Does The President `Get It'? Executives Complain Too Many Needs Remain Unm [View All]

Does The President `Get It'? Executives Complain Too Many Needs Remain Unmet

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/nation/12211177.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_nation

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WASHINGTON - Early in his first run for the White House, George W. Bush traveled to Palo Alto and told high-tech executives that he understood their industry and ``this incredible land called Silicon Valley.''

``It's a piece of the spirit of America,'' Bush told 500 people at a $1,000-a-plate breakfast in July 1999. ``It not only talks about new technologies that shape our lives, but it speaks about daring and enterprise and the ultimate American Dream.''

Now, six months into his second term, some executives in Silicon Valley question whether Bush and key members of his administration really do ``get it'' when it comes to high tech.

They complain -- usually privately -- about a lack of accomplishment on some major policy issues and a broader lack of focus on what they consider a unique sector of the U.S. economy. Increasingly, high-tech executives are turning to Congress to try to address their needs.

``Our expectations may have been too high . . . but I certainly can't say this has been a high-tech administration,'' said one industry lobbyist, who noted he is a Republican and spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he feared upsetting the White House.

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Huh? GOP lobbyists are :scared: about "upsetting the WH?