The palpable partisanship in all reaches of US Government has made Americans very unhappy with their elected officials, regardless of which side of the aisle they sit on. Born of this frustration is an attempt by Republicans to get back in touch with their constituents. They have created a website called America Speaking Out where anyone can submit ideas they think should be on Washington’s agenda. Members can also vote and comment on ideas others have contributed. Admittedly, this website will cater toward traditional Republican values, but they allegedly encourage anyone from any viewpoint to post their ideas and vote on others.
The site is organized into several broad categories, each of which has further subcategories.
- American Prosperity
- Fiscal Responsibility
- American Values
- National Security
- Open Mic (start your own debate)
Platform to Discuss Energy
This is an opportunity for the nuclear energy debate to reach a broader audience. There has been talk about how to get the pro-nuclear message out of the so-called echo chamber and into the public eye. While the success of this website has yet to be determined, and is difficult to predict, it certainly is a beginning in reaching an audience mostly outside of the nuclear debate world.
There is an Energy subcategory under American Prosperity, but I would suggest that you bring a creative spin to your ideas. For example, I am submitting new nuclear construction in the Job Creation subcategory of American Prosperity. This shows people who are interested in job creation the benefits of new nuclear construction. These people may have never realized or learned of new nuclear’s job creation potential, and therefore a message submitted in energy would not have made the most impact on the right audience. Just a thought.
Website Impressions
The site is fairly easy on the eyes but its functionality is lacking in several areas. It can be cumbersome and slow at times. I’ve had server 404 errors and other technical troubles at least 40% of the time, so that is pretty frustrating. Hopefully they can get these issues ironed out. The organization is mainly logical, but sometimes you’re surprised at which subcategories you find in the category you clicked on.
Take some time and stop by America Speaking Out to let your elected officials know how you feel about the future of our nation, and more specifically, how you want nuclear energy to be a part of it.
4 Comments
Jason:
I went to the site and posted a two sentence idea and it went through. I used the “nuclear” as a test to see if that was the disqualifier. It must be your looks
Rumor has it there might be some discrimination against animated adolescents from South Park, Colorado.
Haha, I knew it! I guess I will have to submit an idea to expand discrimination laws to include animated citizens as a protected class.
I was able to post. I used a different “id” than here. It seems like the site is overwhelmed by people hoping it will fail, mocking and castigating. The highest number of votes for anything was a mere 250 or so.