Slashdot Mirror
145 Tech Leaders Say 'Trump Would Be A Disaster For Innovation' (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader writes from a report via CNN: "We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation," wrote 145 technology leaders in an open letter Medium post published Thursday. Some of the leaders are from tech giants like Google, Facebook and Apple, others from small startups, venture capital firms, nonprofits and universities. "We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not," reads the letter, which was signed by well-known names like Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, IAC's Barry Diller, Reddit's Alexis Ohanian and Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales. "His reckless disregard for our legal and political institutions threatens to upend what attracts companies to start and scale in America. He risks distorting markets, reducing exports, and slowing job creation," reads the letter, published by chief marketing officer at Color Genomics and former VP at Twitter Katie Jacobs Stanton. Moreover, Trump has shown "poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works," they wrote, citing his proposal to "shut down" parts of the Internet and the fact that he has revoked reporters' press credentials. "We stand against Donald Trump's divisive candidacy," the letter concludes. "We embrace an optimistic vision for a more inclusive country, where American innovation continues to fuel opportunity, prosperity and leadership." Meanwhile, Jon Swartz writes from USA Today that "If there was any lingering doubt as to tech's favored presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton put an end to that Tuesday with a tech plan that reads like a Silicon Valley wish list."
Trump has never changed his position. He stated that the current H-1B system as being done is bad for the country. However, the idea behind H-1B visas of importing highly talented persons that the US work force can not supply as being good. The media has no interest in writing about such a nuanced opinion.
H-1B is sold as snatching up Einstein fleeing from the Nazis. H-1B in reality is Haroum taking your 1st level helpdesk job.
Everyone is in favor of picking up exceptional people, but the media tried to pretend that the question had been about the H-1B program. Trump gets tripped up by trick questions like that sometimes because he wasn't raised from birth to be a politician.
He has, however, been totally consistent about putting Americans first for at least 25 years, based on interviews he's done in that time. (Head over to youtube if you want to watch them.) I trust his principles and his instincts.
See that "Preview" button?