Partnership for a New American Economy

The Huffington Post
November 8, 2012

American voters chose to renew their contract with a President whose vision of economic vitality involves three distinct pillars -- innovation, education and rebuilding of America's infrastructure. Nearly two years ago, during his 2011 State of the Union address, Mr. Obama, speaking eloquently of this generation's "Sputnik Moment," recognized that immigration reform was key to this goal and declared he was "prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows."

By reelecting President Obama and, at the same time, retaining a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, the American people -- including a whopping 70-plus percent plus of Latino voters -- have directed both parties to work together to implement Mr. Obama's vision. The electorate spoke loud and clear Tuesday, ordering Washington to put aside partisan politics and overhaul America's broken immigration system so that our families remain safe and together, our businesses regain their competitive edge in the global economy and due process is restored and protected. Amid the incessant post-election punditry and analysis one thing is crystal clear; the American people have demanded positive immigration solutions and an end to the anti-immigrant/Latino extremism that has polluted the immigration debate.

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The Washington Post
November 8, 2012

Silicon Valley contributed more to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign than Wall Street and Hollywood, according to a Nov. 3 San Francisco Chronicle report. The Valley contributed $14.7 million compared to $14.5 million from New York City and $6.3 million from the Beverly Hills crowd. The data were compiled for the Chronicle by the nonpartisan organization MapLight.org. During his many trips to Silicon Valley, the President made a number of promises. Now that he has won, the Valley expects him to keep his end of the bargain.

I asked several notable people in Silicon Valley what they want from Congress and Obama’s second-term administration. The tech moguls I spoke to or exchanged e-mails with include Marc Andreesen, Paul Graham, Heidi Roizen, Ron Conway, Vinod Khosla, Carl Bass, Dan’l Lewin and Jason Calacanis. The bloggers who gave me feedback include Eric Eldon, Dan Lyons, and Om Malik. And I spoke to several of my colleagues at Stanford Law School including Joe Grundfest, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, and Dan Siciliano. Here, Mr. President, is their wish list:

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Quartz
November 7, 2012

It’s time for US President Barack Obama to think big. Syria’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear capability will continue to give the president plenty of opportunities to make his mark on history in foreign affairs. But the hope of any further major achievement in domestic policy will have to overcome two hard realities: Republican control of the House of Representatives and aging Americans’ effect on the federal budget.

What the president needs is some form of political jujitsu that also solves the country’s long-term budget problems. Meanwhile, one of the biggest messages for Republicans from this election is that their electoral prospects hinge on bringing a larger fraction of Hispanics into the GOP fold. So immigration is an issue that puts them in a box: either they play ball, or they get tarred further as the anti-immigration party, which is politically deadly.

Now is the perfect time for the president to tackle immigration reform. He already has put immigration reform on the agenda, but there is a danger that he will think too small and miss the potential of the right kind of immigration reform to strengthen the economy and shore up the long-run government budget. But the key to the economic and budgetary magic of immigration reform is to dramatically increase the level of legal immigration allowed each year.

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Computer World
November 7, 2012

President Barack Obama believes this election will usher in immigration reform, which will include action on tech visa issues.

There is enough support in the Senate and House to increase work visas, temporary and permanent. But supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have stopped piecemeal, special-interest driven immigration legislation to keep support for a broader bill from peeling away. H-1B opponents have piggybacked on this opposition.

Obama, in an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board in late October, outlined his immigration legislative strategy. The meeting was initially off-the-record, but it was later released. The key excerpt:

The second thing I’m confident we’ll get done next year is immigration reform. And since this is off the record, I will just be very blunt. Should I win a second term, a big reason I will win a second term is because the Republican nominee and the Republican Party have so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community. And this is a relatively new phenomenon. George Bush and Karl Rove were smart enough to understand the changing nature of America. And so I am fairly confident that they’re going to have a deep interest in getting that done. And I want to get it done because it’s the right thing to do and I've cared about this ever since I ran back in 2008.

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