For 35 years, I have helped clients make complex technology decisions – and do so objectively and quantitatively. The process involves spreadsheets with evaluation criteria, scores and weights. 90% of weight tends to be related to functionality, architecture, economics, ecosystem etc. Rest tends to be driven by soft factors like vendor charities, social good etc. I encourage vendors to be innovative in their responses and I advise clients to penalize vendors who sell negatively about the competition rather than showcase their own capabilities.
I use a similar process every 4 years for my Presidential vote. I am a registered Independent – technically, NPA (No Political Affiliation) - in my state. And honestly, with just 3 months left to Election Day, I worry the candidates are not talking enough about our burning issues. The Democrats want to continue to prosecute Trump. Trump wants to keep calling Kamala names. Poor Robert cannot get even a few words in the mix.
I want them to start articulating how they will address my ten issues and earn my vote and that of many other voters who think like me
- Reduce National Debt
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have run up massive debt in the last 8 years. I want them to articulate how they will reverse course. Don’t laugh. A Democrat, Bill Clinton showed budget surpluses are doable. My Republican state Governor, Ron DeSantis is delivering them even in today’s environment. I want to see it done at the Federal level. Servicing that debt at current interest rates is insane.
- Deliver trade surpluses
The US has been running trade deficits for decades. Trade deficits mean we keep exporting good jobs. We are chumps who continue to believe in ‘free trade” while China, Germany, India and so many countries continue to take advantage of our openness. Trump tried with tariffs on imports. We need much more. We need foreign companies to make and hire more right here at home. In turn, we also need to encourage more US companies to urgently adopt an export mindset. We are the biggest single market in the world. We should use that as negotiation leverage.
- Make the US an energy innovator
US greenhouse gases have stayed level for over 3 decades while our GDP has gone up 5X largely because our utilities moved from coal to natural gas. We need to quit feeling guilty about our gas usage – it is pretty damn clean. Additionally, we need to encourage investments in carbon capture and storage so the methane from the gas can be mined for hydrogen as next-gen industrial fuel. We need to invest much more in modular nuclear, next-gen geothermal, and next-gen solar and wind, not keep hoping the current solutions will magically work for us.
- Get serious about “affordable” healthcare
It is shameful that we spend 20% of our GDP on healthcare, have miserable outcomes and yet our politicians continue to use terms like “affordable”. Time to lock up payer and provider executives and tort attorneys in a room till they can agree on reducing our spend and delivering quantitative improvements in patient outcomes.
- Tie immigration to our talent needs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks trends in over 800 occupations – white, blue collar, trade jobs etc. Let’s align immigration with our needs by occupation. Many immigrants like me went through a labor certification process, FBI and other checks, a formal naturalization process before we were allowed to vote. We do have a WORKING process. Let’s get back to that - not the open border we have tried in the last few years.
- Take care of our aging baby boomers
Quit eyeing Social Security and Medicare as “banks” to be raided. They are not entitlements – Baby Boomers and their employers funded them. Also, Baby Boomers were expected to self-fund retirements with 401Ks and IRA funding. Protect those nest eggs from the IRS and financial advisers who can easily take a 25 to 50% bite over the retirement years. Finally, question DEI hypocrisy which only applies to gender and ethnicity, but not to aging workers who want to continue in the workforce.
- Quit spilling our young blood in faraway places
And funding 2/3 of NATO’s budget and guarding the world’s naval trade routes for free. We have helped create middle classes around the world. They can afford to provide their own defenses and compensate us for our support. Let’s instead use our young men and women to refresh our own physical and digital infrastructure.
- Be fluent in STEM
I want the US to lead in space, oceanography, anti-aging and other health areas, AI, robotics, next-gen financial instruments, crop genomics, GPUs, energy and more. I want the next POTUS to present an annual STEM State of the Union, be articulate and passionate about our leadership and get our young excited about our opportunities.
- Celebrate the nuclear family
The “Population pyramid’ is real in many developed societies with aging populations and insufficient young workers to drive production and consumption. We have brought it upon ourselves with over 100 million abortions. Fixing that with reckless immigration only worsens the problem. We can chuckle about childless cat ladies, but let’s get a leader who celebrates vibrant families with boisterous kids and plenty of cats and dogs.
- Re-prioritize common sense
In recent times we have let activists and ideologues drive our policy. Germany has tried for 5 decades and spent trillions of euros to run its economy on wind and solar, and it is still heavily dependent on foreign gas and its lignite. Why do we think other countries will do better and quicker with that path? For decades, we have depended on natural immunity as protection against various diseases. During COVID we appeared to forget that lesson. Many more examples where we should we asking lots of questions, not just going along with what is being proposed by so-called experts.
I want to end this with a request. Don’t let single litmus issues decide your vote. Don’t let your favorite media source influence you too much. Instead, draw up your own list of major issues. Do your own primary research. Talk to practitioners in various fields. And bombard candidate campaigns and your media sources for position papers and proof points.
Make the candidates earn your vote. And penalize them for every negative comment about their competition. Make them focus instead on solutions to your issues.
Make the next three months count.
My 10 asks of the next POTUS
For 35 years, I have helped clients make complex technology decisions – and do so objectively and quantitatively. The process involves spreadsheets with evaluation criteria, scores and weights. 90% of weight tends to be related to functionality, architecture, economics, ecosystem etc. Rest tends to be driven by soft factors like vendor charities, social good etc. I encourage vendors to be innovative in their responses and I advise clients to penalize vendors who sell negatively about the competition rather than showcase their own capabilities.
I use a similar process every 4 years for my Presidential vote. I am a registered Independent – technically, NPA (No Political Affiliation) - in my state. And honestly, with just 3 months left to Election Day, I worry the candidates are not talking enough about our burning issues. The Democrats want to continue to prosecute Trump. Trump wants to keep calling Kamala names. Poor Robert cannot get even a few words in the mix.
I want them to start articulating how they will address my ten issues and earn my vote and that of many other voters who think like me
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have run up massive debt in the last 8 years. I want them to articulate how they will reverse course. Don’t laugh. A Democrat, Bill Clinton showed budget surpluses are doable. My Republican state Governor, Ron DeSantis is delivering them even in today’s environment. I want to see it done at the Federal level. Servicing that debt at current interest rates is insane.
The US has been running trade deficits for decades. Trade deficits mean we keep exporting good jobs. We are chumps who continue to believe in ‘free trade” while China, Germany, India and so many countries continue to take advantage of our openness. Trump tried with tariffs on imports. We need much more. We need foreign companies to make and hire more right here at home. In turn, we also need to encourage more US companies to urgently adopt an export mindset. We are the biggest single market in the world. We should use that as negotiation leverage.
US greenhouse gases have stayed level for over 3 decades while our GDP has gone up 5X largely because our utilities moved from coal to natural gas. We need to quit feeling guilty about our gas usage – it is pretty damn clean. Additionally, we need to encourage investments in carbon capture and storage so the methane from the gas can be mined for hydrogen as next-gen industrial fuel. We need to invest much more in modular nuclear, next-gen geothermal, and next-gen solar and wind, not keep hoping the current solutions will magically work for us.
It is shameful that we spend 20% of our GDP on healthcare, have miserable outcomes and yet our politicians continue to use terms like “affordable”. Time to lock up payer and provider executives and tort attorneys in a room till they can agree on reducing our spend and delivering quantitative improvements in patient outcomes.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks trends in over 800 occupations – white, blue collar, trade jobs etc. Let’s align immigration with our needs by occupation. Many immigrants like me went through a labor certification process, FBI and other checks, a formal naturalization process before we were allowed to vote. We do have a WORKING process. Let’s get back to that - not the open border we have tried in the last few years.
Quit eyeing Social Security and Medicare as “banks” to be raided. They are not entitlements – Baby Boomers and their employers funded them. Also, Baby Boomers were expected to self-fund retirements with 401Ks and IRA funding. Protect those nest eggs from the IRS and financial advisers who can easily take a 25 to 50% bite over the retirement years. Finally, question DEI hypocrisy which only applies to gender and ethnicity, but not to aging workers who want to continue in the workforce.
And funding 2/3 of NATO’s budget and guarding the world’s naval trade routes for free. We have helped create middle classes around the world. They can afford to provide their own defenses and compensate us for our support. Let’s instead use our young men and women to refresh our own physical and digital infrastructure.
I want the US to lead in space, oceanography, anti-aging and other health areas, AI, robotics, next-gen financial instruments, crop genomics, GPUs, energy and more. I want the next POTUS to present an annual STEM State of the Union, be articulate and passionate about our leadership and get our young excited about our opportunities.
The “Population pyramid’ is real in many developed societies with aging populations and insufficient young workers to drive production and consumption. We have brought it upon ourselves with over 100 million abortions. Fixing that with reckless immigration only worsens the problem. We can chuckle about childless cat ladies, but let’s get a leader who celebrates vibrant families with boisterous kids and plenty of cats and dogs.
In recent times we have let activists and ideologues drive our policy. Germany has tried for 5 decades and spent trillions of euros to run its economy on wind and solar, and it is still heavily dependent on foreign gas and its lignite. Why do we think other countries will do better and quicker with that path? For decades, we have depended on natural immunity as protection against various diseases. During COVID we appeared to forget that lesson. Many more examples where we should we asking lots of questions, not just going along with what is being proposed by so-called experts.
I want to end this with a request. Don’t let single litmus issues decide your vote. Don’t let your favorite media source influence you too much. Instead, draw up your own list of major issues. Do your own primary research. Talk to practitioners in various fields. And bombard candidate campaigns and your media sources for position papers and proof points.
Make the candidates earn your vote. And penalize them for every negative comment about their competition. Make them focus instead on solutions to your issues.
Make the next three months count.
August 02, 2024 in Globalization and Technology, Industry Commentary, Little to do with IT, but interesting! | Permalink