Interviews during 2018-2020: on Technology
Joe Sestak:
Invest $1 trillion on infrastructure
Sestak wishes to invest $1 trillion in an infrastructure expansion over 10 years. He also wants to create a national infrastructure bank "for loans and credit partnerships; a Build American Bonds program; and an expansion of the
New Markets Tax Credit for underserved communities." He also wants to ensure that all Americans have access to broadband Internet.
Source: Townhall.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 9, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Automation is changing the workplace; we need to adapt
We got to be honest about the fact that for every job and manufacturing that has been lost as a consequence of trade, there are several more that have been lost as a result of technology and automation.
And that's not going to change. Manufacturing can continue to grow stronger in this country, but it's going to be less labor intensive, less human beings on the floor per dollar of output.
And that's why we need policies that can get ahead of the economic shifts to come and recognize that our generation's not going to be able to count as our parents'
generation often did on the idea of a single relationship with a single employer or a couple employers across the course of your entire career.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Regulating Big Tech is more sensical approach than breakup
"I'm not sure if having five more Facebooks--if you broke up Facebook into five component parts, or any of these other large social media or technology companies--makes as much sense as regulating them, given the power they have [and]
the way in which they can be used, wittingly or not, to undermine our democracy and affect the outcomes of our elections," O'Rourke said at a meet and greet in New Hampshire
Source: CNBC, "Big Tech regulated," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 21, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Member of hacktivist group, "Cult of the Dead Cow"
While a teenager, O'Rourke belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers. The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack
computers running Microsoft Windows. It's also known for inventing the word "hacktivism" to describe human-rights-driven security work.Members of the group have protected O'Rourke's secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability.
Now, in a series of interviews, CDC members have acknowledged O'Rourke as one of their own.
There is no indication that O'Rourke ever engaged in the edgiest sorts of hacking activity, such as breaking into computers. But his membership in the group
could explain his approach to politics better than anything on his resume. His background in hacking circles has repeatedly informed his strategy as he explored and subverted established procedures in technology, the media and government.
Source: Joseph Menn, Reuters, on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 15, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Break up Big Tech companies: they stifle innovation
Warren announced her plan to use the government's antitrust powers to break up big technology companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple. She compared the current system to a baseball league where participants could either be an umpire or team--
but not both. Companies like Amazon, which are marketplace platforms but also participants that use the information they glean from transactions to sell their own products, have an unfair, innovation-stifling advantage.Her big idea: Ms
Warren's campaign sometimes seems fashioned entirely out of big ideas, with her tech-company break-up plan only being the latest.
Her biggest obstacle: [At the SXSW conference, her] hour-long interview was classic Warren--a mix of history
lesson, economic theory and academic research. On the campaign stump it can be a bit clunky, but in a one-on-one format it shines. No one can talk nuts-and-bolts of policy like her. But a campaign for president is not a series of in-depth lectures.
Source: BBC.com on 2020 Democratic primary contenders at 2019 SXSW
Mar 12, 2019
John Delaney:
Bipartisanship on infrastructure, digital privacy, and more
The former technology executive did what he had to make his pitch for moderation and accord. "I don't think bipartisanship is a dirty word," he said.He ticked off six possible areas of common ground he thinks
both parties could find if he's president--a carbon tax; infrastructure spending; criminal justice reform; immigration reform; digital privacy and a new national service programme. You have to admit, he's an optimist.
Source: BBC.com on 2020 Democratic primary contenders at 2019 SXSW
Mar 12, 2019
Jay Inslee:
Requires major rebuilding of America, means new jobs
We should do what I said we should do in my book: a major industrial transformation to decarbonize the US economy that will result in millions of new jobs and greater prosperity. I don't think there's anything wrong with this approach.
I think it's necessary and suitable to the times. It's a major reindustrialization of America and we should talk about it in these terms. We need to build things again, all around the country
Source: David Roberts, Vox.com, on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 1, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Infrastructure upgrade of sewer system needed in South Bend
At best, the sewer upgrade that I'm going to have to do is $500 million, so it is literally equivalent to the value of all of the city's assets. We talk about a Green New Deal?
There could be, almost, a New Deal-level investment just in mid-western sewer separation. And, by the way, water quality, too, as we learned in Flint.
Source: NYMag.com, "Talk With Buttigieg," on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 14, 2019
Steve Bullock:
Signed executive order requiring net neutrality
The Democratic governor signed an executive order requiring Internet-service providers that operate in the state to embrace net-neutrality principles in order to obtain lucrative state-government contracts. "This is a simple step states can take to
preserve and protect net neutrality," says the Montanan, who is the first governor to employ an executive order as a tool to renew net-neutrality standards. [OnTheIssues note: "Net neutrality" disallows different broadband rates for commercial users].
Source: The Nation magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 24, 2018
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021