The Bush in The Valley

The President is making a tour of the West Coast -- Silicon Valley, to be specific -- touting the .The that this is an indication that The Valley matters.OK -- I was raised in the Bay Area. My mother and step-father still live there. My step-father has been involved in high-tech -- and start-up companies -- for most of his career. But these kinds of stories always make me laugh a bit. It seems to me that if you have to say how influential you are, then you are not really that influential. The Silicon Valley has always had something of a chip on its shoulder (hmmm, a pun?) -- and the relationship between The Valley and The Government has never been a very positive one. And that is too bad. Unfortunately, many companies in the Valley only noticed that feds were a big IT buyer when the rest of the market crashed. And the government -- from a policy perspective -- has not paid nearly enough attention to the important issue of competitiveness. And many small businesses are still terrified of trying to do business with federal agencies – probably with good reason.I hope all of this is changing. Perhaps Silicon Valley leaders are now more influential then they were. And, it seems to me that the administration's competitiveness agenda is a good start on what is a very important issue.But the story still made me chuckle.Anyway, a supports the Bush plan – shock!The President also .