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This week the National Hockey League (NHL) canceled all preseason games through September 30 due to its player lockout labor dispute. NHL staff are being asked to take pay cuts and fewer work days as a result of decreased league revenue from the lockout. With the potential threat of a reduced or perhaps even canceled hockey season, Washington Capital’s star Alexander Ovechkin has decided to play [...]
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On Thursday, a pair of Congressional hearings will focus attention on the critical need for tax reform. We hope the hearings will not only examine the problems with our current antiquated tax system, but also look at potential solutions. At one hearing, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan will hear from several tax policy experts, government administrators, and business tax planners, including ITI members [...]
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UPDATE (5:08 p.m.): The House voted 257-158 on the Smith bill -- a majority but not enough to reach the 2/3rds threshold required for the suspension rules under which the bill was being considered. There is a skills gap in today’s workforce. To remain competitive, the U.S. must increase the number of potential workers who hold higher degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [...]
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U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan kicked off his Education Drives America bus tour this week, hosting a panel discussion at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, Calif. Moderated by Sec. Duncan, the discussion featured a diverse and dynamic line-up of educators who take innovative approaches in the classroom, hoping to better prepare students for the 21st century workforce. And that’s where the [...]
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A few weeks ago, in our Veepstakes series, we analyzed where potential Republican running-mates stood on the issues that matter most to the tech industry. Now that both the Republican and Democratic conventions are done and dusted, we have decided to take a closer look at the record of both parties’ presidential candidates. Earlier this week, we analyzed President Obama and his record, and now we take [...]
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When Kansas Senator Jerry Moran sat down to address the economy, he took a unique look at the problem and came up with a unique solution. In an effort to boost both innovation and the economy, he decided to focus his efforts on small businesses. With the bipartisan support of Virginia Senator Mark Warner, Moran introduced the Startup Act as a way to increase the possibility of success for startup businesses [...]
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The leaders of APEC 21 economies gathering in Vladivostok over the weekend made good progress toward promoting growth and innovation around the world. For the tech industry, a big boost came with the inclusion of this pearl in the 2012 Leaders’ Declaration: "We welcome the ongoing work to expand the product coverage and membership of the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and instruct our [...]
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With President Barack Obama wrapping up the Democratic National Convention, it’s appropriate to look back on his first 3+ years in the White House and examine his record on those tech issues we have identified as vital to creating jobs in the tech sector. At first glance, the Administration’s work has been admirable and should be recognized for taking many steps in the right direction. In just over [...]
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There’s a major push on around the country to expand high-speed broadband in urban and rural areas alike. One project that has attracted an enormous amount of attention is Google’s effort to create an ultra-fast network in Kansas City, Mo. With that project moving forward, ITI’s Robert Hoffman sat down with U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of the Sunflower State to talk about the impact that broadband expansion [...]
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There is no doubt that today’s jobs report is profoundly disappointing. Alarm bells should be ringing throughout the country at the news that 368,000 people simply left the U.S. workforce in the past month. The workforce participation rate is at its lowest point since the 1981 recession. In the days to come, both Presidential campaigns will trade barbs on who and what is responsible for the anemic [...]
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