FC: Tech execs meeting with Bush are donors, friends, allies

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40983,00.html

   Bush Says Hi to Tech Leaders
   by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   2:00 a.m. Jan. 4, 2001 PST
   
   When George W. Bush sits down with over a dozen technology leaders on
   Thursday, he'll be in the company of friends and allies.
   
   The two-day economic forum in Austin, Texas, is intended to highlight
   the president-elect's plans for avoiding a further market downturn,
   such as his suggested $1.3 trillion tax cut and his support for fewer
   regulations and trade restrictions.

   Those proposals are sure to be met with applause from the 15
   technology executives who are scheduled to attend the forum. All but
   one are Bush enthusiasts who lent political or financial support to
   his bid for the presidency.
   
   Among the attendees: Michael Dell of Dell Computer, Craig Barrett of
   Intel, Carol Bartz of Autodesk, Lou Gerstner of IBM, Scott McNealy of
   Sun Microsystems, Len Pomata of Oracle, and Floyd Kvamme of Kleiner
   Perkins Caulfield and Byers.
   
   The only participant who did not contribute to Bush's campaign or to
   Republican causes last year is Carly Fiorina, chief executive of
   Hewlett Packard.
   
   The rest of the CEOs are members of Bush's Information Technology
   Advisory Council (ITAC), which the Texas governor formed in July 1999
   to provide him with advice on tech issues -- and campaign
   contributions.
   
   IBM's Gerstner does not appear to have been a member, but he wrote
   checks overwhelmingly to Republican candidates during the last two
   years.
   
   Of course, not all technology execs backed Bush during the campaign.
   As the November election date neared, both campaigns released lists of
   hundreds of executives who had endorsed them.
   
   Industry leaders such as Loud Cloud's Marc Andreessen, Yahoo's Jerry
   Yang, Kim Polese of Marimba, and Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson met
   frequently with Vice President Al Gore. John Doerr and Bill Joy wrote
   op-eds supporting the Democratic candidate.
   
   And -- no surprise here -- not one of them is scheduled to be at the
   Austin confab.
   
   [...]




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