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US Gov't Representatives - Who's Who?
melankolik asks: "With all the issues emerging these days related to DRM, 'piracy', anti-trust, civil rights, big business, et al, and with tech-illiterate politicians passing laws of dubious intent or results, it can be hard to tell who the Good Guys and the Bad Guys are in our government (more realistically, who supports the Good and Bad legislation). What information can any of you politically savvy Slashdot readers offer to someone taking an interest in the political machine regarding the past and present legislation, stances, and agendas of our friendly neighborhood Senators, Governors, and other representatives?" As complex as politics are, there may not be "good guys" and "bad guys", and instead those who support your politics on some issues, and not on others. Even so, it would be interesting to know how the representatives vote on specific issues, especially those that deal with computers and online rights. Has anyone been compiling this information?
Just look at whose lips are moving.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
I know some Gentoo users - they compile everything...
This topic actually inspired me to think (if you know me, you know I don't think very often, so this must be important).
I came to realize that one of the reasons I don't regularly vote is because I don't have time to figure out who I should be voting for. There are SO many different people out there, with SO many different opinions on SO many differet issues, it's nearly impossible to keep track of, especially for people that are trying to just get by with their own lives. I also think that a lot of the issues have gotten a little too complex for the average citizen (it could be we're all getting dumber, I can't really say for sure). I think a website for people in this situation would help many of us make semi-informed decisions and vote for "the right guy".
So.. I agree and disagree with your statement about the complexity/simplicity of this particular project.
In a perfect world, yes, the project would go down to each individual bill and each attached amendment to each bill and who supported what and include the lobbies and such. Unfortunately, you're right - that's way too complex.
Instead, I think we should focus on "the newbies guide to politics" - keep it simple:
First, this has to be a community effort. Citizens from all over the country should be allowed to add information on their local candidates, maybe with some form of peer review upon submission.
Then, list all the current senators and house members and the president, along with all the currently running candidates. Also include the ability to add more local positions like governor, council persons, mayors, etc.
Once you've got all that.. list the issues, and break them down into categories to make them easy for idiots like me to check out what I want to see. Abortion, Jobs (with sub-categories for things like tech jobs, auto workers, whatever), military, foreign policy, whatever.
Then.. it's the simple process of cross-referencing all the people with the issues, and wallah! You've got "An Idiot's Guide to Politics".
Don Head
UNIX/Linux Administrator