This seems to be the week of technology as John Edwards weighed in on spectrum reallocation, John McCain talked to a conference about tech issues & Fred Thompson said he would run a tech centered presidential campaign. Now Hillary Clinton has joined in offering a plan to create higher paying jobs in technology and deal with the problems in education children in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math).

She outlined what is being called ‘Hillary Clinton’s Innovation Agenda to a tech crown in Silicone Valley. There is also a policy outline I used while writing this on her Web site.

Why We Need It
The United States is facing what some are calling a “crisis” when it comes to being competitive in Math, Science & Engineering. American students are not focusing on STEM education leaving the United States lagging behind in the Global economy. Jobs are going overseas as corporations seek skilled labor in other countries and the next economy after the Internet/Computer revolution is taking shape with less participation by the United States.

What It Does
First Clinton addresses a problem that many in Silicon Valley (most recently and notably Bill Gates) have outlined as a major problem for the industry, recruiting overseas workers for employment in the U.S. A great deal of braintrust exists in places like Japan, China, Russia etc. but the number of H1B temporary visa’s to get them here is limited.

Clinton says she will raise the number of visas offered to help keep companies competitive and in the United States. This will help solve the temporary problems the tech industry faces.

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In a USA Today interview Fred Thompson left little doubt that he is running for president and he says he will do it harnessing the full power of the Internet. From the article.

Thompson said he’s planning a tech-savvy campaign that will use blogs, video posts and other Internet innovations “to cut through the clutter and go right to the people.” He said using the Internet already “has allowed me to be in the hunt, so to speak, without spending a dime.”

I had high praise for Thompson’s YouTube ready rebuttal to Michael Moore. Meanwhile Thompson seems ready to embrace what TechRepublican has been calling for and seems interested in overtaking what many see as a Democratic dominated medium.

John McCain visited the D: All Things Digital Conference where he discussed some tech issues including broadband regulation, copyright etc. Here is a recap.

Here is the video:

From TechRepublican

Incase you haven’t been following in 2009 your local broadcast television channels (yes Channel 2 or 4 or 7) will go dark and in their place a new High Definition signal will be born. Because of this the spectrum these channels were broadcast on will be available. Spectrum, you see, can be used for many other purposes then just television broadcasting. It can be used for things like, wireless Internet as well.

But who will get this spectrum? The FCC has begun opening parts of it for auction by large telecommunications companies but a debate has formed around the issue. Many wish to see smaller companies have an equal share of this spectrum and so the question of how it is reallocated has become a hot button issue with tech types and geeks like me.

Tech President reports on the latest development in this debate and looks at a statement released by John Edwards. As I gather up more information from all the candidates I will put together an issues section around telecommunications.

Read Edwards letter to the FCC on the subject.

From Chicago Mag an interesting behind the scenes look at the much beloved speech by the new Illinois Senator.

The 2,297 words uttered over 17 minutes changed Obama’s profile overnight and made him a household name. Before the speech, the idea of Obama running for president in 2008 would have been laughable; he was a lowly state senator from Chicago’s Hyde Park, and while he stood a good chance at winning his U.S. Senate race, he would enter that powerful body ranked 99th out of 100 in seniority. After the speech, observers from across the political world hailed the address as an instant classic, and Obama was drawing comparisons (deservedly or not) to Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.

Current actor & former Senator Fred Thompson’s advisors say he will join the Republican crowd as a candidate for the nomination on the July 4th weekend. According to the report Thompson will not only enter the race but will announce he will come in with several million dollars already behind him and the backing of insiders within the last three Republican administrations.

Senator Barack Obama has now released a more detailed look inside his vision for health care. The following look comes from the documentation provided from Obama’s Web site.

Why Do We Need It?
Obama points out that we spend 2 Trillion Dollars as a nation each year and yet 45 Million Americans (including 11 Million children) go uninsured in this country.

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