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As Sam alludes to, many YC alums have joined the government in some capacity—healthcare.gov, US Digital Service, Nava, Presidential Innovation Fellows—and are o
by brandonb 11y ago
As Sam alludes to, many YC alums have joined the government in some capacity—healthcare.gov, US Digital Service, Nava, Presidential Innovation Fellows—and are on HN.
Jason Shen from YC S11 recently wrote about the concept of a "Tour of Duty":
http://www.jasonshen.com/2015/when-did-you-do-your-tour-of-duty/ http://www.jasonshen.com/2015/when-did-you-do-your-tour-of-d...
If anybody has questions, feel free to ask and I'm sure one of the alumni will reply!
- notsony 11y agoSounds like a revolving door...
- bernardom 11y agoOK. Is that bad, in this case?
- zacharycohn 11y agoNo. A revolving door refers to government leaders who leave government service and go work for lobbyists. We just go back to the private sector.
- reagency 11y agoHe revolving door absolutely refers to working for contractors, like is common in the militsry industrial complex.
- navahq 11y agoThanks for the shoutout :) glad USDS and 18F are getting the attention they deserve!
- roymurdock 11y agoWhy doesn't the government allocate more funding to pay skilled technical workers at least close-to-market wages for the crucial work they are doing in bringing government organizations and systems into the 21st century?
- brandonb 11y agoThere's plenty of funding, but salaries are capped by law: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/maximum-gs-pay-limitations/ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-admi... So Congress would have to pass a law to fix that particular problem.
- roymurdock 11y agoHow much interaction does the USFS have with Congress? Do you have any idea when we'll start to see more technically-minded and possibly younger representatives in Congress who might make these issues more of a priority?
- gboone42 11y agoPretty sure it's illegal for federal entities to lobby Congress. The Anti-lobbying Act makes it pretty hard, anyway. But folks like you could lobby your reps and senators and attempt to get them to increase federal pay. This is a democracy, after all, and you are the constituent.
- roymurdock 11y agoI didn't mean lobbying Congress per se, but simply the level of interaction between the two orgs. E.g. does the USFS work on projects to help improve/streamline Congress and do Senate/House reps meet with heads of USDS and 18F. I'm afraid my net worth isn't high enough for me to have any real say in the way our country operates at the moment. Maybe one day :)
- jon-wood 11y agoIt's off topic, but the legal status of lobbying in the US always baffles me. Today I learned It's entirely legal for a company to lobby a congressman, but not a government department. How does that make any sense at all?
- 11y ago