodic national online town hall meetings to answer questions and discuss issues before their agencies.
8. Employing technologies, including blogs, wikis and social networking tools, to modernize internal, cross-agency, and public communication and information sharing to improve government decision-making.
* Bring Government into the 21st Century: Barack Obama will use technology to reform government and improve the exchange of information between the federal government and citizens while ensuring the security of our networks. Obama believes in the American people and in their intelligence, expertise, and ability and willingness to give and to give back to make government work better.
1. Obama will appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.
2. The CTO will have a specific focus on transparency, by ensuring that each arm of the federal government makes its records open and accessible as the E-Government Act requires. The CTO will also focus on using new technologies to solicit and receive information back from citizens to improve the functioning of democratic government.
3. The CTO will also ensure technological interoperability of key government functions. For example, the Chief Technology Officer will oversee the development of a national, interoperable wireless network for local, state and federal first responders as the 9/11 commission recommended. This will ensure that fire officials, police officers and EMTs from different jurisdictions have the ability to communicate with each other during a crisis and we do not have a repeat of the failure to deliver critical public services that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
4. In the 21st century, our economic success will depend not only on economic analysis but also on technological sophistication and direct experience in this powerful engine of our economy. In an Obama administration, the government’s economic policy-making organizations and councils will include individuals with backgrounds in our technology industry.

See avatar.

I'm either a thread killer or I set 'em on fire - no inbetween for me. :)

HILLARY introduces? Obama has been touting this idea for years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Funding_Accountability_and_Transparency_Act_of_2006

He did similar in Illinois

In Illinois, Obama succeeded in getting the first ethics reform passed in 20+ years, gaining bipartisan support for a reform package requiring disclosure of lobbyist donations to campaigns.



So is this Clinton's new strategy? Taking Obama's plans before he can tout them and claiming them as her own. Then when Obama is like wait a second, she plays the "See, he can't even come up with his own stuff" card?