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US Requirement For Software Dev Certification Raises Questions
dcblogs writes "U.S. government contracts often require bidders to have achieved some level of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). CMMI arose some 25 years ago via the backing of the Department of Defense and the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. It operated as a federally funded research and development center until a year ago, when CMMI's product responsibility was shifted to a private, profit-making LLC, the CMMI Institute. The Institute is now owned by Carnegie Mellon. Given that the CMMI Institute is now a self-supporting firm, any requirement that companies be certified by it — and spend the money needed to do so — raises a natural question. 'Why is the government mandating that you support a for-profit company?' said Henry Friedman, the CEO of IR Technologies, a company that develops logistics defense related software and uses CMMI. The value of a certification is subject to debate. To what extent does a CMMI certification determine a successful project outcome? CGI Federal, the lead contractor at Healthcare.gov, is a veritable black belt in software development. In 2012, it achieved the highest possible Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) level for development certification, only the 10th company in the U.S. to do so."
It passed by democratic process only if you're good with the "tyranny of the majority". Not one vote from the opposing party? That's not a beautiful rendition of democracy. Democracy should promote compromise. Even Mitt Romney managed to get votes from both parties (his party was in the minority) for his health care reform when he was governor of Massachusetts.
The Supreme Court had to shit all over the Constitution to allow the law to stand. This was the "it's-a-fee, no it's-a-tax" argument. It reminds me of arguments made to uphold the "legality" of sobriety checkpoints. They were ultimately allowed, but the dissent was quite right that they were a violation of the 4th amendment. These types of legal shenanigans do not do our nation justice.
When the opposing party regains enough control, there's guaranteed to be major changes to the AHA, if not an outright repeal. Is that really what everyone wants for their democracy? Law shouldn't be interpreted or upheld with preference to the party that is in power. Powerful laws like this should be written to pass the test of time, not to just ride out the immediate election cycle.