Eric Cantor canceled a speech at the Wharton School of Business yesterday when he realized that it was going to be met with protests, but you can read his prepared remarks here. I want to give an excerpt to consider:
I believe that the most successful among us are positioned to use their talents to help grow our economy and give everyone a hand up the ladder and the dignity of a job. We should encourage them to extend their creativity and generosity to helping build the community infrastructure that provides a hand up and a fair shot to those less fortunate…
…These groups of innovators are the leaders of companies that create life-saving drugs for our sick parents and children. They are also the social entrepreneurs who support the charter schools, the opportunity scholarships, the private job training programs, the community centers, and other elements of community life that provide stability and constructive values to children and their families who are struggling.
They are trailblazers like Steve Jobs. A man who started with an idea in his garage and ended up providing iPhones and iPads to millions and changed the world. Job building and community building are what successful people can do. Through his example, you can see that America needs more than a jobs plan. It needs a Steve Jobs plan. In a Steve Jobs Plan, those who are successful not only create good jobs and services that make our lives better, they also give back and help everyone move just a little bit further up the ladder and everybody wins.
So, what’s the Steve Jobs Plan?
Silicon Valley is lining up behind President Obama’s reelection bid, donating more money to his campaign than to any of his Republican rivals.
Computer and Internet companies have donated more than $1.2 million to Obama’s 2012 campaign so far, among the highest totals for any industry, according to an analysis of campaign finance data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Microsoft employees are Obama’s single biggest industry contributor, followed by employees of Comcast. Google comes in at No. 4.
Silicon Valley seems to be sticking with the president after backing him strongly in 2008. The tech industry donated at least $9.3 million to Obama’s first presidential bid, according to the Center’s data.
Silicon Valley isn’t monolithic, and even Steve Jobs had some criticisms of the president. But it’s pretty clear that the innovators in the computer industry have a jobs plan, and that is to reelect the president. In fact, Eric Cantor is wrong. It’s not enough to be nice to rich people. Mr. Jobs main criticism of Obama? ‘I’m disappointed in Obama,’ he said. ‘He’s having trouble leading because he’s reluctant to offend people or piss them off.’ That doesn’t sound like Mr. Jobs wanted a president who would coddle the rich.
But that’s all the Republicans have to offer.
It is pretty telling.
Republican narrative: everything comes from the top down. Job creators = idea creators.
Reality: great ideas can come from anywhere, they just need to be nourished.
Does typing on MacBook prevent you from telling the truth about Steve Jobs?! His criticisms of the President were from the right. He was critical of the President for being too hard on business and too soft on teachers unions. Just because he was good at creating products for the masses doesn’t mean he was any less a corporate ass. He follows in a long line of business geniuses that were ass holes like Henry Ford.
Well, except that Henry Ford knew the power of aggregate demand. He may have been an asshole, but he knew that paying his “lowly” assembly-line workers well would create a market for his products and ensure his long-term prosperity. If today’s so-called job creators were that smart, I could put up with their attitude.
About Steve Jobs: I haven’t read anything about what he thought of Obama, but he was a corporate douchebag in so many ways. Like making iPhones in China under near sweatshop conditions and still slapping on a 42% markup.
Jobs basically told Obama he’d be a one term president because he wasn’t pushing us to have “great” business-friendly regulations like the Chinese. You know, the same Chinese who are completely poisoning their entire environment right now in an attempt to catch up with the west.
A couple of points to consider regarding Steve Jobs job creation.
From The Economist: “Identify the losers“
From Reuters: Winners and losers in the Apple economy
Uhm Booman, I thought Steve Jobs criticized Obama for not being friendly enough to businesses and too nice to unions? I’ve read this in multiple places.
So?
It means he spoke against the Messiah and is now a heretic who must be scorned and ignored. And if they knew where Jobs’ grave was, they’d spit on it for good measure. Also, too, Macbooks totally suck and have glowing keys.
Keep up.
The point is, innovators like Steve Jobs are still giving most of their money to Obama because they don’t value anti-science morons.
Jobs would be the last person to offer his name to help Cantor skip his way out of the mess he and the Rep leadership have created for themselves.
Invoking an innovator’s name doesn’t give the leader of the party of no anything but a snort of derision.