I'd have never accomplished what I have (helping create billions of $ of free Open Educational Resources as subs for costly college textbooks) were it not for the critical support SEIU provided in my 1st election. Millions of Americans don't know SEIU reduced THEIR college costs. Thank you, SEIU!

With your support, many of us worked diligently to raise these issues during your admin - which made great progress in aligning tech policies w/the public interest. I will always wonder what else I could have done to convince President Biden not to drop that ball. I just couldn't get a hearing.

Here's my previous attempt to get the Democratic Party to pay attention to what must be done to reign in Big Tech. No one was listening then. Perhaps now is a better time? medium.com/digital-dipl...

Trump Slump

Plus, once blocked he'd have to cut a new deal with either his wing nut caucus or the Dems. He can't deliver on his promises. The best he can do is to deliver a delay.

They are who they always were. For decades our culture has lionized wealth created via the trickery of proprietary technologies that ape dishonest car mechanics who cheat customers by hiding what's happening under the hood. Little wonder then that people without ethics lack ethics. Rule by thieves .

Here's the backsy of how/why/when sociopaths took over in California's Silicon Valley, just fyi...It's been a slow slide toward centralized economic power (aka fascism) ever since.

I'm so sorry. 18F was indeed a crown jewel. I've long admired your accomplishments. You deserved much better than this. 18F was one of the reasons I made this unheeded proposal to Team Biden six years ago You should all have been promoted not fired:

Gotcha. I fully agree the congressional Democrats are spineless. Many of them are clearly hoping to take their place as the protectors of Big Tech as the GOP morphs into a Trump cult. The DC Dems won't cut the oligarchs off at the pockets - they just want to cut themselves in on some of that cash.

Nah, I think (with respect) this article puts way too much emphasis on Israel. Israel (despite its immoral failings, including funding Hamas) did not create the American oligarchy that has overtaken us. This article also ignores - as do Dem leaders - the need to reform gov tech procurement policies.

Right again. I strongly oppose the GOP, of course. But I am even more outraged by the cowardly Democratic Party leaders who refuse to directly take on the fascists' Silicon Valley power base - hoping instead to replace the GOP as its protector. So instead they virtue signal by calling Trump names.

Yup. And meanwhile, the mainstream biz model in Silicon Valley gives an advantage, including lucrative gov.contracts, to the most devious operators, which creates and fuels an oligarchy for whom selfish me-first "libertarianism" is a fig leaf that keeps the cash rolling in. A taxpayer fed monster.

Exactly right.

Thanks. Really. Writing it was a "I just had to get it off my chest" moment. Now age 68, I saw all this happening in slow mo during my years covering Silicon Valley. What else can you expect when an entire industry apes the ethics of dishonest car mechanics who hide what's happening under the hood?

Thank you for your work. So much gets lost in the fuzzy haze of techno-worship created by ad-seeking Big Media - which is also often looking for those same Big Tech firms to sponsor their lucrative "conferences." Here is some additional background from an old Silicon Valley reporter you might enjoy.

There was an earlier related plan that was proposed to then President-elect Biden. It would have generated savings by targeting Big Tech's massive federal profits. It would also have cut Musk off at the pass. Any guesses why it never happened?

There was an earlier related plan proposed to then President-elect Biden that would have generated savings by targeting Big Tech. It would also have headed Musk off at the pass. Any guesses why it never happened?