What would YOU say to the White House tomorrow morning?

I am a big fan of President Obama and the team he has assembled. However, they inherited a country in staggering economic peril. In that light, I applaud the urgency and decisiveness with which they are acting to help us all during such uncertain times.

That said, I have expressed concern that his teams of economic advisors do not include young people. There are certainly brilliant minds on those panels, including my old boss Eric Schmidt. However, I believe deeply that youth would bring a distinct and valuable perspective to any such discussions. In particular, I think there is a generation of entrepreneurs who have been effecting enormous change yet who aren't otherwise involved in politics and whose insights might be lost.

Well, it sounds like someone was listening.

Tomorrow morning, I am joining a group of twenty young business leaders from across the country for a meeting at the White House to discuss the challenges we all face and proposed solutions to the economic crisis.

This is where you come in:  If you were in that meeting, what you would you say? What would you ask? What observations are unique to your station in life? What do you think White House officials might not see or understand unless they had your perspective? What suggestions do you have for the President's team? What should we discuss that might not already be on the agenda?

Please leave your ideas in the comments to this post. Or, send them to me as a @reply message on Twitter (you can find me there at http://twitter.com/sacca).

I hope to hear from you and promise to share everything you write that is sincere, respectful, and well thought out.

Thanks!

Comments

[April Femrite]

If I'm 33, do I still count as a young entrepreneur?

1. Big corporations getting bail out money. I get it if money goes to saving thousands of jobs but somehow I think it will go to paying off debt, surviving current economy, etc. I don't see any new job creation coming from this money. How about some type of incentives for small businesses to create new jobs - tax credits, grant dollar matching, etc?

2. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has put many of my fellow small clothing manufacturers out of business, including Moonfly who is mentioned in this Wall Street Journal Article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123621357629835121.html
It is not the intent of the law that we are opposing because of course we all want our children to be safe - but the way it is being implemented. The law is essentially putting small, made in the USA manufacturers out of business because of the ill-thought out testing requirements.

[Phil H]

Wow - great idea opening this up for comment. Thanks for the chance to participate!

My questions would be centered on the 30-50 year economic impacts of what is done between now and 2012/2016. I can't think of a single person in our age group that believes there will be a shred of Social Security left when we are eligible. I wouldn't be surprised to see the initial age increase - significantly - and the payments woefully behind today's rates plus inflation adjustment. I've written off SS payments and eliminated any payments from my future financial plans.
That, combined with the unprecedented debt we'll have to incur to get out of the situation left by the previous administration, make me extremely concerned for my and my kids' futures. Somebody is going to pay for the rescue, and it's not a 30-year fixed-interest mortgage. This will be a LOOONG recovery - far longer than any politician interested in surviving to see their next term would ever admit.
I'm all for paying my part, and have not _once_ balked at the increased taxes that I'll pay under the new tax laws. I worked my arse off and now fall into a higher tax bracket - those are the breaks. However, we're rewarding people that couldn't figure out they bought more house than they should have, and have all but eliminated pride-in-ownership at the lower tax brackets. (Meaning: if you don't pay any taxes, all of your services are free so why value them?)
So, the question: With circumstances like this, what is the benefit of being successful and/or frugal? What kind of message do these rescue plans give to our society?

[IAMROMA]

TELL THEM TO VOTE YES ON NO!

[Keller]

How about asking him where is the reward for those of us who lived within our means...worked extra to put 20% down on our houses and have no credit card debt.

The Democratic theme of perpetually rewarding failure at the expense of the able is a sickness. Vote these control freaks back to their dying, Democrat led, states.

Whew...that felt good...thanks Chris.

[David]

Stop propping up failing auto companies.

Instead, invest in green, next gen auto companies like Tesla. (Ask them to move manufacturing jobs to Detroit if need be, to appease job loss concerns.)

[joe hentz]

Thanks Chris,

Income Inequality, a primary cause of the great depression, is a primary and passionate issue to President Obama and to Larry Summers.

In the president’s most recent speech he thanked Leonard Abess, who was in attendance and received a standing ovation from Congress. Mr. Abess "opened his pay" and distributed $60M of his own money to his broader team to say thanks, I didn't do it all myself.

I would ask President Obama to endorse Silicon Valley style entrepreneurial solutions to Income Inequality. One example is,

http://www.openyear.org/

And to sign-up, which would put social pressure on CxO's and super earners to do the same.

Thanks Chris and Good Luck! - Joe

[regan]

Please, please, please keep your word and "scour the budget for pork" - those earmarks make me sick to my stomach...they are pure nonsense and so fiscally irresponsible - not to mention politics as usual. Be bold even if it hurts (you or us).

[Erica Baker]

+1 to asking what happens to those of us who have chosen to live within our means.

[nelking]

1. Health care reform: Both my husband and I are self employed with two teenage sons (we're in our 40's) $1300 a month goes to premiums and we have a $1000 deductible. We've already put off some routine procedures because the out of pocket is something we'd rather not spend right now. Make it so no one thinks twice about health insurance or taking care of themselves. Incent and reward preventative care. Personal Trainers and nutrionists for all.

1a. I own my own Exec Recruiting business and don't employee anyone else yet. Fix the tax code. I know this can't be done over night but the amount of complexity is sucking the life out of small business and the expense of adminstering must be huge.

1b. College education for all. This is both for selfish reasons as my family will have our first college student in the fall of 2010 followed by a second in 2012. As it looks now, tuition will increase. For us, we'll figure it out. For others, college won't be an option. That's going to continue to hold us back in the long run. If every kid had no question as to how they'd afford college, well just think about that....isn't that a beautiful thought?

1c Look the CEO's of companies that have been failing because of problems they've created and tell them no more. Significantly reward CEO's who make the hard choices and will lead the country through innovation and not through empire building and their own desires. No more focus on stock price, all focus on innovation, product and service. This will grow companies that have true value, not imaginary value that's gone in an instant.

1d. Challenge hypocrisy wherever you find it. It'll be tough to get rid of, but it's an indicator of leaders and systems that are truly out of touch with the fundamentals. They should not be allowed to drive the bus.

And thank him for having the guts to show what a modern family looks like. Equally driven partners, raising grounded, confident kids without pretension, just because they have power.

[MelodyMcC]

There are a lot of great ideas on this thread!

I would love to see his administration employ more merit-based rewards systems for youth; every high school could be allowed to give one or a number of college scholarships to students of merit, every city can have rewards systems for local youth who make the most impact or develop solutions to local problems all paid by the government. The point would be to promote a strong civil society, local initiative and promote entrepreneurism and innovation from the ground up.

The same idea can be applied on a larger scale for companies, think tanks, universities and public and private organizations. If the Obama administration employed a highly prestigious awards system with monetary and or even purely reputational incentives, excess intellectual capital, R&D and private initiative could be harnessed for the greater good and encourage innovation in the private sector as well.

It would also be interesting if the government submitted problems to it's Web site and allowed proposals to be submitted publicly from any organization.

The same way an api can harness innovation around a product/platform, the Obama admin can allow anyone to build a solution with their know how and tools.

[S.M.]

I'd focus on a combination of...

- unemployment benefits including health
- job training/(re)education
- direct small business assistance

Lots of people in America were doing jobs that don't take our country, economy, or themselves forward. Seriously, how many mortgage brokers, I-bankers, SUV makers, or Gap clerks do we need? We need to support these people while they are unemployed and looking for new work. Not doing so punishes the innocent and prolongs the depression.

At the same time, we need to train these people to do useful work in jobs where they can earn better salaries. This includes tech/green/insert-buzzword-here jobs, but also mostly regular skilled work where we have a shortage (pharmacists, nurses, various trades, etc). Just as we need to improve our physical infrastructure, we need to make real investments in our human capital. This won't have an immediate payback, but the payback is huge and will last going forward. I envision a large scale training and education initiative that makes the American worker the best in the world. We need more people doing skilled, value-added work and there is no excuse for America to not excel in this regard. Unlike the AIG/C/GM/BAC/Etc bailouts, this is an investment that is *guaranteed* to pay off big.

We also need to help small businesses bridge the gap. Local businesses are hit hard when people in the community lose their jobs or are worried about losing them. We need direct low cost lending to small businesses to help them through this difficult period. This could even amount to a kind of temporary subsidy for companies that hire and do business locally since they are shut out of conventional lending now and have no other way to survive. I would rather see local businesses that are collateral damage of the meltdown get a break or "bailout" than the irresponsible large businesses and homeowners who created this mess.

So far, the administration's plan is to spend billions to bailout all the worst actors. Let's bail out the best instead: provide support and education/training for the unemployed and direct assistance for small businesses.

Ok, this is kind of off topic...

I think there should be a change to the nature of the message the government sends to the people. We keep hearing some version of the following: "By bailing out the worst, most irresponsible offenders (banks, companies, homeowners, etc), we are helping everyone avoid a worse outcome." That may be, but there is a limit. We need to see something for all the people who didn't offend. There is an undercurrent of real rage in America now regarding the injustice of this situation and the government's response. This must be addressed if the President hopes to have his initiatives continue to receive the support and goodwill he has enjoyed so far. We need to see *action*, not just pretty promises, back this up. There must be some restoration of a sense of fairness and justice for the country to move ahead.

When difficult choices have to be made, there is usually a tension between doing what is practical and what is principled. Sometimes Obama comes off as trying so hard to be practical that he misses the fact that being principled is the same thing right now. A return to basic principles of fairness and justice, starting at the top, is what the country most needs.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share some thoughts. Good luck in D.C. I hope the meeting is productive. And please say 'hi' to Tony for me.

[Sean Casey]

Chris,

We need to embrace entrepreneurship and create the next generation of our country's industries. This includes expanding the commercial orbital transportation system within NASA and reviewing ITAR restriction that prevents entrepreneurial U.S. space companies from competing globally. Improved government/private industry partnership along with tax breaks for start-ups would help as well.

[Brian]

More money is needed to give small businesses tax breaks to incentivize them to hire new personal.

Banks should by law be required to take bailout money and disperse it to the public no later then 90 days.

Less taxes to businesses and individuals; cutting governmental pork to special interests needs to happen and now it can with what is happening.

Looking at the bubble that burst in a positive light that we now have the ability to make radical change, is quite an opportunity. Like a computer, our country needs to reboot in order to come back to life.. The free markets need time to correct themselves. ''

Good Luck!!

[Norbert Mayer-Wittmann]

This is what I would talk about:

http://conversative.net/blog/2009/02/24/world-20-too-small-to-fail

:) nmw

[Laura Kaplan]

The country needs to start prioritizing what it values. For example, why do professional football players make millions while a researcher looking for the cure for cancer does not?

Science & innovation are the way out of this mess - the next big invention (there was the car, the computer, etc.), the cure for cancer or paralysis or AIDS, clean energy solutions that can be sold around the world to save money and eliminate the reliance on middle east oil. Money should be sent to top researchers, engineers, scientists, etc. not to corrupt bankers and wall street execs and financial institutions who bet the farm on risky investments. Let them fail.

[Britt Blaser]

2 simple ideas:

1] Consumers are not obliged to pay a company any faster than that company pays its obligations, typically 90 days in a recession. This would immediately stimulate the economy and, as companies reduce their payables cycle, stimulate the smaller businesses they are stretching out.

Yes, it would hurt credit card issuers, but we the people already own them.

2] Create a SWAT team of systems experts to help government employees eliminate their own job. If successful, the employee gets a generous package or the full salary and retirement benefits as if s/he kept working.

Why? Government is not expensive because we pay lots of people. It's expensive because of the programs they think up to justify their job and budget.

[Jade Wang]

The majority of minds are already on the right track of how to spend the money (mass transit, renewable energy, etc.), but the larger question is how would we pay for it. It's possible to pay for a significant portion of the bill... The solution: special-issue savings bond for expedited U.S. permanent residence status or citizenship, available in $500K or $1 million, respectively. The residency requirement should have a large positive impact on the housing market.

Ram's post above is quite a bit undervalued. At $1 million per person, over 8 years, we could let in 100,000 each year, and that would pay for the whole thing.

http://www.jadism.com/2009/01/immodest-proposal.html

[David Wetuski]

Pumping more money into the economy will further erode our confidence in the value of the currency and decrease our incentive to work for that money in a way that benefits society and not just our own financial situation. That's one of the main problems with Keynesian economics... it depends upon the belief that the currency has a fixed value while relying on manipulation of that currency to influence the economy (the other main problem being that manipulating the currency cannot affect single industries in isolation).

The best thing to do is get away from our current economic model and move towards an economic model that rewards people for providing useful contributions to the productivity of society instead of for just gaming the system. Reducing unemployment isn't an answer... providing people with ample opportunities to work productively and efficiently is.

[Tom Teves]

A Fed no-interest small biz loan/grant pgm tied specifically to new hiring. 25% grant/75% loan. Must spend on salaries, wages, benes. Fed gives my company $100,000, I spend it all on new hires, I only owe back $75,000 with no interest.

[wayne]

Take some bailout money and use it to create a venture capitalist fund for new technology companies -- regardless of business revenue model just fund good ideas. The small percentage that become successful should have positive equity.

[Dave]

Tell him that entrepreneurs are sick of being regulated and taxed at every turn. I am a young entrepreneur with two growing businesses...The first dollar I make each year is taxed at 24% then it goes up from there. Is the governement a 25% holder in my company? Do they 25% of the work? do they take 25% of the risk? They have sleepless nights worrying about their 25% of my cash flow. And that is only on the first dollar. God forbid, I make a salary equivalent of someone my age then I get taxed 40%. Then when all this hard work pays off and I am repaid for my work with making over $250K...I only get to keep 50% of it. There is something wrong with this...they do nothing to help me and they get 25-50% of my companies.

So please just tell him to give us a break. Lower taxes would really free up my cash flow, which would allow me expand. I can't hire more people when my silent partner (the gov't) is taking 25-40% of my income.

[Shen]

I'd say continue injecting more funds into scientific and academic research. For example, instead of $10 million to the NIH and $3 million to the NSF, why not $20 million, or $30 million, or even more than $1 billion. Wall St doesn't need the bail out. It's the minds who drive the American society and technology that need it because they are doing the real work.

[Shannon Smith]

Can't wait to hear how it went at White House today... and hoping that all this talk will result in action that will benefit all. I haven't heard anyone suggest that the SBA just work directly with small businesses rather than loaning money through the banks that are struggling and choosing not to make loans to certain business segments that are "too risky".

Our bank featured us as a SBA "success Story" for the loan that financed our first business - a restaurant that was chosen Orange County's best new restaurant 2008. Now the bank is struggling and despite our cash flow positive status and credit worthiness, we are being denied additional loans to build for two A+ lease sites at which we have the opportunity to build. Looking for private investors and still working our patooties off to "make it happen". So, one way or another, get money in the hands of small businesses - we can employ 40 people and hire many to build out our restaurants - and stimulate our share of the economy in Orange County

[nelking]

So, Chris, what did you say, or not say? More than 140 characters would be great. Thanks.

[Richard Aziz Grieser]

Bill Gates once said, "a computer in every home in America", but why not on every school desk?

I'm talking about 1 monitor, 1 mouse, 1 keyboard, and a web browser.

Focus your attention on education, k-12. Move it to the web, with a Wikipedia-like open-source curriculum and knowledge base, but driven with a state of the art and evolutionary interactive learning experience.

Produce brighter minds, reduce future problems. Using an analogy: you're immediately stopping the bleed, and allowing time to heal. All while spending very little tax payer money. (compared to bailouts that is)

You're my only hope O-ba-ma-kenobi.