
GreatAgain.gov - randomname2
https://www.greatagain.gov
======
micaksica
If we're going to upvote these things on Hacker News, can we try to stick to
comments that are less butt-hurt and more constructive? Yes, the technology
industry is reeling from the fact that the preferred candidate did not win.

However, we are supposed to be hackers here, not some whiny intelligentsia.
Please take off your sad hat and put back on the hacker hat. Bend the rules.
Enact the change that you can from the position you are in. Get involved in
any way you can. We cannot change the results of the election, but we can work
with the framework and try to improve it for the better. Embrace the suck, and
let's step forward in any way possible.

~~~
ethbro
Was going to post something similar myself. No offense, but a lot of my
liberal-leaning colleagues/friends/HN users sound like whinier Republicans
when Democrats were in power.

Progress used to be made in the US through _compromise_. I want one thing,
another person wants another, we sit down and bash out what's acceptable to
both of us _and the country is the better for that negotiation_.

There are Trump policies that I will fight possibly to my death should they
ever be attempted, but there are also a non-zero number I think might be good
for this country.

As micaksica suggested, hackers act on the world they _have_ , not on the
world they _wish existed_.

~~~
Overtonwindow
Hi! Former Congressional staffer here. Ten years in DC working on the Hill.
There is no more compromise. Period. From any party, from any politician.
Every single day is spent doing whatever is necessary to disagree, disparage,
obstruct, and humiliate the other party. Compromise be damned: It's all about
power, staying in power, and forcing the other part out of power. This is why
I left.

The two parties have personally and vindictively attacked one another for so
long that nothing gets done. The next 2 years will be spent with Republicans
ramming their agenda down the throats of Democrats, precisely the way
Democrats did it in 2007-2009. Then, it was payback time. Now it's payback fro
the Republicans.

There is no more compromise in Congress, this is why it's so dysfunctional,
and why nothing gets done. It does not appear to be changing any time soon, no
matter the party in power.

~~~
ethbro
_> It does not appear to be changing any time soon, no matter the party in
power._

Curious, would you agree or disagree with the statement that a majority of
this is driven by the primary process, fundraising requirements, and the
political media industry?

If so, those seem like tractable problems we can _absolutely_ work on.

~~~
Overtonwindow
To a certain extent. House elections being every 2 years is a migraine that
never ends. House members of both parties fundraise like crazy, and they're
constantly dialing for dollars. This means they're constantly a target by the
opposing party. Certainly if House members did not have to spend so much time
watching their backs, dialing for dollars, and campaigning, it might help.

Curiously the Senate has something of a more collegiate body, even by those
who despise one another, they tend to be more polite and respectful behind the
scenes. I think this is because they know they have six years to drag things
out, fundraise, and build relationships.

~~~
unclenoriega
Do you think some kind of public financing scheme could help? How much would
it have to be to have an effect?

I've heard it suggested that an Australia-style "everyone must go to the
polls" system might ameliorate some of these issues by removing the need for
GOTV campaigns and requiring candidates to persuade the middle since everyone
will be showing up to vote. Any thoughts on this from the inside?

------
snowwrestler
For those wondering how this got done so quickly, both campaigns had
transition offices in DC--funded in part with federal dollars--that got
started months ago.

The modern presidency is so complex that a transition can no longer be
accomplished effectively in the time between November 8 and January 20. So a
bipartisan project created the concept of multiple transition offices that get
government funds to operate.

Obviously the Clinton transition office is in the process of winding now right
now, and the Trump office is expanding rapidly.

~~~
Bartweiss
I wonder if anything is done with the losing candidate's transition office.

Like, do they put together a two-page list of the most important, nonpartisan
conclusions they reached and hand it off to their counterparts? I'd like to
think so, but I'm hardly optimistic.

------
sethbannon
Seeing the .gov really makes it hurt.

------
andrewfong
Anyone know if anything from Digital Service and 18F will get transitioned
over? I'll be extra sad if making America great again also means making all
the websites ugly and unusable too.

~~~
thisisdallas
My cynical nature tells most people were only at 18F because of Obama. I
wouldn't be surprised if most of them leave because Trump was elected.

~~~
ethbro
That seems a bit petty. I can understand not feeling plused about replumbing
EPA web infrastructure if the agency has been executively neutered, but it
doesn't make the work, benefit to citizens, or cost savings any less
important.

And honestly, with a President who seems (perhaps overly) inclined to break
things, there may be new opportunities for dragging aging digital
infrastructure into the modern era.

------
DjangoReinhardt
The page on Tax Reform[0] seems... interesting. Here's the first paragraph:

> Anyone who fills out a tax form knows how harmful the U.S. tax code is today
> – punishing hard work, savings, and investment. American frustration with
> the tax code has prompted two decades of Washington, D.C. blue ribbon
> commissions and detailed plans to reform the code. These efforts have not
> changed the tremendous burden Americans face in complying with the U.S. tax
> code. If a tax code were designed to punish hard work, thrift, and
> investment, the current U.S. tax code could serve as a blueprint.

Autosummarizer[1] summarizes the first paragraph as follows:

> If a tax code were designed to punish hard work, thrift, and investment, the
> current U.S. tax code could serve as a blueprint.

Good times, America.

[0] [https://www.greatagain.gov/policy/tax-reformeconomic-
vision....](https://www.greatagain.gov/policy/tax-reformeconomic-vision.html)
[1] [http://autosummarizer.com/index.php](http://autosummarizer.com/index.php)

------
simosx
Here is the section on Immigration,
[https://www.greatagain.gov/policy/immigration.html](https://www.greatagain.gov/policy/immigration.html)

First point: "Build a Wall on the Southern Border"

~~~
vaishaksuresh
As an Immigrant, the list depresses me. It is evident that the person who came
up with the list does not consider immigrants as people.

~~~
ethbro
Hopefully take some small solace in the fact that half the country is very
pro-immigrant, coupled with the truth that most of the vitriol from the other
half is economic rather than personal.

If rural America wasn't hemorrhaging livable jobs, then I daresay we'd see
next to no anti-immigration sentiment.

~~~
tomschlick
Also, I haven't heard anyone say they are against immigration entirely. Just
that they want people to go about it through the proper legal channels.

~~~
vaishaksuresh
Immigration in the US is broken on so many levels. I am afraid nothing will be
done to resolve that. a personal example is the number of years it takes for
someone from India/China to be legally a citizen is vastly different than
other countries. I don't think a government that is so vehemently talking
about american jobs and workers is going to care about the legal immigrants
who are working here. I think it is unfair to the many many people who are
paying taxes like citizens without the same rights and benefits.

------
outworlder
This focus on the person instead of measures is very, very concerning.
Seriously, there's a video feature prominently called "My Dad". Pictures of
him everywhere.

I'll stop making fun of North Korea.

~~~
micaksica
Do you remember the Obama campaign? Some cult of personality always exists
around charismatic leaders. Fairey's "Hope" poster was an epitome of
personality-driven political propaganda.

~~~
thisisdallas
> Do you remember the Obama presidency?

ftfy

------
sparky_
So you can submit ideas here I see. I submitted a plea to embrace climate
change from an economic standpoint - "renewable energy technologies will be in
high demand, and there is a huge opportunity for whichever nation is first to
market." Perhaps the prospect of making zillions in solar panel sales can give
them pause.

~~~
Zikes
What's that headline right now? Tesla had more revenue than all of American
oil/coal combined?

Edit: Found it: [https://electrek.co/2016/11/10/tesla-made-more-money-last-
qu...](https://electrek.co/2016/11/10/tesla-made-more-money-last-quarter-than-
the-entire-us-oil-industry-made-last-year/)

~~~
sparky_
This is the sort of argument that has a chance of succeeding with the
republican majority.

------
edwhitesell
The certificate is dated October 31. Assuming Hillary had something similar
waiting and ready, I wonder what it was...

~~~
ajross
The Clinton campaign policy priorities were right there on the campaign web
site. They were voluminous, and well thought-out, and written/backed by
serious domain experts, and thoroughly ignored by everyone because emailz.

Seriously contrast the stuff there with the pablum here, which boils down to
junk like "education is important yo" and "we're going to eliminate excess
regulation about, like, stuff".

I weep.

~~~
presidentender
The same was true in 2008, during the primaries. Clinton's site had actual
policies, Obama's had hand-waving.

~~~
ethbro
It's all hand waving until it's on paper and going through the legislature's
machinery, unless we're talking about executive actions.

------
randyrand
That was fast. I'm actually impressed.

Edit: not from a technological aspect. They probably had the site ready to go
already. But from a human coordination standpoint.

~~~
ajross
Probably because you didn't read the text. There's literally no content here,
even less than he had on his campaign website. You're "impressed" with some
web geek throwing together a demo site. This election in a nutshell.

~~~
randyrand
No. Technologically it's not all that impressive, it's the human element that
is. They moved on this really quickly. It's surprising the coordination to get
this done can be done in a day.

~~~
ajross
Probably half the commenters on this very thread (not me, I don't do web
stuff) could have produced a site as good or better in half the time. Are you
serious?

~~~
randyrand
Like I said, it's not the technological aspect that is impressive. It's he
human aspect. How quickly they coordinated this.

~~~
ajross
Gah, WHAT human aspect? All this is is a mediocre distillation of junk said on
the campaign page. There's no new content. Nothing. You're seriously cheering
on an organization that can write a boring summarization of some text in 36
hours (which they didn't, as mentioned the cert is more than a week old).

I can handle fact that he was elected, I guess. But this kind of celebration
of mediocrity by his "supporters" who really should know better is just too
much.

------
joshmn
Can't imagine people were happy to sign off on this domain name.

~~~
Normal_gaussian
From what I understand a large portion of people would be happy to sign off on
that domain name, another large portion wouldn't, and a final large portion
would not fall into either camp. Of course the reasons for each are diverse,
contradictory, and surprising.

~~~
incogitomode
You're assuming these specific people were representative of the nation as a
whole.

~~~
cmdrfred
If people wished to be represented, they would have voted.

------
outworlder
Now that it's finally over and people won't be able to push for their
preferred candidate, can someone shed light on what the email ruckus was all
about?

Sure, personal server was used, etc. However, this is a community of tech
literate people. We know that email is not and cannot be a secure medium. The
only ways I can think of to transmit secure email messages is by making the
medium irrelevant (encryption), or by using something else (ie. private
'secure' email-like mechanism).

Had the emails been encrypted, it wouldn't matter if they were stored on top
of the hollywood sign. So what gives? Does that mean that the US transfers
classified information through totally insecure channels?

~~~
snowwrestler
To answer your specific question, the federal government deals with the same
security vs. convenience dilemma that everyone else does. There are classified
communications systems but they have fewer client devices and are harder to
use.

Quite a few of the emails in Clinton's inbox that contained classified
information were drafted by other people in other agencies (including CIA,
NSA, etc) who either did not realize that a particular piece of info was
classified, or who wanted to get it to her quickly through the most convenient
medium--they did a risk/reward calculation and hit send.

The other thing to know about classified information is that it does not get
unclassified just because it's public. So if I email you a NYTimes article
about a classified drone strike program, you now have classified info in your
inbox. Again, that explains some of the emails she had in her inbox--
forwarding news stories around.

Finally, the amount of classified information is staggering and detailed. Like
everyone knows that the government flies U2 planes for surveillance, but their
maximum altitude and endurance might be classified. So it's possible to have
an email that is mostly fine but includes a few classified details. This
complexity is why it has taken so long to review and release all her emails.
Every single one has to be reviewed by relevant experts.

In short, people hear "classified information" and immediately think of
something like the "NOC list" of covert agents from Mission Impossible. The
reality is that immense amounts of information are classified, and it's easy
to screw up. There is a reason the FBI said that no prosecutor would bother
prosecuting Clinton.

~~~
outworlder
Thanks for the detailed answer, that's very helpful.

------
neogodless
Can anyone find the part of the web site that explains how everything will be
paid for, especially the tax cuts?

~~~
brian-armstrong
The standard response you'll get to this question is that tax cuts will,
supposedly, cause so much growth that they're revenue neutral

------
leesalminen
> Share your ideas

[https://apply.ptt.gov/yourstory](https://apply.ptt.gov/yourstory)

> President Elect Trump has promised to change Washington, DC and that will
> start with identifying and recruiting the finest men and women from across
> the country to serve in his Administration. Any individual who wishes to
> serve the Administration should utilize this online application in order to
> participate.

[https://apply.ptt.gov/](https://apply.ptt.gov/)

~~~
tluyben2
Race dropdown...

~~~
sandworm101
That is very normal in the US. Race seems to be atop many forms. Just today I
had to rewrite a medical history form being used by a canadian government
agency (mostly a 'do you suffer fainting spells?' type of form). They had
adopted a form obviously written for a US audience and "race/ethnicity:___"
came just after middle names. That's just not asked in Canada without a very
good medical reason, for which this agency had absolutely none. It was a rush
job.

------
kamac
Did previous presidents run similar websites where they'd list the stuff they
want to change?

Also, from [https://www.greatagain.gov/meet-president-
elect.html](https://www.greatagain.gov/meet-president-elect.html)

> "Donald J. Trump is the very definition of an American success story,
> continually setting the standards of excellence for real estate, sports and
> entertainment"

How humble.

~~~
koenigdavidmj
Obama had change.gov during his transition, but it no longer exists.

------
snowwindwaves
"meet the future first lady". hadn't even considered that until now!

------
chris_wot
Is the following normal? Genuinely curious:

[https://www.greatagain.gov/news/help-
wanted-4000-presidentia...](https://www.greatagain.gov/news/help-
wanted-4000-presidential-appointees.html)

~~~
barretts
Yes, Obama also opened up a jobs portal on his transition site.

------
benjaminjosephw
Looks like a great way to crowd source popular policy ideas.

------
Zikes
For everyone flagging this and trying to pretend it doesn't exist, that's a
pretty significant part of why Trump won in the first place.

Engage with it. Understand it. Stop attacking ad hominem and learn to find
common ground. You don't have to like it, or even remotely agree on all
points, but if you want to see any of the progress you're looking for over the
next 4 years then you have to get involved.

------
alistproducer2
I've already started applying for citizenship in my mother's country. Just in
case.

~~~
MrZongle2
Just in case... _what_?

~~~
alistproducer2
In case I feel like it's time to get out of the country.

~~~
MrZongle2
And I think that is certainly your right.

Families who saw what was happening in Germany in the 1930s and decided to
leave were likely criticized at the time by those who stayed; in hindsight,
this was a smart move. Conversely, if somebody moved out of the US because
Reagan was elected...well, that decision probably looks a bit silly now.

I have no more gift of foresight than anybody else here, so I can't say if
such a move now would be right or wrong.

But I am left wondering what facts would lead to such a decision today.

------
omegaworks
This is real.

This will be a true test of America's design. Remember, America is a
decentralized set of institutions. In _theory_ DC should have very little
effect on my life here in California.

Join with your local communities and make sure your voice is heard. Fight to
protect the vulnerable.

We can't sit back and watch this happen to our friends and neighbors:

[https://www.facebook.com/shaunking/photos/a.799605230078397....](https://www.facebook.com/shaunking/photos/a.799605230078397.1073741828.799539910084929/1194283823943867/?type=3&theater)

[http://jpupdates.com/2015/11/11/florida-home-defaced-with-
sw...](http://jpupdates.com/2015/11/11/florida-home-defaced-with-swastika-
graffiti-on-garage-door/)

------
1mrankhan
.gov damn it, makes me sad.

------
azilnik
That favicon of the White House in front of a red background seems to send a
wrong message scaled down to that degree. I hope they fix up some of the
design work.

------
jotadambalakiri
The 'Download video' option under 'My Dad' hit me hard

------
danschumann
This was on the front page then disappeared. BIAS JOURNALISM AT HN?

~~~
Zikes
I'm almost certain it was mass flagged and removed automatically.

~~~
ggregoire
Most likely it triggered the flame war detector.

(moderator comment here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12792030](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12792030))

Otherwise, it would have a "[flagged]" in its title.

------
nanreh
This is the whitest web page I've seen in a while.

------
vvpan
As great as it was wheeeen...?

------
sandworm101
Well, it should soak up some of the more annoying dos traffic. That's a good
thing.

------
cjjuice
Where's that IoT bot net when you need it.

~~~
ryanx435
Ah yes, Ddos ing websites of government officials that you disagree with.

So tolerant. Much liberal.

~~~
cjjuice
Take a joke. I was not actually advocating for anything.

~~~
ryanx435
Cool.

------
thrillgore
This is actually going to happen, isn't it?

I need to expedite this british citizenship process

~~~
Normal_gaussian
Please don't. If you are coming over here because you can't stomach your
country and not for any great desire to contribute to mine I don't want you
here.

~~~
Gabriel_Martin
You realize that most people don't emigrate with the express desire to become
a public servant in their new home, right? This person could easily be leaving
due to the rhetoric that affects people of color, or women. Sorry that isn't a
noble enough of a reason to leave, but that's how it is for some. People don't
want to remain somewhere they're not welcome. Related, could you share some of
your contributions to your country? Perhaps they can do the same, if you
illuminate the opportunity?

~~~
Normal_gaussian
A public servant isn't the only or the best way to contribute to your own
country, unless you show a special talent for it of course.

And in regards to my contributions to my own country? I find it rather
presumptuous for you to demand mine without providing your own, however I will
give them. They aren't much but, at 23, I am still building the foundations.

Most of my time is currently focused on our small company where we have been
building a loss prevention solution for rural areas (we are now hiring,
practical data scientists and developers in Hampshire, UK. Our stack is C,
PostgreSQL, NodeJS, and some Java. If you have the right to work here and want
to, send your CV + intro to contact@telemetricor.com . Note that our main
website is currently slightly out of date as we have, over the last year and a
half, performed a significant pivot into the incredibly useful TelemetriCop
system).

I spend portions of my spare time volunteering at a local animal shelter, and
managing a debate group, I used to do more but my actual work is now more
intense (and I feel contributes more to our society by mitigating the
effectiveness of those who seek to detract from it).

------
underbluewaters
I was really devastated on Tuesday (and still am) but submitting ideas here
makes me feel a little better. It's likely that there _are_ ideas you have
that can be supported by a Republican President so get to work.

------
eloy
How did Trump even got this domain before he was President-elect? .gov is
limited for only the US government, nothing else. Before the elections, Trump
was not part of the government. But the certificate dates from 1 November
2017.

