20 votes
I disagreeThis would simply be a web site where each elected official's promises were stated and flagged showing whether they were kept, broken, in-process or inactive. A percentage based on kept divided by (kept + broken) would give us a fairly accurate estimate of their reliability when re-election time comes around.
43 votes
I disagreeThis administration is closed. Democrats and Republicans have forsaken representative government and constitutional law. Better chance of being hired as a Czar than to find a job in the public today. Thieves prosper financially, and hard working Americans are losing their homes. The White House Closed tighter than the Kremlin. Obama blocks list of visitors to White House Taking Bush's position, administration denies ...more »
This administration is closed.
Democrats and Republicans have forsaken representative government and constitutional law.
Better chance of being hired as a Czar than to find a job in the public today.
Thieves prosper financially, and hard working Americans are losing their homes.
The White House
Closed tighter than the Kremlin.
Obama blocks list of visitors to White House
Taking Bush's position, administration denies msnbc.com request for logs
By Bill Dedman
Investigative reporter
msnbc.com
updated 2 hours, 6 minutes ago
Msnbc.com investigative reporter Bill Dedman
The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.
Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/ns/politics-white_house/
Forget the "press" we do not have a free press in America unless it is the internet and talk radio
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23 votes
I disagreeI propose that all of our tax laws and tax codes be scraped and replaced with a simple flat tax system. In this system it would not matter how you earned your money or from what source, you would be taxed at the same flat percentage for every single dollar of income. No longer would we need loopholes, tax accountants, tax lawyers, or nearly as many IRS agents as we now have. You make a Dollar, you pay a flat percentage ...more »
I propose that all of our tax laws and tax codes be scraped and replaced with a simple flat tax system. In this system it would not matter how you earned your money or from what source, you would be taxed at the same flat percentage for every single dollar of income. No longer would we need loopholes, tax accountants, tax lawyers, or nearly as many IRS agents as we now have. You make a Dollar, you pay a flat percentage of tax. While I don't have the figures available to do an accurate calculation, my assumption is that the true tax rate would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 percent to 5 percent and EVERYONE would pay. Remember, under this plan/idea you would pay on every dollar RECEIVED and would no longer track expenses (for tax purposes). For businesses, expenses would be tracked only as a means of determining profitability NOT for Tax purposes.
This is the simplest, fairest and most straightforward method of taxation.
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38 votes
I disagreehttp://www.recovery.gov/ This is the website where you can allegedly track exactly what the stimulus package is doing to help in our economic recovery. If you look at it closely, no private sector jobs have been saved, or created, nor is there any mention of private sector hiring due to the stimulus package. Obama said earlier today that private sector businesses were saved, jobs were saved, and many private sector ...more »
This is the website where you can allegedly track exactly what the stimulus package is doing to help in our economic recovery. If you look at it closely, no private sector jobs have been saved, or created, nor is there any mention of private sector hiring due to the stimulus package.
Obama said earlier today that private sector businesses were saved, jobs were saved, and many private sector businesses did more hiring thanks to the stimulus package. Personally, I'd like to know where these private sector businesses are, and who they are. They're not listed at recovery.gov. Shouldn't they be? After all, they would qualify as successes. Where's the transparency here?
All I can see on recovery. gov is that the federal government is hiring, not private sector businesses. The private sector is the backbone of our country. Government hiring means nothing.
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41 votes
I disagreeWe don't need another STIMULOUSY package when we don't even know what happened to the first one. Now he's fixing to rob the cradles of our great grandchildren with another less than transparent as London fog stimulous package. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! STOP IT ALREADY!!! ARE YOU A COMPLETE COMMUNIST DOLT??? HAVE YOU NO CONCERN FOR THIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE??? WHAT FAILED TRANSPARENCY WILL YOU OFFER US THIS TIME??? ANOTHER STUPID ...more »
We don't need another STIMULOUSY package when we don't even know what happened to the first one. Now he's fixing to rob the cradles of our great grandchildren with another less than transparent as London fog stimulous package. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! STOP IT ALREADY!!! ARE YOU A COMPLETE COMMUNIST DOLT??? HAVE YOU NO CONCERN FOR THIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE??? WHAT FAILED TRANSPARENCY WILL YOU OFFER US THIS TIME??? ANOTHER STUPID WEBSITE WHERE WE CAN'T TRACK THE RESULTS OF STIMULOUSY 2??? ONE FAILURE IS ENOUGH, WE DON'T NEED TWO OF THEM!!!
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3 votes
I disagreeThere are hundreds of good ideas! In industry all good ideas are tested through the R&D process, i.e.: designed, prototyped, the bugs are ironed out, piloted, and so on. In a pilot test, a project is implemented on a small scale and tightly defined geographical location, and run for a time to study how it works, make changes during pilot, and eventually have a final implementation plan, or closed as unworkable. Legislation ...more »
There are hundreds of good ideas!
In industry all good ideas are tested through the R&D process, i.e.: designed, prototyped, the bugs are ironed out, piloted, and so on. In a pilot test, a project is implemented on a small scale and tightly defined geographical location, and run for a time to study how it works, make changes during pilot, and eventually have a final implementation plan, or closed as unworkable.
Legislation on the other hand is often generated by specialists, and special interests; they’re discuss in congress’ committees, pushed by lobbyists, and eventually passed, often without the public knowledge, understanding, or enough information and or participation
This idea would create an agency to fund and oversee the top 50 ideas.
Each idea, including this one, would go through approximately the following stages:
I. Development Stage: Refine the idea, through further discussion with and development of a complete plan with costs and time tables, milestones, as a standard business project.
II. Review Stage: Plan from the development stage is posted on sites for further comments and discussion, and further refinements may result from public comments.
III. Implementation Stage: convert the plan into a physical reality, and run it for the time established in the Pilot Plan.
IV. Final Stage: Observation and statistics collection, and final report to recommend continuation, permanent implementation, or termination.
This idea is immediately submitted as a Bill to fund its Stage I. After Stage I is completed, it’s plan is passed as a new bill, and piloted for a period of no less than 3 years, at which point it begins to fund and oversee the other top ideas. The Originator of the idea is given the funds by the treasury in the increments indicated in the plan... and so forth.
Above any other idea, this one will be beneficial to other ideas, the economy, Health Care, Open Government, Participation, in fact, every category and subcategory.
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84 votes
I disagreeHave you ever wondered what your true federal tax bill is? We all know our income tax bill, but what about all of the other federal taxes assessed separately for various activities, services or products? The Tax Foundation has a slew of data on various federal taxes here: http://taxfoundation.org/taxdata/ We already have a national spending website, and that's nothing to sneeze at, but shouldn't the other half of ...more »
Have you ever wondered what your true federal tax bill is? We all know our income tax bill, but what about all of the other federal taxes assessed separately for various activities, services or products? The Tax Foundation has a slew of data on various federal taxes here: http://taxfoundation.org/taxdata/
We already have a national spending website, and that's nothing to sneeze at, but shouldn't the other half of the equation--the revenue half--be just as transparent?
The federal government should create an online tax hub of information where individuals can go to calculate their average annual federal tax burden. It should be user-friendly, comprehensive and the data should be mashable. The website would be designed to answer one basic question: How much do I pay? Eventually, we could probably link the spending and tax websites together. That would be the ideal world--where users could compare inputs to outputs.
In Washington state, we have already created a comprehensive, user-friendly tax transparency website. You can see the site here: http://www.taxsleuth.com/
We humans have problems with scale. For the average person, $700 billion means absolutely zilch. But $700 means something--so does $7,000 or $77,000. If people could see their individual tax bill with their own eyes, it would change the way we evaluate government programs.
Taxpayers are picking up the tab for every government program and project. Shouldn't we be able to see how much these grand plans will cost each one of us? This website would help people understand that it's not "that other guy" picking up the tab; it's you, your children, your neighbors, and your community.
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45 votes
I disagreeProvide Updates to USASpending.gov to include other metrics similar to SEC filings for businesses. Cash Flow statements, income and balance sheets, and a covenant agreement showing specifically how our debt load will not impede our ability to manage and operate the day to day operations of our country. It should also include projected expenditures referenced to line items in the budget. Every manner of chart, graph, ...more »
Provide Updates to USASpending.gov to include other metrics similar to SEC filings for businesses. Cash Flow statements, income and balance sheets, and a covenant agreement showing specifically how our debt load will not impede our ability to manage and operate the day to day operations of our country. It should also include projected expenditures referenced to line items in the budget. Every manner of chart, graph, or cross-referencing metric should be provided to give interested citizens the tools to stay well-informed. Raw data sets should also be provided for external and independent analysis.
Results should be provided as closely to real-time as possible, by posting hard monthly financial documents no more than eight business days into the following month. Estimates should be made in real time based on the most reliable data available.
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47 votes
I disagreeTo me, if something is transparent, you can see through it. Windows are transparent, Saran Wrap is transparent, Glad Bags are transparent. President Obama is not transparent, he is opaque. He is not a window, he is a door that shuts us out. He is not Saran Wrap, he is Waxed Paper that covers up. He is not a Glad Bag, he is a paper bag that conceals its contents. Take a look at the definitions of Transparent and ...more »
To me, if something is transparent, you can see through it. Windows are transparent, Saran Wrap is transparent, Glad Bags are transparent. President Obama is not transparent, he is opaque. He is not a window, he is a door that shuts us out. He is not Saran Wrap, he is Waxed Paper that covers up. He is not a Glad Bag, he is a paper bag that conceals its contents.
Take a look at the definitions of Transparent and Opaque below. You decide!
Transparent:
having the property of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen,
easily seen through, recognized, or detected,
open; frank; candid; obvious
Opaque:
not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through,
not shining or bright; dark; dull,
hard to understand; not clear or lucid; obscure
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48 votes
I disagreeWhen you say you delete "duplicate" posts, what criteria are you using? I see lots of duplicate posts here, some even by the same authors as far as I can tell.
Secondly, when you delete posts, do you publish a notice of removal in its place, and state the reasons for its deletion? It's a matter of transparency that the public is made aware that a certain post has been removed, and why.
ex animo
davidfarrar
48 votes
I disagreeI may have missed it, but if the owners/operators of this website have the ability to match IP addresses with their voting record, they should come forth with that information. It's called "TRANSPARENCY".
ex animo
davidfarrar
67 votes
I disagreeI feel that if the President wants to add transparency to his administration, and this was one of his campaign promises, he should start with himself. Please Mr. Obama, if you love this country and respect its constitution, you will immediately release your long form birth certificate to put to rest the questions about your elegibility to serve in this esteemed office. Until it is released, until the lawyers/dogs are ...more »
I feel that if the President wants to add transparency to his administration, and this was one of his campaign promises, he should start with himself. Please Mr. Obama, if you love this country and respect its constitution, you will immediately release your long form birth certificate to put to rest the questions about your elegibility to serve in this esteemed office. Until it is released, until the lawyers/dogs are called off, Americans can only assume you have something to hide. What do you have to hide? End the controversy, and if that is not possible, step down and let this country recover from the biggest fraud in modern times.
A Proud American,
Brad Marxer
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-3 votes
I disagreewhat has always upset me about this government has been a lack of transparency and one of the reasons why we lack transparency frankly is due to the institution of representation itself. Within political science research has shown that highly centralized forms of governance tend towards corruption for a myriad of reasons I won't get into here. On important issues like health care, though, I know that the American public ...more »
what has always upset me about this government has been a lack of transparency and one of the reasons why we lack transparency frankly is due to the institution of representation itself. Within political science research has shown that highly centralized forms of governance tend towards corruption for a myriad of reasons I won't get into here. On important issues like health care, though, I know that the American public feels ignored and that many feel that captains of industry (who would be affected by any future form of health care reform) are being given too much air time in the national debate.
My idea is why don't we have a Citizens Assembly (CA) like the one that the Canadian province of British Columbia used in 2004 to allow citizens a chance to decide what electoral system best suited the public's needs? I would implore you, Mr. President, to read a book on the subject title "Designing Deliberative Democracy" edited by Mark E. Warren and Hilary Pearse, which goes into great detail over the strengths and weaknesses of the CA and how it can be improved in the future were it to be used again.
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-27 votes
I disagreeOrgan donations should be held in total transparency and regarded as a high honor in this nation. An organ donor should be publicly honored or at least mentioned as a heroic citizen that has saved others' lives with their bodily sacrifice. Total transparency should take place with the organ donation process: Where the organ came from, who donated it, and to whom it is assigned to. The recipient and the donor's families ...more »
Organ donations should be held in total transparency and regarded as a high honor in this nation. An organ donor should be publicly honored or at least mentioned as a heroic citizen that has saved others' lives with their bodily sacrifice.
Total transparency should take place with the organ donation process: Where the organ came from, who donated it, and to whom it is assigned to. The recipient and the donor's families should be able to know exactly where the organs went and from where they came.
Next or in obituaries should read of the organ donations and where they went.
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56 votes
I disagreeDear President Obama,
As a committed Democrat and staunch supporter, please open the vault, release the documents and show these “birthers” you have nothing to hide.
Also, please declassify the redacted portions of the CIA torture memos, so we can expose the Cheney lies.
104 votes
I disagreeIf money can keep the long form birth certificate hidden; then I am quite sure that money can make it surface....
-56 votes
I disagreeI don't see why anyone cares about OB birth certificate. With all the money, technology, and resources at his disposal, OB could make a PERFECT birth certificate (whether it is real or not).
We should be judging him by his actions ie:
Transparency, Five days review of documents before signing, ACORN, etc.
-8 votes
I disagreeA new type of bank charter is proposed for national banks that operate at a level of higher transparency as to their environmental, social and other impacts (Impacts). This charter would allow such banks to be designated as CDFIs: Community Development Financial Institutions, free of geographic constraints, so that "community" equates to semantic concern. In exchange, such high transparency banks would be required ...more »
A new type of bank charter is proposed for national banks that operate at a level of higher transparency as to their environmental, social and other impacts (Impacts). This charter would allow such banks to be designated as CDFIs: Community Development Financial Institutions, free of geographic constraints, so that "community" equates to semantic concern.
In exchange, such high transparency banks would be required to collaborate around a set of open standards for tracking and publishing their Impacts. The standards would be transactionally validated. They would find use in corporate and foundation applications so as to improve the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility, foundation high-impact philanthropy and the capacity of banks to lend by including the Impacts as an element of underwriting and rate-setting. An example of such standards would be to spatially-enable XBRL: eXtensible Business Reporting Language so as to collocate the Impacts of funds handled by such banks, and see in effect the "showers of money" impacting specific places on the face of the Earth.
In essence, the oft-cited "social return on investment" calculus would become a granular, transactional standard for banks operating with high transparency.
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50 votes
I disagreeI have been monitoring this lately. Yestersay the most popular idea was to show obamas birth certificate with almost 2000 positive votes. Now it is gone. This site is a farce just like our government. Just another one of their schemes and they make the rules up as they go. Start being honest and take the criticisim your asking for. You people (gov) are a joke!
-48 votes
I disagreeThere's too many birth certificate spammers on this board. I therefore propose that all persons wishing to make a spam post about Obama's birth certificate be required to post a photoscan of their drivers license or passport and social security card in the post, preferably with their voters registration. If we're going for transparency, I think we should go the full route.
-95 votes
I disagree
9 votes
I disagreeRequire every Representative Senator, Executive Department Secretary to wear an audio-recording device which records every conversation they have except when they are in the privacy of their homes and have no guests present. Also require this of all senior House, Senate, and White House staffers.
Then make all of those recordings publicly available on a single website.
20 votes
I disagreeWe'd all like to know the truth about your American citizenship. If there's nothing to hide, why hasn't the REAL birth certificate if there is one been revealed to the American public. This is a requirement of every American citizen; why are you so different? We want to know if you are really eligible to the the President of these United States or are you an usurper? We are not convinced that you are who you say you ...more »
We'd all like to know the truth about your American citizenship. If there's nothing to hide, why hasn't the REAL birth certificate if there is one been revealed to the American public. This is a requirement of every American citizen; why are you so different? We want to know if you are really eligible to the the President of these United States or are you an usurper? We are not convinced that you are who you say you are. So end this controversy once and for all and let us see the LONG FORM of your birth certificate. Until then you are not the real President representing this nation. You will be considered an actor.
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-3 votes
I disagreeRead my predictions on what Obama will do to America and the world.
Also found at: http://www.wheresthebirthcertificate.com
171 votes
I disagreeObama needs to produce his true, complete, authentic birth certificate. His biological grandmother stated he was born in Kenya. During his early school years in Indonesia, he was registered as a Muslim - what's with that? His college records are hidden. His wife's racist thesis is also hidden from the public eye. If these people are running our country, they need to be totally transparent (although we do see the ...more »
Obama needs to produce his true, complete, authentic birth certificate. His biological grandmother stated he was born in Kenya. During his early school years in Indonesia, he was registered as a Muslim - what's with that? His college records are hidden. His wife's racist thesis is also hidden from the public eye. If these people are running our country, they need to be totally transparent (although we do see the transparency in that Obama is turning the US socialist). Author Jerome Corsi was detained in Kenya when Obama's relative, Raila Odinga (a communist who had churches burnt, whether or not there were Christian worshipers inside), had Corsi detained and deported because he didn't want Corsi further investigating Obama's background and birth places.
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