Divining Bush's views of the tech industry Pt II
Published: 14 Dec 2000 14:20 GMT
By contrast, Bush has been hesitant to talk about or form official commissions on topics that can directly influence Internet infrastructure -- despite a respectable record in Texas, which emerged during his governance as a leading state for high-tech companies.
The official "Bush Technology Plan" was formulated by a 440-member team of tech heavyweights, including Michael Dell, chief executive of Dell Computer, and Craig Barrett, chief executive of Intel. But the team did not include any representatives from telecommunications, satellite or cable companies -- implying that Bush has little interest in regulating or monitoring Internet infrastructure, McClure said in his report.
"This does not mean that there will be no Internet issues addressed in 2001," McClure wrote, "only that these issues will be driven by the Congress and the regulatory agencies rather than the administration."
McClure said that Bush's official philosophy on technology and the Internet is likely to be cribbed from corporate America. In addition to Dell and Barrett, Bush's "Information Technology Advisory Council" includes John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco Systems; Scott McNealy, chief executive of Sun Microsystems; Gordon Moore, chairman emeritus and founder of Intel; Tom Engibous, chief executive of Texas Instruments; Carol Bartz, chief executive of Autodesk; E. Floyd Kvamme, partner in Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; and Kleiner Perkins partner Ray Lane, former president of Oracle.
Bush's formal plan has three primary goals: it aims to lift barriers to innovation and fight efforts in the United States and overseas to impose new obstacles, help the United States develop and maintain a work force prepared to seize the opportunities of the high-technology economy, and develop a stable environment that encourages research and innovation in the private sector and in the military.
Also borrowing a tactic from the corporate world, Bush plans to appoint a chief information officer for the US government and create a $100m fund to support interagency e-government initiatives. He also hopes to raise the cap on H-1B visas to allow the immigration of more temporary, high-skilled workers. And he wants to "reduce the threat of junk and frivolous lawsuits" with legal reforms, according to the plan.
Following a well-paved Republican and conservative approach, Bush seeks to spark investment by lowering taxes. His plan calls for a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit and an extension of the Internet Tax Moratorium for up to five years.
He also wants to replace the so-called "e-rate," a Democratic program reviled by Republicans in Washington as the "Gore Tax". Bush wants to replace e-rate, a federal subsidy program for Internet hook-ups in classrooms and libraries, with a $3bn fund to integrate technology in schools and libraries and $400m in new money to help ensure that technology is boosting student achievement.
Although the official tech plan does not explain where the money will come from, Bush also wants to increase the military research budget by $20bn and double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.
A staunch supporter of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, Bush does plan to dabble in technology as it relates to international trade. He'd like to restore presidential trade negotiating authority to "make the Internet a duty and tariff-free zone worldwide, fight to tear down non-tariff barriers to trade in information technology, step up efforts to combat piracy of American ideas and intellectual property, and promote the development of internationally compatible e-commerce standards."
But the plan is very short on details in a number of key areas, McClure observed. To deduce Bush's stance on several hot-button Internet issues, McClure had to rely on "casual reference" in Bush campaign speeches and televised debates.
For example, Bush has given the public little insight on his views about online privacy and filtering of Internet content. In campaign appearances in Michigan on 5 October, Bush expressed little more than a benevolent desire to shield children from "filth and violence", but McClure said it was difficult to extrapolate how this might apply to official presidential policy on the subject.
"Culture is sometimes the enemy of what parents and teachers are trying to teach our children," Bush said on the campaign trail.
Given the uncertainty over Bush's stances on specific tech topics, McClure said those with a stake in the tech sector should make their voices heard.
"It will be incumbent upon the Internet industry to better identify and communicate specific business priorities and needs if it is to gain the support of both a Republican Congress and a George W Bush administration," McClure concluded.
Go back to Pt I/ Divining Bush's views of the tech industry
Much as technology enhances our ability to be efficient, a change in the US economic fortunes is likely to induce a change of focus that will last. Matt Carolan explains that once we have a penchant for the efficiency of cost cutting, it takes a while for that habit to be dislodged. Go to AnchorDesk UK for the news comment.
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