Versión Español
In a marathon of recent Democratic fundraising speeches (five in the course of two days), Barack Obama urged tech industry leaders to “dig deep in their wallets” to fund Democratic candidates, and to feel “urgency” about November’s Congressional elections in order to loosen gridlock and advance party initiatives.
About the political standstill, Obama said “The reason that we’ve got gridlock right now is because you’ve got a party that’s been captured by folks who are on the wrong side of the issues.” This gridlock is not only politically unproductive, according to Obama, but is the reason why the American people have “lost faith that we can actually make it happen,” with issues like minimum wage increase and equal pay.
Obama went right to the point with the Affordable Care Act, acknowledging that it could be “grist” for Republican critics. The president did not address any tech industry concerns about the scale of NSA surveillance. Washington’s relationship with Silicon Valley appears to be just fine, however, as indicated by 65 guests who paid up to US$32,400 per couple to attend the fundraiser luncheon and speech.
Obama’s audience over the course of those five days included Y Combinator President Sam Altman, Yahoo Inc CEO Marissa Mayer, and about 250 other people, who paid between US$1,000 and US$32,400 to attend.
Analysts say that Republicans stand a chance of winning the House, but Obama needs a Democratic majority to advance his initiatives during his last two years in office.
Source: Reuters.
