“CEA is a bipartisan organization,” Gary Shapiro, president/CEO of the group said, and he proved it by commenting to TWICE about the upcoming election by saying, “I don’t think either candidate is ideal, but [CEA] will have to adjust.”
In a discussing comparing the effects on the CE industry of a potential Obama Administration or a McCain Administration, Shapiro started by volunteering a personal opinion. “I am disappointed in both campaigns. The [economic] landscape has changed and [they haven’t] adjusted their policies accordingly.”
Shapiro said that an administration led Senator John McCain (R-NV) would back free trade and go against the Card Check proposal, which would potentially allow every workplace to be unionized by petition. He said Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) supports Card Check and it will probably be approved if the Democrats control Congress.
Shapiro noted that, if approved, Card Check would “dramatically change our competitiveness, our retail landscape. It is the No. 1 concern for a whole bunch of retailers and manufacturers in technology.”
In Shapiro’s opinion, the advantages that Obama brings to the industry if elected would be “the world’s perception of the U.S. would change. We may be able to encourage more innovators and have them emigrate to the U.S. And he would change the nature of race dialogue in the U.S. in a positive way.”
What he hopes is that the next president and next Congress “cuts back on litigation, gets rid of Card Check, backs free trade, puts a tax structure in that would put incentives in the right places, deal with the new economic reality we are in and stop making promises to every interest group.”
