How Is Obama Seen By Tech Community?
I’m thinking through a possible column, and I’m looking for some early feedback. I’ve watched in great interest, as have many in Silicon Valley, how President Obama has followed through on his tech agenda since January.
We all know the tech community had impossibly high expectations. Many folks credited his social media savvy (or, at least his staff’s) with getting him elected. He understood tech like no other candidate we’ve ever seen. Even better, he laid out an ambitious agenda that seemed to win the hearts and minds across the valley.
But lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of grumbling from tech executives. They’re very unhappy with any number of Obama’s proposed policies. The biggest sins include possibly lumping in venture capital with the newly proposed financial regulations. They also are upset about the possible taxation of overseas profits. And there are a few others. “At the same time, they seemed to be pleased with the green tech tax credits.
On the other hand, it seems Obama’s team is still quite popular with what I’d call the tech community’s grassroots: social media types, programmers, etc. He seems to be following through on a number of initiatives to open up government through things like the White House 2.0 and the new Data.gov service that allows people to play with the government info and get more involved through the Web.
So I’m wondering a few things here. It would appear that Obama has been less responsive to the tech business agenda, but very responsive to what I’d see as the grassroots tech community’s agenda for more openness and transparency and inclusion. But is this view too simplistic? Is there really a split between the tech suits and the geeks where Obama is concerned?
Please post any thoughts below.
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he isn’t biz friendly overall…he has programs he wants to pay for and is asking business to pony up for them…nothing targeted at tech specifically except that tech is still very profitable and not in need of any bailout money…so because tech is successful he is looking for us to pay for everybody else…not the way it is supposed to work…as chevy chase said in fletch, “this isn’t russia, is it?”
I’m stoked hearing that he’s making an effort to do away with cigarettes - i had been smoking those things for awhile, and although hypocritical to say if i don’t knock on some wood real quick - i hate people that smoke them, and the stink of them. Charging people 500 hundred million billion a pack could definitely help the problem. i also wouldn’t mind seeing him do a massive recall on all the doctors’ needles. I pass the fuck out everytime i see one of those damn things. not to mention, i’m pretty sure doctors don’t really need to draw your blood, but just make up things like stds so they can have a reason to take yer blood and make you weak - doctors are smart, and everyone knows smart people have clever ways of cockblocking. It would be nice if the government could just collect up all the needles, melt them down, and send the remaining hunk of aids metal to canada, and bury it there.
In so much as the tech community is interested in growing their business, I can’t see how they can pleased with much anything the President has done thus far. All his agenda seems to be centered on income redistribution and burdening the small businessman. None of which motivates innovation or new business. Recent attempts at healthcare reform are a perfect example.
Obama is seen by many techs here as the great killer of jobs. You were all fools if you didn’t see this comming. Obama gave pleanty of clues to how he was going to treat the business world, and for those of you at the top of the Corporate food chain - how exactly did you expect a cap and trade system for energy is supposed to help an industry that requires large amounts of electricity for the server farms and technology we produce and support?? Obama has pledged from the beginning to tax those he considers to be rich, no matter how much higher the cost if living here is compared to elswehre in the US.
Europe is finally waking up to realize the mistakes they have made in their attempts at socialism. If you really want to help the poor and clean up the environment to assauge your guilt at success then lowering taxes and getting government out of our lives is how to do it.
Why would a community, built on capitalism, inidividuality, creativity, and freedom support a blatant marxist like Obama?