Widely available broadband, electronic health records
and increased government spending on research and development
(R&D) are among the technology-related goals in the US
Republican Party's 2004 manifesto, released this week.
Republicans adopted a wide-ranging platform that repeats
technology goals set by president George Bush in recent months.
The 106-page document calls for affordable broadband available
to all US residents by 2007.
Republican policies have helped advance broadband, the manifesto
said.
"Broadband provides Americans with high-speed internet access
connections that improve the nation's economic productivity and
offer life-enhancing applications, such as distance learning,
remote medical diagnostics, and the ability to work from home more
effectively," it said.
"Broadband technology will enhance our nation's economic
competitiveness and will improve education and health care for all
Americans."
Policies such as a moratorium on broadband access taxes have
encouraged broadband growth, the manifesto said.
The document noted that broadband use in the US has grown 300%
from December 2000 to December 2003.
The document also notes that the amount of spectrum for wireless
broadband applications such as Wi-Fi and Wi-Max has nearly doubled
since Bush took office.
The platform also calls for most US residents to have electronic
health records within 10 years, saying e-records will reduce
medical errors.
The platform repeats Bush administration talking points on
R&D, noting that federal R&D spending between the 2001 and
2005 budgets rose 44%, to $132bn (£73bn).
Bush supports making an R&D tax credit permanent, the
platform says, although a House version of a corporate tax bill
passed in June by the Republican-controlled House only extends the
credit for 18 months.
R&D is important because two-thirds of the growth in the US
economy in the 1990s came from new technology.
"America's economy is undergoing a fundamental transition from
one based primarily on manufacturing to one based on innovation,
services, and ideas," the manifesto added.
The Bush administration is best suited to create a good
environment for IT companies, administration officials have argued
in recent months. Broadband access and wireless broadband services
are leading to new business models and new ways of working, John
Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy, said in late July.
The Bush Administration has largely tried to avoid companies
competing in the broadband marketplace, while making wireless
spectrum available and extending the moratorium on internet access
taxes, Marburger said.
"The administration understands this new [broadband] phase of
the information technology revolution," he added.
Democrats have also focused on offshore outsourcing as an issue
in the presidential campaign. Boucher in June suggested Congress
should explore tax penalties for moving jobs overseas.
The Republican platform does not deal with the issue of
outsourcing, but calls for worker training for new jobs to be more
readily available.
"Ensuring that workers have the tools they need to succeed in
the 21st century economy is a critical step in helping Americans be
self-sufficient and successful," the platform says.
But both parties have heavily courted the support of the
technology industry by pushing such issues as an improved US
education system, White said. Republicans, often supported by
business leaders, have to be reminded not to take tech industry
support for granted, White said.
Grant Gross writes for IDG News Service