Shills Accost Schwarzenegger

Date: Friday, October 10, 2003 1:15 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

This article puts all the blame on Silicon Valley's job losses on it's
workers who supposedly lack the education to compete with the workers
in India and China.

Veterans of the valley's boom-and-bust cycles were unanimous in
saying that the area's deep pool of talent will help bring it out
of the current downturn.

Yet without reform of the state's education system, California
will be hard-pressed to compete in a global, free-market economy
over the long term.

If education is the main problem, then why does Silicon Valley have
such a "deep pool of talent"?

The fact that jobs will go to regions where employers can get the
most productive workforce for the lowest costs is an unstoppable
trend and "a natural process," Van der Meer said.

Assuming that offshoring is as natural as day turning into nighttime,
and it's unstoppable, then why should somebody go to college? In view
of this inevitability, shouldn't these guys recommend that our kids go
into trade school to learn a job they can keep, like plumbing or car
repair?

That's because many of those jobs were held by well-paid tech
workers. The taxes they paid on salaries and stock option gains
helped swell the state's coffers. Red ink began to flow when that
revenue stream dried up after the tech bubble burst and the state
failed to cut spending accordingly.

This is a stunning admission that most people in California refuse to
discuss. As high paid white collar workers lose their jobs, and H-1Bs
force wages down, taxes receipts will go down, and that's one of the
reasons that California is bleeding red ink.

Here is the worst news of all: Rep. David Dreier is leading
Schwarzenegger's transition team. Dreier has been one a steadfast
supporter of H-1B in Congress and always votes for higher numbers to be
allowed into the US. Assuming Schwarzenegger might still be open to new
ideas, I would highly recommend that California activists contact him
before Dreier brainwashes him.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/09/BUG47283UR1.DTL&type=business

Tech leaders say governor-elect's priority is education

John Shinal, Carrie Kirby, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, October 9, 2003
)2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback

URL:
sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/09/BUG47283UR1.
DTL

The advice of the Silicon Valley business community to Gov.-elect
Arnold Schwarzenegger can be summed up briefly: Improve the schools and
make the state more business friendly, and California will take care of
itself.

Veterans of the valley's boom-and-bust cycles were unanimous in saying
that the area's deep pool of talent will help bring it out of the
current downturn. Yet without reform of the state's education system,
California will be hard-pressed to compete in a global, free-market
economy over the long term.

In the short term, however, the governor-elect should focus on reducing
the costs of doing business in California to stem job losses and drive
job creation, the experts say.

"The immediate focus needs to be on getting Californians back to work,"
said Carl Guardino, chief executive of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing
Group, whose members employ a quarter-million workers in the valley.

The loss of 300,000 jobs in the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan
areas since 2000 has played a large part in driving the state budget
into deficit, Guardino said.

That's because many of those jobs were held by well-paid tech workers.
The taxes they paid on salaries and stock option gains helped swell the
state's coffers. Red ink began to flow when that revenue stream dried
up after the tech bubble burst and the state failed to cut spending
accordingly.

If the new governor can help instill confidence and get businesses
investing more, "it would be very positive for tech and for the
(larger) economy," said Harris Miller, president of the Information
Technology Association of America.

Guardino, Miller and others provided a laundry list of issues that need
to be dealt with to bring down the cost of doing business in
California, including reforming workers' compensation, rebuilding the
state's infrastructure and encouraging tort reform.

"If he thinks he can do it, he should take on the trial lawyers" and
move to reduce frivolous lawsuits, said Roland Van der Meer, a partner
with the Palo Alto venture capital firm ComVentures.

Large jury awards against businesses discourage risk-taking and add to
the cost of doing business, which in turn stifles job creation, Van der
Meer said.

In a time of budgetary constraints, money must be found to repair and
upgrade the state's power and water systems to prevent the outflow of
jobs from the state, Guardino said.

A lot of the jobs that left as the result of the rolling power
blackouts in early 2001 will never come back, he said. Many California
businesses were told by their customers that they would lose their
business if those companies couldn't guarantee their hours of
operation. As a result, many left the state, Guardino said.

Another factor causing jobs to leave the state is the availability
overseas of comparable, low-cost labor for high-tech jobs.
Increasingly, companies are cutting jobs here and sending the work
overseas.

The fact that jobs will go to regions where employers can get the most
productive workforce for the lowest costs is an unstoppable trend and
"a natural process," Van der Meer said.

Those jobs can be done overseas because India and other countries are
producing software developers and electrical engineers. Those workers
have advanced skills in information technology that were once available
almost exclusively in Silicon Valley.

To compete with that type of workforce, California must revamp all
levels of education.

"If we're talking about a 20-year plan, I would spend all the money I
could on education," said Vinod Khosla, a partner with the Menlo Park
venture firm Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers and a one-time chief
executive of Sun Microsystems.

Because of allegations of sexual harassment against Schwarzenegger
during the campaign, the governor-elect should also appoint at least
several women to high-ranking positions in his administration, said
Michael Moe, chief executive officer of the San Francisco investment
bank ThinkEquity Partners and a former vice president with Montgomery
Securities.

"That would send a message that he understands the potential that women
have to contribute," said Moe. More women than men are starting
businesses in California, Moe said, and the state needs their
intellectual capital to grow at its fullest potential.

"Supporting innovative ideas and entrepreneurs is what makes California
great," Moe said. Schwarzenegger should apply all of the "incredible
intellectual capital" present in the Bay Area to the state's problems,
he said.

E-mail the writers at jshinal@sfchronicle.com and
ckirby@sfchronicle.com.

http://www.kxtv10.com/storyfull.asp?id=5481

Schwarzenegger Transition Gets Underway
Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger said he has already started
planning his transition and hopes to find bipartisan solutions to the
state's problems.

During a press conference in in Los Angeles Wednesday afternoon,
Schwarzenegger expressed confidence that he would be able to gain the
support of Democratic legislators. "I am very optimistic about working
together with the Democratic leaders in Sacramento," he said.

Schwarzenegger talked to legislative leaders from both sides of the
aisle Wednesday morning. He said everyone he spoke to pledged to help
with the transition.

Schwarzenegger did not lay out specifics about his plan for the state,
but did say he would bring in outside experts to conduct an audit of
the state's finances with the hope of finding waste that could be cut.

He also told reporters he plans to repeal the immigrant drivers license
law, reduce the vehicle license fee increase, and meet with Indian
tribes to try to obtain revenue for the state from gaming.

Congressman David Dreier, R-Covina, will head up the transition team.
Dreier will announce the other members of that team on Thursday.

Schwarzenegger said he would put his movie career on hold while he is
governor. "The people of California want me to be their governor, and I
will do that and nothing else," he said. "I will work as the governor.
I will work as much as I can, even if it is around the clock. There
will be no time for movies or anything else."

Story last updated Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 12:57 PM

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