1,000 Points of Data

[Commentary] The State of the Union address served this purpose for more than 200 years. But given today's challenges and the rapid pace of change, a yearly formal address is no longer sufficient to measure the true state of our Union. To recapture the spirit of the founders — and to fulfill President Obama's own promise to provide greater accountability in Washington — another tool is needed, one that enables all Americans to gauge whether we are making progress as a nation. What we need now is a Web-based system for measuring our changing society with key national indicators — in a free, public, easy-to-use form. Ideally, it would be run by the nonpartisan National Academy of Sciences, which would ensure it has the best quality of information and is kept up to date. The system would enable us to offer in one place statistical information that we spend billions of dollars collecting but that is now underused and undervalued. Imagine everyone having at their fingertips answers to questions like: How many quality jobs are we adding to the American economy? How many more students are getting into college? How many more people are gaining access to affordable health insurance? Are we increasing economic growth along with savings and investment? Are we reducing our greenhouse gas emissions? Great steps forward in American history occur at moments when our deeply held values are reaffirmed in the face of changing realities. Such a moment is at hand. We need a shared frame of reference that will enable us to practice collective accountability. If Congress acts soon, by the time President Obama delivers his first formal State of the Union address next year, Americans will be able to continually assess the state of the Union for themselves.