by Sheletha Jones

Created on: November 19, 2008

There's no question that President-Elect Obama and his administration will have a tough job ahead of them when they take the helm in January 2009. With all of the eloquent speeches of a hopeful candidate vying for votes behind him, the new Commander-in-Chief will be forced to put that articulation into action. More than anything, people are concerned about the economy. Jobs are closing in record numbers across the nation and millions of families are losing or have lost their homes. Many of our troops are across the sea engaged in a seemingly endless war that has sent thousands home in body bags. Let's face it: our country is in mourning. These are indeed sad times for many. But for the powerful words of our newly-elected President, hope would seem elusive, particularly to the middle-class and working poor. However, he has promised change. And as part of that change, he has also pledged to maintain a "transparent and connected" government. I for one say it's about time!

In achieving this goal, President-Elect Obama and his administration have already taken the most important step by setting up an interactive website. There, ordinary Joes and Josephines will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on issues of vital importance to the country. In addition, visitors will also be able to view video feeds from certain meetings. It would also be worth their consideration to post open legislation with links to click on for more information on a particular piece that is of interest. Simply put, this website will serve as a portal of sorts for the common man (or woman) to have a voice in Washington, almost as if he (or she) had actually made the trip! And with these times being driven by technology the way they are, this is an excellent start.

The next thing the administration has to do is to hire qualified people to ensure that the website is successful. This includes bright legal minds who are educated and experienced in certain legalities as they relate to issues of transparency, technologists and technicians to keep the site functional, statisticians to crunch the numbers from all the data that will be generated, and an adminstrative staff to oversee content.

And last but not least, this administration must show itself to be true to the promise. It would be rather unrealistic to hold the President-Elect's feet to the fire on every campaign promise he made. Some things will be out of his control. But holding the government accountable and fighting corruption are

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