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."

Comments

All About the H-1B

[curmudgeon99]

The tech executives just want to keep the gravy train of cheap, captive H-1B visa holders. I have been a Democrat all my life, donated many times to President Obama--and would vote for him again in a heartbeat. Hillary Clinton is the first Democratic presidential candidate in my life that I cannot support. I am senior enough in my field to have never had my personal job touched by an H-1B visa holder. (They are dishonest morons.) The way it's run, the entire H-1B visa program is a scam. So, I will be voting for Dr. Jill Stein. I will be damned if I will vote for Clinton. I've done that enough. She supports rich tech billionaires--not me--and I will return the favor. I would rather suffer through 4 years of Donald Trump instead of allowing Hillary Clinton to screw us.

Re:All About the H-1B

[curmudgeon99]

What was said in those $700,000 speeches Hillary gave to Goldman Sachs? No, my entire life I have been taking the safe road, and invariably I see the people who I thought were decent enough turn around and hire Larry Summers and fill their cabinet with ex Goldman Sachs members. I am so fucking sick of the elite buying off our politicians and of our politicians then joining the elite, as has happened to Hillary and Bill Clinton. That she thought it acceptable--two years before she planned to run for President of the United States--to give a series of quarter-million-dollar speeches to Wall Street, just blows me the hell away. Either she is breathtakingly incompetent or worse, she is deeply and profoundly cynical and knows that we have no other choice but her. I worked hard for Bernie--and the likes of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz took advantage and stacked the deck for Hillary (exactly like the Republicans always do for their chosen ones) and then W-S attempted to block regulation of the payday loan industry, and I realized that I could not support these people. I know in the long run the Republicans are dead but I am simply and frankly so pissed off at the freaking decades of bad behavior by politicians that I am beyond holding back, making the "smart" choice. I am tired of the incrementalism. I want to burn down the house. I want Americans to wake up and register what they want this country to look like. I want to take America by the face and give it a slap. Yes, two Supreme-Court Nominees. Yes, continued fight on Climate Change. But really, if Hillary Clinton gets in there is no way she would turn the country on a dime like Bernie would have. Trump will not but... he seems kind of malleable. He's not your average Republican idiot like a Jim Inhofe who holds a position with no thought. I realize Trump is an idiot but an idiot is better than a sly and crafty adversary. I think Hillary is polluted with wealth and exposure to the idle rich.

Re:What they say and what they mean

[Anonymous Coward]

Translation: We prefer a corrupt government so we can get an endless supply of H1B visas to replace all our US workers with cheap foreign labor.

Translation: I prefer a corrupt market where I can charge what I want for my services because of who my parents are.