FINALLY: SOMEONE THAT TELLS IT LIKE IT REALLY IS!

…Mr. Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL

 

Mr. Case feels Trump’s has been backward-looking and he is absent of ideas for the jobs of the future.

 

We have all been receiving various comments on both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as to who is supporting either of these two candidates.  We also hear from each of the candidates as to what they say they plan on doing for the American public with their plans or ideas.

 

Trump of course, refuses to give us any details of just how and when he is going to bring back jobs that left us years ago.  Clinton on the other hand, give us scores of explanations and examples that require serious time and study.

 

Trump’s plans will cost us trillions of dollars and Hillary says hers plans are paid for, but again, one has to really get involved with her plans to fully understand their full impact.

 

But now, there is someone from our past that has been a success in business, who is well versed in all of this, and someone that has not been a partisan to either political party.  In fact, he is someone that has purposely avoided being pigeon-holed in supporting either the GOP or the Democrats.  He has tried to be as flexible as possible so he can listen to both sides and then decide based on his perception of which approach would be best.

 

The specific person I am referring to is Mr. Steve Case, the co-founder of America Online or as we know it AOL.  Yes, Mr. Case started the company that first introduced the nation to the early days of the Internet.  As he has explained, AOL’s goal back then was to focus on commercializing the Internet, expanding its access and putting the appropriate Internet rules-of-the-road in place.

 

Today, Mr. Case has shifted his focus to encouraging pro-growth policies that foster innovation, generate jobs, help start-ups and create opportunity.  He is today, the chairman and chief executive of Revolution and the author of the book: “The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future.”  The focus of Revolution is not for supporting Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, but to take the entrepreneur approach of Silicon Valley, and to spread that approach to areas within the US, but outside of Silicon Valley.

 

The focus of this blog article is to explain why Mr. Case has chosen to support Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, and he has given that explanation by stating the four key reasons he has chosen Clinton over Trump.  Those four reasons are examples from someone that is non-partisan and that made his decision solely based on the value of what he perceives as being beneficial to America’s future business environment.

 

Here are my understandings of his four reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton:

 

Reason One:

 

Hillary would be better for our economy, especially with respect to innovative technology and start-ups.

Donald Trump knows business, but his campaign has been backward-looking and absent of ideas to spur creation of the jobs of the future.  His are focused on jobs of the past.

Clinton seems to understand what we need to help start businesses and she will invest in education, advanced manufacturing and basic research.

As compared to Trump, Hillary’s not promising a return to a bygone era.  She is focused on making our economy strong for our children and their children.

These are forward-leaning policies that are essential to ensure continued US economic leadership.   Trump’s approach could literally make American into a 3^rd world nation.

 

Reason Two:

 

Compared to Trump, Clinton is right on immigration.

To win in the global economy, our country must win the global battle for talent.

Counter to Trump’s claims, immigrants don’t take US jobs; they create them. Remember, more than 40% of Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants or their children.

How many fewer jobs would we’d have in the United States if these entrepreneurs and their parents had been kept out by a border wall?

Trump’s harsh policies will cost US jobs, and his even harsher rhetoric will chase away immigrant families whose children could grow up to be the next Steve Jobs.

People forget that Steve Jobs father was a Syrian refugee.

 

Reason Three:

 

Trump has been silent on technology issues facing the new economy, while Clinton has put forward an agenda that has won considerable acclaim among many technology leaders.

Clinton has stated she wants to appoint a chief innovation adviser, expand Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, education and more.

Hillary shares Case’s view that it’s not enough to support a booming Silicon Valley.  We need policies that promote the “rise of the rest”: or a spread of start-ups to all parts of our country.

We need to level the playing field so that anybody, anywhere, has a shot at the American dream.  (This of course is exactly what Case’s Revolution company is all about.)

 

Reason Four:

 

Case agrees with Clinton on the need to control the deficit. Despite his populist noise, Trump wants to give huge tax breaks to people like Case and himself, the very folks who have benefited the most from the innovation economy.  But many others in Trump’s plan have been left behind.

Trump’s process would blow up our deficit and make the economy even more unequal.

Yes, we need to simplify the tax code, but if we are going to give tax relief, make sure it is in available incentives for start-ups to grow and create jobs, not just today’s wealthy Americans.

 

Case goes further by understanding that millions of people are angry about their prospects.  He knows they are fearful that the forces of globalization and digitization have left them behind and he recognizes that many are frustrated by politics and feel we need an outsider to shake things up.  But he does not think Trump is the answer…for all of these people, or for our country.

 

Mr. Case also doesn’t agree with everything that Clinton has said and done.  He takes serious issue with her inclination to view the government as the solution to too many problems.  If she becomes president, he is sure there will be plenty of times he will disagree with her.

 

But for 2016, he and I both believe Hillary Clinton represents the best choice for America, and our best hope to remain the most innovative and entrepreneurial nation in the world.

It was refreshing to hear an explanation from a reasonable third-party individual that has taken the basics of what each candidate is offering and has put them into an understandable form.  It was also a chance to get past all the carnival and circus aspects of the current presidential election race.  No more hearing about e-mails, beauty pageants, tax returns, stamina, being presidential, temperament, the “Look of a president”, or any of the other noise that has been accompanying this presidential campaign. 

 

Yes, finally, a refreshing change.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016