Keeping America Competitive

The election is a year away, time to get serious…I was looking at the statements on the websites of the presidential canditates on the issue of investing in this country’s science and engineering as a way to keep America competitive – a personal favorite topic of mine. All and all kind of dissappointing…

On the republican side: Rudy Giuliani says “America must encourage entrepreneurs in future technologies such as advanced hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel cells.” But doesn’t really say how he is going to do it.

Mitt Romney wants to keep America competitive by lowering taxes for all and emphasizing math and science in education.

Hillary Clinton’s solution to restoring the US’s standing in the world involves building
alliances with other countries. She does support increasing funding for reasearch on green technologies. I do like Hillary Clinton’s new fashion statement though with her plan to create “green collar” jobs.

Obama says a little more on the subject: Obama wants to solve the nations competitive problems by investing in information technology. From the Obama website: “An Obama administration will invest in human capital to ensure that our young people have the skills to fill the growing number of information technology jobs being created globally and will also support pilot programs that provide incentives for businesses to grow their information technology workforce in inner-cities and rural communities.” Obama will also make the R&D tax credit for businesses permanent.