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Michael K. Powell for Obama CTO
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While people are busy navel-gazing about who will run the Federal Communications Commission when Obama rolls into office in January, I'd like to throw a curve ball out of right field and suggest a former FCC Chairman for the to-be-created office of U.S. CTO.
Michael K. Powell has a number of attributes that make him worthy of consideration. He was appointed as a Commissioner to the FCC by Bill Clinton back in 1997, so he's already passed the "smell" test for one Democratic administration - not too crazy, not too right-wing, acceptable to both sides.
You want a guy who has worked with the federal government before, but one who has had some big, bold policy ideas. And you also want someone who has some experience out in the real world. At the FCC Powell was successful dealing with policy issues, working with Congress, and balancing the needs of individual industries, all while fighting the good fight for the average Joe-not-the-plumber.
There's been a lot of crazy talk about plucking someone like Google's Eric Schmidt or Microsoft's Steve Ballmer or Amazon's Jeff Bezos for the post. Can't see it happening; Moving from a big money Fortune 500 high-tech company directly into a low-paying government job is not something I see these guys doing. Bezos would likely get frustrated or bored within 6 months. Ballmer didn't "get" the Internet until it was kicking Microsoft upside the head, and he still doesn't get open source.
Mike likes Net Neutrality. He spelled out a nice clear set of Internet Freedoms before he split to the private sector, laying out guidance for what consumers should ultimately expect and what service providers do when it comes to broadband services.
Mike is a Republican. You can count him against your bi-partisan quota, if you can overlook the fact he was supporting the old guy.
Mike loves technology. Gotta love a guy who said "TiVo is God's Machine" and is a frequent visitor to Best Buy (OK, so I haven't seen him in Best Buy recently and the time I saw him in my Best Buy, he had a camera crew in tow, but I've heard him talk enough about the store to believe he wasn't faking it). He sits on the boards of Cisco, ObjectVision, and the Rand Corporation, so he knows what's going on across a variety of disciplines.
Do not call registry? Thank Mike for working with the FTC - again, working with the established bureaucracy to get a winner end result.
So, once again, Michael K. Powell for U.S. CTO: Bi-partisan pick, knows technology, has D.C. experience in getting things done and will have the best interests of the end-user at heart - the citizens of our country.
See you down at Best Buy...
- Doug
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 - 12:58pm
CTO is not likely to be the right position but that has yet to be determined.
I do think he should have an appropriately influential position in the Administration in a former department, department yet to be created, or high advisory role.
Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 - 8:45pm
Are you kidding? He was wretched as head of the FCC. Pick someone who really understand technology AND policy instead.
Posted by Anonymous | November 18, 2008 - 2:46pm
Powell's primary problem is that he has no clue what's in the public interest (remember the Mercedes divide?); and he never knew how to determine what was in our nation's best interests vis a vis communications. The fact that during his tenure the FCC had professional staff that led him a certain direction does not mean he should get the credit. The professional staff of that era have all but abandoned public service in the Martin regime and many of those who would be willing to return would serve only their own agenda. Political patronage does not equal qualification - he's a protege of Bush, just as Martin is, and we all know where 8 years of this administration has gotten us. Let's move forward - don't look back -we need fresh ideas (not leftovers), a healthy respect for the different agencies and separation of powers, and less industry influence. Let's give the nation and our children a CTO they can respect and have confidence in.
Posted by Anonymous | November 24, 2008 - 2:16pm
Oh PLEASE no. Powell is clueless, abysmal, and has no knowledge of economics, the difference between "perfect competition" and "oligarchy", or any idea why one would want to have a clue about the way markets work before calling for an end to regulation. The man is an ideologue. We've already had 8 years of that.
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