2008 presidential election issues, from a tech point of view

Monday, January 28, 2008, 12:03 PM
Business by John (Article #178)

2008 is the first election where the tech subculture represents a major constituency to both political parties in the United States. With the exception of John McCain, most of the major candidates are young enough to have a personal background with some experience with computers and the internet.

So, I wanted to take a look at where the top four candidates at this stage (McCain, Romney, Clinton and Obama) stand on key issues (H1-B visas, privacy, network neutrality, government transparency, piracy and internet taxes).

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Not surprisingly, getting good solid answers about each candidate's position is tough. Generally candidates don't take firm positions unless those positions are known winners, a stance that usually amounts to "I like babies and America, too."

H-1B Visas

H1-B Visas are a key part of the US immigration structure. This is how immigrants with useful skills are allowed to enter the United States and work for American employers. These visas are given to engineers, programmers, scientists and technicians. The visas are highly coveted by employers, because the American labor market churns out a lot of dullards, and highly sought by immigrants.

The yearly stock of H-1Bs has been between 65,000 and 300,000 in various years over the last decade. It takes about two months for the quota to be filled.

So, where do the candidates stand on H-1B visas?

Romney: has expressed great enthusiasm for the program without overtly offering a number. Probably trying to avoid pissing off nativist Southern voters during the primaries.

McCain: has repeatedly expressed interest in a "large-scale expansion" of H-1B visas. No numbers, but combined with his support for immigration laws softening to allow lower-skilled workers into the country, it is difficult to imagine McCain having an issue with H-1B workers.

Clinton: on record promising an increase, along with a strong preference toward Indian workers. She couched her statement to India's members of parliament as such, "I would always prefer India to China because it's a democratic country."

Obama: probably the most nuanced (and therefore crappy) of all the candidates on the issue. Obama has expressed the least enthusiasm for the program, while also offering that any icrease would be tied to detaching the employees from a dependency on their H-1B employer (currently employers hold sway over whether an employee stays in the US).

The take-away... it's hard to evaluate candidate positions on this issue. Obviously McCain and Clinton are the most on-the-record with their affirmative views of H-1B. But, there are two spoilers. First, H-1B is a money-maker in primary fund raising. Corporations are desperate to pocket a pro-H-1B president this election cycle. Two, nativism and labor are poised to realign in this election against immigration in general. No candidate is going to stir up that hornet's nest if they can avoid it.

Internet Privacy

Romney: No documented response on the issue.

McCain: Meaningless jabber followed by relentless variants of "will someone think of the children?!"

Clinton: While she isn't afraid to parrot McCain in the grand "will someone please think of the naked sixteen year olds" crowd's constant bleating, Clinton's track record points the other direction. Also, her husband pushed the Internet Privacy Act through back in 1995... that's pretty forward-thinking considering that most politicians are still only vaguely aware there even is an internet. On the other hand, her ties to the telecom industry are evil.

Obama: Seems to want to split the difference. He is very pro-government database (Obama, friend of the police state?) while offering safeguards against abuse. While it is easy to mock Obama's position, the truth is it is the most realistic given the facts on the ground.

Network neutrality

While this issue has died down a tad, it is still out there.

Romney: no response, and seemed to have avoided discussion of the issue.

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McCain: no informed response ever expressed.

Clinton: there is bad criticism, and then there are the criticisms of Clinton on net neutrality. The short of it: Clinton is in the back pocket of the telecommunications industry and she isn't going to bite the hand that feeds her.

Obama: is a full supporter of net neutrality and full common carriage rules. No bandwidth throttling or blocking is allowed. Period.

Government transparency

Romney: Unclear, no position on record.

McCain: Has a pretty long record since his involvement as a target of the Savings and Loan scandal during the 1980s. McCain has paid a price in his time for other people not being transparent, and has acted to force transparency on others. This extends beyond government transparency and into the business arena, too.

Clinton: Wishy-washy at best. Has expressed interest, but not much more than you would expect from any Democrat running for president.

Obama: Almost viciously for putting the government's business, especially spending, out in the open on the internet. However, bear in mind this doesn't jibe with his privacy stance.

Piracy

This issue requires reading the tea leaves. No politician in any staste of mental health is going to actually come out pro-piracy (too bad, yaar).

Romney: No recorded position.

McCain: Has been pretty hard on the cable companies in his year. But, his pro-piracy leaning seem to be more leverage in fighting for consumers as opposed to a belief that software is free.

Clinton: Clinton has expressed interest in a piracy crackdown. Her efforts seem to be more aimed at picking a fight with China than on picking a fight with American teens.

Obama: the prevailing consensus is that Obama is not very libertarian in his approach to technology. Obviously, internet piracy is an issue where no one wants to be on record. But, Obama's proposal for a cabinet-level technology czar doesn't bode well for internet piracy.

Internet taxes

Romney: Romney smells a pro-libertarian, pro-conservative winner on this one. While he has expressed his view guardedly as opposing an "internet-only" tax, you can see where with the right prompting this could branch out.

McCain: The only candidate to clearly support a ban on internet taxes.

Clinton: Has hedged that she opposes internet taxes. Her husband's administration is the one that made no internet taxes the law of the land.

Obama: no recorded position.

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John Crawford
Pro Content and Design