Unsolicited Campaign Advice to Candidate Obama

One of the most treasured American liberties is freedom of speech and the right to offer advice and counsel to your elected leaders whether they want it or not. With that in mind, I present a hypothetical memo to President Obama on how to win the race for the presidency. The one to the Republican nominee will come next.
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Posted on January 20, 2012 By Barry Schumacher
Categories  U.S. Elections | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Investing in American Jobs

Last week, the White House convened a group of American business leaders for its “Insourcing American Jobs” forum. I was honored to attend the forum with Hal Sirkin of the Boston Consulting Group who is one of our clients here at APCO. Hal’s study, “Made in the USA, Again,” was a big part of the forum. President Obama highlighted the study in his opening remarks and used it to jump start the forum’s discussion.… Read more »

Posted on January 20, 2012 By Virtual Vantage Points
Categories  Government | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Post-Recession Policy-Making

At some point, the economic recession will end. The economy will pick up. Jobs will be created and sustained. The breadth and depth of this economic hardship will be eased for many, and while it may appear as if things are back to “normal,” the journey from 2008 to the end of the recession will be marked with change.

For those for whom the making of public policy is paramount, it will be important to distinguish change from the appearance of change. Right now it is the appearance of change – budget cuts, increased taxes, decreased government services, political instability – which seem to be center stage. Yet the discourse, rude or otherwise, over the extent of government involvement in the daily life of citizens (and how to pay for that involvement), while driven in intensity due to the larger economic factors, is no more than a continuance of a debate ebbing and flowing around the globe for centuries.… Read more »

Posted on January 20, 2012 By Barry Schumacher
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Innovation Movement

One of our great joys this year at CES (#ces2012) was the response members and visitors alike had to CEA’s Innovation Movement (#imovement) and its Declaration of Innovation campaign we have helped shape. The movement is a critical asset for the industry – a tie between the economy-rescuing new technology featured at the show and the policy decisions in Washington and around the world that can either accelerate or derail its development.

At the show, we had an actor dressed as Thomas Jefferson and a band of Movement staffers circulating on the show floor, at parties and at member receptions, spreading the word about the importance of decisions on key policies like free-trade agreements, spectrum auctions, immigration reform and the potentially damaging SOPA and PIPA bills.… Read more »

Posted on January 20, 2012 By Evan Kraus
Categories  Community Engagement Musings Online | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s the Right Size?

As you walked the floor of the CES show this year (#ces2012), it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the avalanche of devices of almost every conceivable size, shape, thickness, weight and feature. If last year was the year of the tablet’s rise, this year is…well…the muddling of everything. We have smart phones that are so big they are almost tablets and tablets that are so small they can almost fit in your pocket. We have super-slim, light and long-lasting PCs designed to challenge iPads, and tablets that are so powerful and feature-laden they could easily masquerade as PCs.

And don’t get us started on televisions. While it was hard to ignore the gargantuan new 3D displays, the show this year also saw the unveiling of ultra-slim wide-screen televisions using tablet display technology and super HD displays at four times the clarity of the current HD systems gracing many of our living rooms. So let’s get this right…now televisions are integrating in tablet-style displays, while tablets are moving toward the integration of 3D display technology.… Read more »

Posted on January 18, 2012 By Evan Kraus
Categories  Musings Online | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Agreement Seeks to Keep Clean Energy Projects on Track

Newsrooms are abuzz this week with rumors that more Solyndra-type debacles could be on the horizon. In recent months, we have already seen additional clean energy projects stalled due to the financial insolvency of the developers. Against this backdrop, it was encouraging to see state and federal officials renewing a landmark commitment to keep clean energy projects on track in California.… Read more »

Posted on January 18, 2012 By Virtual Vantage Points
Categories  California Politics Energy & Renewables | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment