Vote to Get Innovation in Presidential Debates!

Critical issues for the innovation economy seemed to play a prominent role early in this presidential campaign cycle. Bernie Sanders pushed to make college debt free, Republicans  incorporated H-1B visas into their immigration stances and Hillary Clinton proposed a platform to support innovation. After one presidential and the vice-presidential debate, however, innovation, technology and education have received very limited attention. However, moderators for Sunday’s debate will be looking at the top 30 questions voted on by the public for possible inclusion in the next debate. The current top 30 suggestions indicate the public wants to hear answers to real policy questions, including a few on the economy and education. There is still time for you (and colleagues, friends, etc.) to help ensure that some of the more relevant items are selected.

Innovation, technology and education issues in the overall top 30 questions:

• How will you support a free and open Internet? – 17,228 votes - Major issues include net neutrality, copyright control, market dominance by incumbents and the privatization of internet governance.
• How do you plan to bring the U.S. back to the forefront of education? – 17,075 votes - Our educational system is not focusing on innovation and bringing students into the competitive realm of cutting edge learning. Ex: Computer Science & Math should be merged. How can we solve this?
• What is your plan to address the mounting student loan debt crisis? – 12,394 votes - I am 32, and my friends and I have significant loan payments. Others are struggling more - what will you do to help us achieve "The American Dream?" We were told college education was the first step.

Other well-performing questions of interest:

• Do you support universal basic income in response to automation taking jobs? – 6,095 votes (number eight in the Economy & Jobs category) - Automation and computation are removing more and more jobs from the economy. Universal basic income is the only solution to provide a living wage to all Americans and maintain a functioning economy.
• How will you ensure that the U.S. maintains its edge in science and technology? – 2,323 votes (number seven in the Infrastructure & Technology category) - The United States has for most of the 20th century been a leader in science and technology. How will you maintain our scientific edge?

Use the links to vote and share them with your network.