You are looking at Mr. Steven A. Ballmer: the biggest man at Microsoft now. CEO of the company, Ballmer has a lot of decisions to make like how many versions of Windows 7 to pump out. He also has to deal with seeing Microsoft’s stock stay steady for FIVE YEARS and also keeping an eye on the nice Microsoft stockpile of cash. Even a super company like Microsoft can see losses and, in fact, they already have for the first time in 23 years. It’s not solely from the horrible economy we’re all in (except for the Australians), but they still lost sales. So in a time of economic downturn and wanting to help boost American jobs, what does Ballmer and some buddies want to do? The opposite.

Of course, he could just be full of hot air and be doing this for a PR stunt (Ballmer? PR stunt? NEVER!). The fact of the matter is that I doubt he’s just pulling our leg.

On May 4, President Obama announced that he intended to “crack down on companies ‘that ship jobs overseas.’” There’s a bit of background to this and it primarily deals with large technology companies. When the tech companies have a large portion of their income come from overseas, they would invest the earnings overseas, avoiding local U.S. taxes. In the last few fiscal years, HP, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, and Google alone saved a combined $7.4 billion in taxes.

Well, that’s pissing Obama off and he wants change (take a shot). Obama’s new proposal is to tax a large chunk (if not all) of the foreign profit these companies have, something Obama thinks will raise around $210 billion over a 10-year timespan.

It makes U.S. jobs more expensive. We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.
-Steve Ballmer

While I disagree more often than I agree with Obama, this mindset of Ballmer’s is idiotic to say the least. In the current state of the economy, we need American jobs. These jobs are what keep the economy strong by not only keeping Americans employed, but by fueling the community around it as well. The local restaurants, movie theaters, malls; they’re all affected by big business. We’re seeing it now with Detroit going under and we may see it happen in Silicon Valley and Redmond, not to mention spreading throughout other parts of the world.

Now, of course this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if Obama wouldn’t have had yet ANOTHER taxation idea to take to Congress. In any case, if the proposal goes through, you can expect more job losses in the States. While a billion or so being taken from the companies in taxes may not seem extremely large from these mega-corporations and even a blessing to some, the 1-3% increase in the amount of taxes paid could mean the difference between keeping all the jobs or losing a lot to overseas areas. Where would this leave you? Well, if you work for these companies, possibly unemployed.

Obama reasons that U.S. companies will create more jobs in the United States if there is less of an advantage to setting up operations overseas.

Yeah… And for the companies that already have a presence in foreign countries? Guess they’re just screwed. I mean, relocating everybody out of the U.S. is better than higher taxes, so why not move the entire operation centers out?

So, will Ballmer’s “threat” change Obama’s mind? Doubt it. It’s Ballmer after all. If Obama’s plan goes through, will we see domestic job losses contrary to Obama’s belief? A good possibility. I fear this is not the last of the clashes we will see between Corporate America and the Government.

Sources: [CBS5, E-Commerce News, Bloomberg]

Obama: He’s an image of hope to many. Hope that our country that can get back on the track and continue to excel as the best nation in the world. Yet, being the technologist I am, I see something extremely odd concerning his stances on the whole DTV.

The United States transition from analog/digital TV broadcasts to strictly digital TV broadcasts was originally set in 2006, and then was delayed three years to February 17, 2009, only 13 days away from this writing. Now the House has passed a bill to delay the shut-off date to June 12 and it’s only a matter of time until it goes into effect because Obama has said that he will sign it.

Seriously? Why the hell is he signing a bill that keeps the US in the stone age?

Obama started off, and still is, a highly tech-enthused president. He used Twitter, uStream, came up with an extremely well designed website, and still has a BlackBerry even during his presidency. So if he is so caught up with tech and the direction it’s going in, why is he signing a bill that is keeping the US lower in the technology rankings?

I suppose he doesn’t realize that the spectrum that would be freed up by shutting off analog signals would be put towards new technology innovations since Verizon Wireless was the highest bidder for the main spectrum block. Verizon has said they’ll use the spectrum for their new “4G” network using LTE (Long Term Evolution) to bring mobile network speeds that surpass any common landline internet connection in the US (which is another story in itself). Not to mention that the 700MHz spectrum will be used for first-responders during emergencies.

So my question is, Mr. President, what is your thinking behind this madness? Do you really think 6.5 million citizens are going to be suddenly prepared by June 12th? If not, then will you delay it again until everybody is prepared? Sir, that day won’t come. I even doubt that number will reach less than 6 million people who aren’t ready.

I hope that many stations go ahead and flip the switch on February 17th and show you that they don’t care if everybody isn’t ready. This has been promoted for over two years. Now is the time.

The future is calling and we need to answer it.

As I’m laying around the house today, I’m in and out of comprehension because being sick is making me tired. But of course, I fight it so I can stay up to date with the world around me. I flip it on MSNBC (it’s habit, folks) and after all the commentary about how the world is going to end because of the economy, we get into politics. Namely, the McCain’s latest strategy. I think it’s all about one word: “ATTACK!!!”

Now, I know that in the last 30 days, it’s all about the dirty tactics and getting those undecided folks to decide on their candidates, but it’s getting disturbing out there. See said videos:

Another one would be where somebody shouted “treason!” at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida. See the Huffington Post’s page (thanks for not making it able to embed. Jerks.)

Not to say that the Obama camp won’t be nasty, but they haven’t started yet. They’re still concerned with the economy\ as we should be because that topic is right here, right now. Not some connections with a terrorist forty years ago. Yes, it’s concerning, but for the love of God, people, we need to fix the present before we can start looking to the future!

Now then, to the real concern that I have. All this constant bashing back and forth on the news, in rallies, and even on Twitter is getting old and to be honest, scary as hell. I swear it’s like Dave Winer thinks the world will end up either nuked or on a collision course with the sun if McCain wins the election. And then GeekBrief.TV’s own Neal Campbell scares the hell out of me. Thankfully, he actually talks tech between politics unlike Dave which has been one tech tweet to 30,000 political tweets.

The constant bitterness and arguments can easily translate from the online world to the physical world, which would equate to riots and fights. Am I saying we’ll see a civil war? I think we have a good chance of discovering a real Cylon before that happens. Am I saying there will be the occasional fight on November 4th? My money is on it.

Combine the political terror that’s going on along with the roller coaster that is the economy and it’s truly a time to pray that this will be over with soon. The nation’s stress levels are as high as they’ve ever been and I don’t think they can take much more.

Now then, if you’ve read this whole thing, congrats. I’m going to take some more meds.

Well, since I’ve become active on Twitter, I’ve become a lot more vocal in both the online world and the real world (trust me, it’s there; look outside your window). I’m expressing my opinions much more freely, and not afraid to either. One thing I haven’t conquered is speaking in front of peers (strangers I can do, peers… not so much), but that’s for another blog post.

Since I’ve been following folks such as Erin Kotecki Vest (@QueenofSpain), Dana Loesch (@Mamalogues), and others who are extremely involved in politics, I’ve now been discussing them more openly and what better time to start than now? Especially with the elections in two months. Granted, I can’t vote, but I can still debate and express my opinion. That’s why I have a blog; that’s why I have a Twitter; that’s why I speak – to express my opinion.

I am a very open-minded person and try my best to weigh each side’s arguments and choose what is the best in my opinion. Others… Not so much. If I’m not right, I’ll defend myself and my reasoning, but if I see I’m completely wrong, I will admit my mistakes. Any person, let alone a leader, should be able to do that.

Our country is in a desperate need of having things set straight, and this election can either make or break the country. I won’t say I endorse either candidate over another because, to be completely honest, I don’t know who I’m for myself. I probably won’t say I endorse either candidate until a couple weeks before the election. I was an Obama fan, primarily because he came from Illinois and living in Illinois, I want to support the hometown hero, but some of his recent decisions (namely him supporting the FISA act) have made me seriously doubt his leadership skills.

Am I glad this change in me occurred? I can say with complete confidence, yes. It’s opened me up into a totally new field that I rarely got into discussions over. It’s also made me more social and open with others. Granted, I’m not to the point where I can start talking to a random stranger in public, but it’s all about making baby steps, isn’t it?