7 ms·

I really want to know who was ultimately responsible for the green light on the governments behalf. I don’t mean the head of the agency. I mean the person or co

I really want to know who was ultimately responsible for the green light on the governments behalf. I don’t mean the head of the agency. I mean the person or committee who was responsible for putting out the requirements and choosing the bid.

madrox 4y ago
I would have thought this kind of deal would have been struck at some point when people still thought of the internet as "novel" or a "fad" and therefore didn't scrutinize the situation too closely but no, this deal began in 2017.
- rjbwork 4y ago
  That's about exactly when I would have thought a massive privatization of public goods would have happened...
tony_cannistra 4y ago
Rick DeLappe, the program manager for the Recreation.gov project. Source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/technology-main/2017/02/amid-bid-battle-recreation-gov-high-hopes-connecting-vacationers-federal-data/ https://federalnewsnetwork.com/technology-main/2017/02/amid-...
lotsofpulp 4y ago
In a similar deal, I want to know who in the government gave a private company (Clear) the right to expedite the travel of people who pay the private company. Especially when the government already setup a massive security agency called DHS/TSA and already had global entry/pre check programs in place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Secure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Secure
- joshuaheard 4y ago
  This is a trending premium business model. Pay to avoid government regulation or for better services. It's the same with toll freeways here in Southern California. Even Disneyland now, you can pay to avoid the ride lines.
  - notinfuriated 4y ago
    It's incredible because the business model also implies they will always sell an inferior product alongside the upgraded premium one. It's like running a restaurant where I sell grilled "cheese" for $5 and you pay me an extra $5 to use actual cheese instead of dogshit. Re: Disneyland allowing you to pay to avoid lines, I remember visiting Universal Studios (Orlando) after Hurricane Charley in 2004. The lines were non-existent, but the fun part wasn't skipping the lines so much as the feeling of having the whole park to yourself. If they could find a way to offer that experience, I'd pay for it. I suspect VR might be one of the only ways to do it (and perhaps a rollercoaster in VR is just as good as the real experience, I don't know myself as I haven't messed around with VR). I'd feel like an asshole paying to skip lines that actual, real human beings were waiting in, but I don't doubt that plenty of people would have zero qualms about this.
    - sidfthec 4y ago
      > The lines were non-existent, but the fun part wasn't skipping the lines so much as the feeling of having the whole park to yourself. If they could find a way to offer that experience, I'd pay for it. You can. Companies regularly rent out entire amusement parks for a day for company events. Tech companies have been doing it in the Bay Area at Great America for a long time: https://www.cagreatamerica.com/groups/corporate-events/park-buyouts https://www.cagreatamerica.com/groups/corporate-events/park-... Of course, I'm sure it costs an amount much higher than you're willing to pay.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - bcrosby95 4y ago
        Yep! I grew up in San Jose, and back in the 1980s, each year the company my mom worked for rented out Great America for a day in September. It was pretty awesome being able to just go on any ride you wanted without waiting.
- tobinfekkes 4y ago
  Amen. Clear, and the entire process, makes me sick to my stomach every time I go to the airport. How that got approved is disgusting.
- pitaj 4y ago
  As I understand it, Clear is actually contracted with the airports, not the government. And they only handle the initial ID check, they don't allow you to skip entirely.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    And why could this not have been implemented by the TSA? Why are people who can afford to pay an additional tax (not even to the government) getting to skip to the front of the line in a public facility?
    - kube-system 4y ago
      DHS doesn't build technology, their homegrown solution for verifying ID is hiring bodies to look at your ID with their eyeballs. Building Clear with taxpayer dollars would have required outsourcing to a contractor anyway. And for what, to let rich people skip the line? Let them pay for their own system, and reduce the hiring burden for the TSA at the same time. Seems like a win-win. ... and in fact, CBP does have a biometric ID verification system, but it's for customs entry.
      - lotsofpulp 4y ago
        > And for what, to let rich people skip the line? Let them pay for their own system, and reduce the hiring burden for the TSA at the same time. Seems like a win-win. Letting rich people skip the line is a loss. Letting rich people opt out of the system poorer people have to use, reducing political support for having a properly functioning system for poor people is a loss. Letting a private company profit from allowing people to “buy” back their time due to an underfunded government department is a loss. It is losses all the way around unless you have an explicit goal of creating a more tiered society. All disregarding the notion that TSA/DHS is security theater and a jobs program at best, and a way to control the masses at worst.
mysterydip 4y ago
> The deal started in 2017, when Booz got the contract to build Recreation.gov “at no cost to the federal government.” My experience has been that's as far as some committees consider the matter.

madrox 4y ago

I would have thought this kind of deal would have been struck at some point when people still thought of the internet as "novel" or a "fad" and therefore didn't scrutinize the situation too closely but no, this deal began in 2017.

rjbwork 4y ago
That's about exactly when I would have thought a massive privatization of public goods would have happened...

tony_cannistra 4y ago

Rick DeLappe, the program manager for the Recreation.gov project. Source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/technology-main/2017/02/amid-bid-battle-recreation-gov-high-hopes-connecting-vacationers-federal-data/ https://federalnewsnetwork.com/technology-main/2017/02/amid-...

lotsofpulp 4y ago

In a similar deal, I want to know who in the government gave a private company (Clear) the right to expedite the travel of people who pay the private company. Especially when the government already setup a massive security agency called DHS/TSA and already had global entry/pre check programs in place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Secure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Secure

joshuaheard 4y ago
This is a trending premium business model. Pay to avoid government regulation or for better services. It's the same with toll freeways here in Southern California. Even Disneyland now, you can pay to avoid the ride lines.
- notinfuriated 4y ago
  It's incredible because the business model also implies they will always sell an inferior product alongside the upgraded premium one. It's like running a restaurant where I sell grilled "cheese" for $5 and you pay me an extra $5 to use actual cheese instead of dogshit. Re: Disneyland allowing you to pay to avoid lines, I remember visiting Universal Studios (Orlando) after Hurricane Charley in 2004. The lines were non-existent, but the fun part wasn't skipping the lines so much as the feeling of having the whole park to yourself. If they could find a way to offer that experience, I'd pay for it. I suspect VR might be one of the only ways to do it (and perhaps a rollercoaster in VR is just as good as the real experience, I don't know myself as I haven't messed around with VR). I'd feel like an asshole paying to skip lines that actual, real human beings were waiting in, but I don't doubt that plenty of people would have zero qualms about this.
  - sidfthec 4y ago
    > The lines were non-existent, but the fun part wasn't skipping the lines so much as the feeling of having the whole park to yourself. If they could find a way to offer that experience, I'd pay for it. You can. Companies regularly rent out entire amusement parks for a day for company events. Tech companies have been doing it in the Bay Area at Great America for a long time: https://www.cagreatamerica.com/groups/corporate-events/park-buyouts https://www.cagreatamerica.com/groups/corporate-events/park-... Of course, I'm sure it costs an amount much higher than you're willing to pay.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - bcrosby95 4y ago
      Yep! I grew up in San Jose, and back in the 1980s, each year the company my mom worked for rented out Great America for a day in September. It was pretty awesome being able to just go on any ride you wanted without waiting.
tobinfekkes 4y ago
Amen. Clear, and the entire process, makes me sick to my stomach every time I go to the airport. How that got approved is disgusting.
pitaj 4y ago
As I understand it, Clear is actually contracted with the airports, not the government. And they only handle the initial ID check, they don't allow you to skip entirely.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  And why could this not have been implemented by the TSA? Why are people who can afford to pay an additional tax (not even to the government) getting to skip to the front of the line in a public facility?
  - kube-system 4y ago
    DHS doesn't build technology, their homegrown solution for verifying ID is hiring bodies to look at your ID with their eyeballs. Building Clear with taxpayer dollars would have required outsourcing to a contractor anyway. And for what, to let rich people skip the line? Let them pay for their own system, and reduce the hiring burden for the TSA at the same time. Seems like a win-win. ... and in fact, CBP does have a biometric ID verification system, but it's for customs entry.
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      > And for what, to let rich people skip the line? Let them pay for their own system, and reduce the hiring burden for the TSA at the same time. Seems like a win-win. Letting rich people skip the line is a loss. Letting rich people opt out of the system poorer people have to use, reducing political support for having a properly functioning system for poor people is a loss. Letting a private company profit from allowing people to “buy” back their time due to an underfunded government department is a loss. It is losses all the way around unless you have an explicit goal of creating a more tiered society. All disregarding the notion that TSA/DHS is security theater and a jobs program at best, and a way to control the masses at worst.

mysterydip 4y ago

> The deal started in 2017, when Booz got the contract to build Recreation.gov “at no cost to the federal government.” My experience has been that's as far as some committees consider the matter.