It seems outrageous to me that the Federal government could not find the technical know-how, time, or dollars to invest in allowing US Citizens to complete the 2010 Census online. Such efforts would have saved on printing, postage, cut down on paper, saved fuel for distribution, provided instantaneous results, been easier for many citizens to complete, and increased the completion rate significantly.

For a single-person household, the form consists of 10 questions. YES, 10 checkbox and fill-in-the-block questions. There are 7 additional questions for each person in the household.

While building such a form now would be pointless in terms of e-enabling the 2010 census, I suspect it might create a news event to shed light on how the US government is failing to leverage technology to automate systems in concert with available technologies.

Such a point is especially germane as we look toward an increasingly federalized healthcare system, and an IRS in need of significant reform.

Consider this an open invitation to join up with a few good web developers to put the form online one saturday – just to prove a point.

Many people are cynical about their impact on the political process.

Does my vote really count? Do my representatives care what I think?

One innovative website is focused on helping answer these questions while making it easier for every citizen to get involved in the democratic process is Freedom Speaks.  This week, Freedom Speaks launched a new set of APIs and widgets to help make it easier to create new democracy-focused applications.

To understand the power of their platform in action, let’s see if you can answer this simple question:

Who are your political representatives in federal and state government?

If you move to a new home, aren’t really active in politics, or don’t want to visit 3-4 government websites to lookup this information, then Freedom Speaks is for you.

Of course, all of this information is available online, but it takes at least 2 searches to find your federal congressional reps, and every state has a different way of finding those state representatives.  Too much work, and yet another reason to stay complacent in the political process.

Try out their new widget, so you can be informed at your next dinner-table debate:

Developers should checkout the API Information here.

US Department of Treasury

Some jobs take time to complete.  Implementing a global bailout program to save the US and world financial markets happens to be one of them.  The problem is that our current Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson has stated in no uncertain terms that he will be leaving office as soon as the next President takes office – on January 19, 2009.

Henry ‘Hank’ Paulson is one of the most visible Treasury Secretaries in recent history, and one that seemingly is bringing good judgment and adult supervision to the financial management of the country.  In these turbulent times, more of this type of leadership is required, and if today’s rhetoric about non-partisan support for such a bailout is legitimate, then John McCain and Barack Obama should jointly negotiate with Paulson to keep him on for long enough to see whatever plan he comes up with, well into implementation.

To be fair, going from Chairman of Goldman Sachs to US Treasury Secretary is probably quite a pay-cut, but our next president will need to be creative in building a successful cabinet with experience in both the private and public sectors to succeed.

Consumers and investors watching the market ups-and-downs need to think long-term, and remember that a crash this week, won’t be fixed next week.  Major market shifts can take years (sometimes 10 or more) to reach steady-state.

Use of screen real estate - lost in translation

Doing a bit of research today to compare the two primary presidential candidates on some key issues.  I was shocked when visiting the John McCain homepage to find that apparently John might also be an Obama supporter!

So much so in fact, that they have given him the best placement on the homepage, as well as an aesthetically pleasing graphic with a clear association between the powerful word ‘Love’ and Barack’s smiling face.  Clicking the graphic takes you to two videos which give you the ability to vote for the best song for a video about how the media is in love with Barack Obama.

After a wave of misses and gaffes in the last couple of weeks, you would think the McCain camp might be able to get it right with their own online efforts.  Instead they give their most valuable screen real estate to a competitor, in what I suppose is an effort to convince voters and other media players that the McCain camp is getting a raw deal.

Unfortunately, this effort falls flat with me – and I imagine many others as well.  The homepage placement, headline graphic, and even the videos are neutral to – pro-Obama, and I think it’s safe to say that no media exec is going to flinch at the montage therein.

In my experience, sarcasm doesn’t translate well in email or the web.  Better to keep on point.

Dear John,

More than anything else, Americans want to see you and Barack Obama fight a good fight in this presidential campaign.  No whining, minimal mud slinging, just ’straight talk’ about the issues and how you and your team can help take us into the next decade.

Please have your online marketing team go back to the drawing board.

Sincerely,

Concerned Netizen