Help Arnold!
Dear R21 Readers & Subscribers,
As we predicted, Arnold Schwarzenegger is running for governor. He may be just what California, and the Republican Party, needs: a strong leader who is socially moderate and fiscally conservative.
However, he is from Hollywood and so may not always have the best interests of the Valley in mind. Therefore we are drafting an open letter to Arnold that will outline the top ten things he should do once he takes office. Please help us help Arnold. Comment on this piece or email us at helpArnold@r21online.com with your thoughts on what his agenda should be. We'll take the best ones (as determined by us) and will do our best to make sure he reads it.
Should he focus on the budget, energy, workers comp, trial lawyer abuses, education, environment, onerous labor laws, cutting taxes, other? Tell us what you think the most pressing issues facing California are and what Arnold should do about it. Also, please make your recommendations feasible and politically sound--Arnold won't commit political suicide so it ain't worth suggesting it--and give me specifics: "fix education" while worthwhile is not a productive suggestion. We will err on picking issues that will have the greatest impact on the Bay Area--so hit us with your best ideas on how the state can help (or get out of the way) Silicon Valley grow.
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Sincerely,
Your R21 editorial team
Chris Alden
Christopher J. Alden is Chairman & CEO of Six Apart Ltd., the world's leading blogging company. Six Apart acquired Rojo Networks, Inc., creator of an innovative RSS feed reading service, where Mr. Alden was co-founder and CEO. Before Rojo, he was CEO of Red Herring Communications, Inc., publisher of Red Herring magazine -- described by the Wall Street Journal as the "bible of Silicon Valley" - which he helped launch out of his house in 1993. Prior to that he founded Computer Guides, a consultancy.
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3 Comments
Thursday, August 7th, 2003
Dear Mr Schwarzenegger,
I want to thank you for getting into the race. I'm 48 and have voted in nearly every election since 1976 and this will be the first chance I've ever had to vote FOR someone I respect rather than against someone I despise. I believe that you are genuine, that you care about our state and nation, and that you won't kowtow to the bureaucratic and special interests powers that be in Sacramento or Washington, D.C. I'm hoping you're also open to new ideas, because I have a simple idea for reinvigorating the state's educational, prison, and welfare systems that I feel warrants careful consideration as a better way to deliver these services.
The idea is to make it possible for businesses to invest in the tax generating capacity of citizens more directly, in exchange for some portion of their future state income taxes. Such a scheme might make contracting to teach a student, or reform a criminal, or take over support of a welfare recipient very profitable enterprises, attracting the interest of the private sector to direct the same kind of ingenuity and competitive forces that drive our rapid rises in productivity to the tasks of improving the quality and efficiency of our public sector services.
I believe the state wins too, the programs can be designed to generate significant returns for investors only when rolling averages are exceeded, ensuring that the state is always first to reap the tax benefits of rising incomes but pays out a continuously diminishing portion of those gains. In addition I believe well designed programs of this sort could have dramatic and immediate positive impact on our economy, and the budget, by attracting a great deal of investment capital to California immediately, creating many jobs, new contract revenues, and diminished operating expenses for the services that get contracted out.
I think this would be an easy idea to sell to the public. Without even mentioning the cost benefits, I think most people will understand that encouraging the private sector to invest in improving the quality of these services by offering to pay for it with part of the future tax revenue generated by the people these services help is a good way to align the interest of these services and the people who run them with the wishes and fortunes of the people who use them. It could be started as a pilot program, or merely suggested as something that should be considered and studied by legislature.
I'd be happy to elaborate on this, and stand ready to help you if called upon. I do not worry one whit about your ability to lead this state and plan to do my best to convince my friends and relatives of that.
My best wishes to you sir. I honestly believe you are making a great sacrifice for a state and nation you are grateful to and I respect you deeply for that regardless of how all of this turns out. You have my support, my suggestions, and the promise of my vote.
Scott Bryan
Dear Mr Schwarzenegger,
Having been an Engineer all my life, I am currently worried about the pending rise of the machines, machine intelligence, and uncontrolled advancement of technology.
Your experience dealing with Skynet has shown your leadership in this area and I hope we can count on you in the future.
I am concerned that technology will move too fast for humanity to keep up. To that end the RIAA and MPAA have lead an effort to destroy all technological innovation and maintain the current status quo for the benefit of all man kind and hopefully prevent "judgement day". Past legislation including the CBDTPA, DMCA, and the SSSCA have set to "terminate" this problem by removing all opposition to government law enforcement to seek out and destroy intellectual property terrorists (AKA pirates).
Liberals have fought against our cause by saying that technological growth is what defines America and pushes our economy forward and that passing legislation of this type would be blatantly unconstitutional.
We urge you to see past these lies. Hollywood has worked hard to find independent musicians and then sign them to multi-billion dollar deals thereby aggregating copyright and building a near monopoly. All this hard work is now in jeopardy because ordinary citizens now have technology capable of sharing music.
If the California recall has taught us anything it's that the world is governed by powerful minorities. We believe that while it is a minority in Hollywood that controls IP it is still the minority that will fund your campaign.
Sincerly,
RIAA, MPAA, et al.
PLEASE INCLUDE IN OUR STATE'S BUDGET TAXING OF ALCOHOL & TOBACCO 5% AS WELL. IF THESE 2 SUBSTANCES WEREN'T SO EASILY ACCESSIBLE, MY CHILDREN WOULDN'T BE FROM A BROKEN HOME. THANKS.