President Obama and Governor Romney Respond to NY Tech Meetup's Letters
Members of the NY Tech Meetup, a group of entrepreneurs and tech professionals who meet in the City once a month, wrote letters to presidential candidates President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney asking them to explain how their policies would affect startups in New York City. The candidates gamely replied.
Members of the NY Tech Meetup, a group of entrepreneurs and tech professionals who meet in the City once a month, wrote letters to presidential candidates President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney asking them to explain how their policies would affect startups in New York City.
The NY Tech Meetup was founded in 2004 by meetup.com founder Scott Heiferman and co-founded by Dawn Barber. With more than 27,000 members, the group is one example of New York’s effort to make the city a technology hub that could rival Silicon Valley for innovation and jobs.
Chairman Andrew Rasiej had sent a letter to each candidate, hoping to get a response in time for the next meetup on October 9.
The candidates gamely replied.
Governor Romney had a detailed plan for stimulating the economy. “While the private sector is far more effective at pursing and applying innovation than the government could ever be,” he wrote, “I do believe that there are key areas in which government policy must strengthen the ability of the private sector to innovate effectively.” His letter summarizes his policies on immigration reform, tax cuts for businesses, agency regulation, education, and technological research.
President Obama’s letter focused on his accomplishments during his first term at the White House. “Today, entrepreneurship is at record levels,” he wrote, “and the number of business startups is up almost 10 percent since my first year at office.” He talked about investments in infrastructure, Wall Street reform, health care, the country’s first Chief Technology Officer, and various other means of improving the environment for high-growth entrepreneurship. In the future, President Obama said he hoped to further education and training in technical fields.
Read the letters in full on the NY Tech Meetup website.
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