John McCain at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group

I had the privilege if attending the Silicon Valley Leadership Group last Friday for their annual policy lunch. The main speaker was Sen. John McCain. Now, McCain is a great American. He is nothing short of a hero due to his time in the Hanoi Hilton and his refusal to be bowed by it.

My sense is that I would like him as a person. So, as he started talking, I was willing to listen to him and put my partisan cynicism away. He started out by doing something remarkable; he welcomed Anna Eshoo (CA-11) and Bill Lockyer (CA State Atty Gen.). I thought this was a magnanimous gesture that the first folks he welcomed were from the other party.

The set up was a question and answer session with Cisco CEO John Chambers. When asked what the most important issues were facing the high tech industry, he and Chambers responded that H1B and universal access to broadband we on the top of the list. The Broadband issue struck me as self-serving towards Cisco, but as someone who has to deal with hiring, the H1B issue is serious. The fact of the matter is that the people we hire are high-skilled, earn more than the US Median salary and pay taxes. So its a net win for everyone.

With regard to Iraq, McCain reiterated that "the next 3-6 months are critical", and that we need to "take out Sadr and get control of Iraq". He would like to see an increase in Army and Marines in the region. Interestingly, he also made the point that North Korea is not as dangerous as Iran.

He also said that we have to try anything, including vouchers, to improve the public education system. That's where he lost me. He said that bringing competition to education would help to improve it. Not a position I necessarily agree with. It would probably do more harm that good.

John Chambers closed with a discussion of the Lebanon Partnership, which is a private partner to help rebuild Lebanon, which is a worth goal indeed.

 

•  So a "McCain" is 3-to-6 months?

  Much like a Friedman....

  by Volvo Liberal on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:18:23 AM PDT

  •  I believe

    that McCain has said the whole "six months" thing before.
    A long time ago.

    by American Zapatista on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 11:10:25 AM PDT

    •  Atrios, as always

      http://atrios.blogspot.com/...

      by Volvo Liberal on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 11:48:05 AM PDT

•  The Case for McCain

  While I share the doubts about McCain's status with the right-wing of his party, a strong case can be made that he'll win the nomination.  Think, now - when was the last time the front-runner didn't win the Republican nomination?  Even a sure loser like Dole got his chance - unlike the Dems, the Republicans reliably choose the guy who "waited his turn" or who sits at the head of the polls.  McCain is clearly that guy, this time around.

  by Deeg on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:21:36 AM PDT

  •  McCain and 2008

    I did not make it clear in the original posting, but what happened during this speech was that I was in complete admiration for him at the beginning, but by the time the speech was over, I realized who I was dealing with, which came about via the discussion of Iraq, support for the president, and vouchers.

    by wgroth2 on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:34:00 AM PDT

•  I don't deny that John McCain

  is the Republican's next in line, but do you have to gush allover him like this?

  by ROGNM on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:22:18 AM PDT

  •  Who gushed?

    I never said anything about his worthiness to be President - just about his chances to be nominated.

    by Deeg on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:23:45 AM PDT

    •  The Diarist.

      You and I wrote our comments simultaneously; I hadn't seen yours until after posting mine.

      I am in 100% agreement with your comment (including it's tone.)

      by ROGNM on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:30:25 AM PDT

      •  Sorry!

        My bad.

        by Deeg on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 11:25:30 AM PDT

•  H1B's was probably self serving also.

  Let me guess what was said. We can't find enough skilled American people, so we must expand the H1B program. Ad infinitum, Ad nauseum... yada yada yada.
  Same tired old BS.

  by Unbozo on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:24:12 AM PDT

  •  When the correct construction is...

    "We can't find enough skilled American people we're willing to pay for."

    There are lots of American IT professionals out of work, please start by hiring them instead of importing cheap labor from Bangalore.

    Can we have a union yet?

    by cenobite on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:45:27 AM PDT

    •  I would love to

      The fact of the matter is the skill I need just don't exists.

      There is an interesting moral question here: Does the person in Bangalore have as much right to a decent living as I do in San Jose?

      by wgroth2 on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 02:01:48 PM PDT

      •  Moral question

        Sure, they deserve a decent living, but you look out after your own (e.g, fellow americans) first.

        by Unbozo on Mon Nov 13, 2006 at 09:15:42 AM PDT

•  BTW - Any Democrats in SVLG?

  I know Chambers is a Repub.

  by Unbozo on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:29:03 AM PDT

  •  Me for one.

    And I know there are a few others....

    by wgroth2 on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:31:13 AM PDT

•  The voters may actually prefer divided govt

  They saw what happened with only one party in total control, clearly hated it, and may not want to do it again. If that is the case, McCain has reason to be confident. But he would be a very old President - older than Reagan was - too old in my book.

  by Batfish on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:45:38 AM PDT

•  Vouchers.

  This is because the wingers have the hope of writing off their children's private school education from their income taxes.  Typical right wing ideology.  I appreciate McCain's service but I think he's a jerk.  I watched this thing on CSPAN yesterday with a bunch of Navy POWs, and they were all jerks.  They took particular pleasure in bashing the "liberal media" for the election results, particularly Jim Webb's (former undersecretary to the Navy) win in Virginia, which apparently disgusted them.  

  by masslib on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:46:56 AM PDT

•  H1B visa issue is more corporate welfare

  Instead of offering training and investing in their employees and the country's future, companies want to externalize their costs and maximize their profits by hiring foreign workers.  all this does is force many intelligent, experienced workers out of their jobs, erode any sense of personal economic security and destroy whole industries and communities in the pursuit of a few more cents of shareholder value.

  I have been involved in hiring H1B's in large corporations and small start-ups, and the whole system is rife with corruption and exploitation.  Not every H1B employee is bad, but the administrative overhead, communication and cultural problems, and difficulty in securing longterm commitments make this a dubious practice in the long run, and only remotely justifiable in terms of short-term profits

  An enlightened progressive policy would be to invest in our workforce and national knowledge base, to make our families, communities and industries more secure.  Corporations shouldn't bear this cost all by themselves, no more than Americans workers should bear the brunt of the current H1B visa policy.

  The policy of "portable" lifelong educational and training benefits, on par with the same concepts being developed for health care and pensions, would cement a national consensus behind Democratic principals of fairness and shared responsibility, a New New Deal for the 21st Century.  This is a much better plan than to continue a practice which only serves the interests of corporate profit-making by idling American workers, and subjecting American families and communities to unnecessary disruption.

  by wonkydonkey on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 10:55:00 AM PDT

•  Silicon Valley V.C. & executive Dems sold us out

  They threw their support behind Arnie.

  by FoundingFatherDAR on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 11:07:35 AM PDT

•  Does Silicon Valley still exist?

  I thought it had all moved to Bangalore, like Rt. 128 in Boston has ... you can't go to an office park area without seeing vacancy signs.

  by Jon Meltzer on Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 11:45:48 AM PDT