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President Obama Still Missing The Point: Include The Public In The Process, Not Just The Selling
from the the-difference-between-transparency-and-outreach dept
The new Obama administration was supposed to represent a revolution in participation and transparency -- and while there have been some moves in that direction, there's plenty that's troubling, such as its recent decision to declare negotiations on an intellectual property treaty a state secret. However, more troubling is this fundamental disconnect between what the administration seems to think "participation" in the process means -- and what it really should mean. Rather than actually having people participate, it seems the administration is a lot more focused on having people sell.
That's not the same.
We saw it in the stimulus plan -- which was written by the same political insiders, and then the various email lists and social network connections were used to try to get the public to support the bill -- and now we're seeing the same thing with the budget. Apparently, the DNC is putting on a big push to use the 13-million emails collected during the campaign to help urge passage of Obama's budget, with David Plouffe claiming this is "the first major engagement" of that public list in the legislative process.
But that's the problem. This is a bit late to be engaging everyone. The budget's already been written. Shouldn't participation included more openness earlier in the process and more of a real way to participate to get these people to actually buy into a budget that they had input on? But that's not what we're getting. We're getting the same stuff, handed down from on high by the same political operatives, and being told that the people's "participation" is to help this budget get passed.
I would imagine people would be a lot more excited about doing that if they'd actually been asked to help out in the process. I'm glad that the administration is trying to reach out to people more, but so far it's doing so in a very fake way. It's not getting people to really participate in the process at all. It's just looking at them as a way to help sell. That's not the same.
That's not the same.
We saw it in the stimulus plan -- which was written by the same political insiders, and then the various email lists and social network connections were used to try to get the public to support the bill -- and now we're seeing the same thing with the budget. Apparently, the DNC is putting on a big push to use the 13-million emails collected during the campaign to help urge passage of Obama's budget, with David Plouffe claiming this is "the first major engagement" of that public list in the legislative process.
But that's the problem. This is a bit late to be engaging everyone. The budget's already been written. Shouldn't participation included more openness earlier in the process and more of a real way to participate to get these people to actually buy into a budget that they had input on? But that's not what we're getting. We're getting the same stuff, handed down from on high by the same political operatives, and being told that the people's "participation" is to help this budget get passed.
I would imagine people would be a lot more excited about doing that if they'd actually been asked to help out in the process. I'm glad that the administration is trying to reach out to people more, but so far it's doing so in a very fake way. It's not getting people to really participate in the process at all. It's just looking at them as a way to help sell. That's not the same.
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How?
I guess obama administrations has not figured out how to receive public feedback yet.
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No one said that they should have *control* over where the budget goes. But we should allow the people to have input. You could certainly set up a system that allows the good ideas to bubble to the top, and will quickly filter out the trollish/dumb ideas.
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Just have people set up a profile on a .gov website and they can recieve emails about polls as they open. The profile can include age, ethnicity, address (just zip code would be ideal), income levels, profession, political and religious affiliation. Then Obama and the nation can get a picture of what is going on in people's minds.
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The difference between Regan and Obama...
Trust, then verify.
Obama:
Trust Me.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Hey Rham, what are the focus groups saying this morning?
Ooops...Trust me again.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Ooops...Trust me again.
Suckers.
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No, we don't need to "poll" ideas. We need to solicit ideas and let the best ideas bubble to the top based on consensus.
Allowing input and feedback doesn't mean polling everything. Day to day policy should not be based on day to day public opinion, but there's still plenty of room for input and feedback.
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RE: Obama vs. Regan
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Best Ideas vs. Consensus
As wonderful as that sounds, I seriously doubt "consensus" would result in the adoption of "best ideas". After all, we as a nation decide ours leaders according to "consensus", and look where that got us.
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Re: The difference between Regan and Obama...
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Re: Best Ideas vs. Consensus
The best government is merely the least of all possible evils.
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TRUST GOOGLE---DON'T TRUST CONGRESS
Google's server farms load-balance binary ones and zeros at 3.5 trillion bits per second and can accurately track deposit/withdrawals. Its so simple it can't possibly go wrong. Let's rewire and audit the US Treasury and find out where our money has gone. We need Truth in Banking. If we have multi-trillions of dollars hiding out in offshore banks ready for the New World Order cartel to cause a depression just to buy up American industries dime-on-the-dollar. If we re-wire in time we can use high-speed, high-volume interactive search engine technology to ward off a disaster.
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Citizen: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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Now: I will employ lobbyists, lots of them. I only promised that to get elected.
Campaign: I will not sign any legislation until it's had 5 days of public review.
Now: Sorry about signing all of these things with no review, I only made that promise to get elected.
Campaign: I will use a scalpel to remove all earmarks from any spending bills.
Now: You know the drill. I only said that to get elected.
Hail Xenu and the Lord Almighty Obambi (praise be unto Him)!
Big Mook
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In the end, Obama is being defensive and appears to be hiding something, but I suspect the results would be better than allow the same people that vote for the American Idol get involved in the process.
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In the end, I wonder how many of you adulators of the Great American Communist will admit you voted for this charismatic, no talent ass-clown?
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Right Weird...we would have been better off with John Kerry, Al "Global Moron" Gore, or another 4-8 of "President Blow Job" (aka the guy that actually got us into this mess) I suppose? I voted for W. - twice. Was he perfect? Hardly, but I'd take him for another four over the Marxist tyrant that now holds the office. But hey, props to you for your politically-correct, "see I'm not a racist, I'm progressive" vote. You must be SO proud!
It was just a matter of time (2-3 seconds) before the tin-foil-hat "Bush is a Nazi" crowd kicked in with their sorry ass refrain. Get over it Weird. The issue at hand is...now that you have your smooth talking Red Diaper Doper Baby dreamboy in power, what will HE do? Still laughing...
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So, Harold, you don't like Bush and you don't like Obama. Just who does it for the weird one?
BM
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—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933
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American politics has turned into a battle between tax and spend liberals (BOO!) and give back tax money to the rich and spend anyway conservatives (double boo!).
is there a third choice?
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To paraphrase Churchill, capitalism guarantees unequal sharing of wealth, but socialism guarantees equal sharing of misery. I'll take capitalism, thanks very much. If that's voodoo, then please pass the chicken bones.
BM
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Obama should be the "Gold Standard" of transparency
I was utterly disgusted when Obama named him Chief of Staff.
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Chicago Politicians Love the Talkshow Circuit!
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Just continue to believe the words that come out of the Obama Teleprompter and see where it gets you.
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