
How Bernie Sanders Tech Volunteers Code the Bern - ChrisArchitect
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/10/02/how-bernie-sanders-tech-volunteers-code-the-bern/
======
Titanous
The Lessig 2016 campaign also has a tech volunteer program[1], but it is
officially endorsed (unlike Coders for Sanders), and all of the software
developed for the campaign (including software developed by the paid folks) is
open source, developed on GitHub, and discussed openly on Slack.

[1]
[https://github.com/Lessig2016/Lessig2016.github.io](https://github.com/Lessig2016/Lessig2016.github.io)

~~~
setpatchaddress
I'll just leave this here.

[http://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9214015/tech-nerds-
politics](http://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9214015/tech-nerds-politics)

~~~
AlexCoventry
That was a great article, if a bit of a nonsequitur here.

------
AlexCoventry
Something I made for Sanders recently[0] which has gotten a little traction on
r/SandersForPresident[1], a simple website backed by the NYS electoral rolls.
It generates self-mailing fliers to voters who are not registered Democrat
informing them that they have until this Friday to register if they want to
vote in the 2016 NYS Dem primary. The fliers try to make it as easy as
possible for the recipient to register by providing the form and a way to mail
it back to their county Board of Elections. Volunteers can go to the website
to generate and mail fliers for a unique set of at-risk voters.

Critical feedback is welcome. I know just walking through a CSV file and using
python's HTTPServer is terrible, though. :-)

If anyone knows about setting up full-service bulk mailing with USPS, I'd love
some help getting started. It's probably too late for this particular project,
but I think this distributed approach to mass mailing potentially has a lot of
promise.

[0] [http://nysmailing.xyz/](http://nysmailing.xyz/)
[https://github.com/coventry/nysmailing](https://github.com/coventry/nysmailing)

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Areddit.com+nysmailing...](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Areddit.com+nysmailing.xyz+alexcoventry)

~~~
seanp2k2
It doesn't matter how terrible it is if it works and does some social good.
Thank you so much for trying to bring about some change in the world.

------
JesperRavn
I would be very interested in volunteering for Donald Trump. Does anyone know
how I could get involved?

I like the way he is the only candidate with the guts to oppose illegal
immigration, even though it should be obvious to everyone that illegal
immigration is wrong and must be stopped. It's especially ridiculous given
that almost all liberal candidates support much worse in Israel, while calling
Trump a racist for proposing relatively mild measures in the US.

~~~
unimpressive
[https://www.donaldjtrump.com/about/](https://www.donaldjtrump.com/about/)

Their 'get involved' form has a checkbox to tell their campaign that you want
to volunteer. I couldn't seem to find a better way for you. I can only presume
that Mr. Trump has a war chest which negates his need for charitable work
contributions.

~~~
JesperRavn
Thanks a lot. Yes, Trump is very wealthy, but on the other hand there a lot of
big wealthy companies who would fire their employees for saying the things
that Trump does. Universities even more so. The middle classes are basically
forced away from the positions that Trump holds. And so really the big money
is against him.

------
monksy
I'm not sure how I feel about the advertising of free labor. On one hand, it's
great seeing people participating. On the other hand the WSJ comes off as
saying that "hey this politician is getting free development."

~~~
atticoos
I hope the article didn't come across that way. We're all developers
passionate about the movement, love hacking on projects, and decided to come
together and build cool things.

All developers are welcome if you have an idea and want to work with people on
it - come join!
[https://www.reddit.com/r/CodersForSanders](https://www.reddit.com/r/CodersForSanders)
and [http://slack.forsanders.com](http://slack.forsanders.com) and

~~~
um_ya
Bernie Sanders has promised everything to everybody. I would say he has the
least credibility than any other candidate (and that's saying a lot
considering how shitty the lineup is), because at least the other candidates
don't make such ridiculous promises like he does... Seriously, how are you
going to give people free healthcare, free education, free [insert entitlement
program]. His plan of action, "tax the rich more". What a joke.

~~~
toomuchtodo
I know, right? Why isn't he promising to defund planned parenthood, build a
wall on the Mexican border, and defund the government for ideological reasons!
/s

It's funny really. I've never been political until Bernie Sanders has come
along, and I believe all of his policies are practical to implement (yes,
universal healthcare and free education is easy, stop spending as much on the
military _as the next top 10 countries combined_ ). I'm volunteering for his
campaign, helping with Coders For Sanders, and am maxing out my campaign
contributions.

Perhaps its because I've always leaned a bit to the left, and have reached the
end of my rope with conservative crazies.

~~~
nemothekid
> _(yes, universal healthcare and free education is easy, stop spending as
> much on the military as the next top 10 countries combined)_

I think this statement further reinforces the GP's point. Simply "stop funding
the military" isn't "easy" \- and I doubt it is something that can be done
over a 4 year term. Most of the military's budget are salaries, not just
soldiers but likely millions of factory workers who produce a wide range of
products for the military. While the question of "are the products they
produce useful" is grey, the fact is you'd have to start by laying off
millions of Americans and likely damaging the many smaller towns that have
come to depend that income source. While its simple to just state "defund the
military" the truth is much more complex and likely an even greater political
minefield. If he does win the election, if he were to pull off that move, I
doubt he would have the political strength to keep a trajectory going for a
second election.

As much as I believe that free education should be a thing, I believe that is
also a minefield. How will schools be funded? Does the government pay the
inflated tuitions, or do we solve the student loan problem first? Will we be
forced to massively scale back the amount of people who attend 4-year schools
(currently around 70% in the US vs. 30% in Germany)?

And then to seemingly do this by "just taxing the rich"? It seems that people
forget that the President just doesn't wake up one day and decide what to tax
people at - it's in part decided by congress (as well as many of the other
issues) - and it just seems unlikely that he'll make good on everything he is
promising.

Personally, I believe Bernie to be a sound candidate, but um_ya has a point.

~~~
zo1
>" _and it just seems unlikely that he 'll make good on everything he is
promising._"

This is unfortunately a big failing of democracy and the political landscape,
in my opinion. You have individuals that are voted into political positions
under certain "promises", and then have access to a myriad of excuses that
they claim prevented them from implementing said promises. Of course, I
understand that sometimes there really are stumbling blocks and active
measures preventing a plan from being implemented. But can we not draw a line
somewhere? And hold political figures accountable for at least trying to
implement their promises. Or at least require them to present sound reasons or
studies for actually wanting to enact something as law. E.g. "Study on effects
of UBI on the well-being of single-parent households"

Additionally, I'm a tad confused about this concept of Democracy (warning, not
really confused, just arguing): If the president is elected in a presidential
election and represents the majority of the people, why then do we elect a
separate set (branch, as they call it), of individuals at a more granular
level that could very well "fight" the already-elected president? I'm
referring to the congress/senators there. Could the entire problem not be
solved by removing the entire "checks-and-balances" concept, and simply hold
presidents accountable for their actions (or lack thereof when it comes to
promises)? And by accountable, I mean real consequences: prison/large-fines.

Following from that, we don't all believe that we could potentially get a
"crazy" or "rogue" president that abuses his power after election? E.g.
creating some sort of police-state, starting wars that the public doesn't want
or rewriting constitutional-law? Such that we require some sort of "checks-
and-balances" entity/branch to keep him/her from doing so.

Anywho, just some random rants from someone that thinks too-logically about
politics, because my ideology requires me to.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
> Additionally, I'm a tad confused about this concept of Democracy (warning,
> not really confused, just arguing): If the president is elected in a
> presidential election and represents the majority of the people, why then do
> we elect a separate set (branch, as they call it), of individuals at a more
> granular level that could very well "fight" the already-elected president?

You're confused. That's not a bug, it's a feature. The whole political
philosophy of the US is that _no one person_ gets power that somebody else
can't block.

> Could the entire problem not be solved by removing the entire "checks-and-
> balances" concept, and simply hold presidents accountable for their actions
> (or lack thereof when it comes to promises)?

The thing you see as a problem could be solved that way, yes. But imagine that
the next president is Trump rather than Sanders. Still think it's a good idea?

The public makes bad decisions at the ballot box sometimes. No matter which
way you lean politically, you're sure to be able to find examples in the last
20 years. Having Congress able to block some of their most stupid ideas is
genius, rather than a flaw.

