Last week Hillary Clinton presented at Microsoft to a sold out crowd of roughly 2,000 people.  Jennifer Hamilton attended and sent her notes my way.

                                                                --jrh

o    About 2000 people

o    Speech similar to one given on Monday night with a bit more a technology focus

·         US has always been the "Innovation Nation"--a hallmark of how country was founded and has grown

·         Can't assume it will stay that way--have to ask the hard questions and build

·         Don't think we're doing a good job--want to seize the mantle of innovation

·         Important not just for our industry but for the country

·         Innovation has fueled the opportunities of those born here and those who came here

o    4 big goals:

1.       Restore American leadership in the world

2.       Rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class

3.       Reform government to competence and more results-oriented

4.       Reclaim the future for our children and our dreams

o    For each of the four goals, she has set specific goals for what she would do as president

o    Spoke of Sputnik being a defining moment in her childhood

·         At that time America was the leader in everything

·         Then Sputnik and called into question

·         Had a republican pres that didn't blame the dems but went after the problem

·         Wants to do that same sort of thing

1.       Restore American leadership in the world

·         Partly its Iraq but this not the only international problem the next president will inherit

·         Our strategic/economic/innovation position eroding -- Clinton will restore the bi-partisan balance on end an era of "cowboy diplomacy"

·         Can't be a leader if no-one is following

o   All the problems we have, global-warming, g-terrorism, g-economics, we can't solve on our own

2.       Rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class

·         Economy has worked well for some of us, but hasn’t for many.

·         People struggling to maintain middle-class lifestyle.

·         Feel invisible to their government.

·         Feel their standing on trap-door--one misstep from disaster

·         Environmental a big part: we import more foreign oil post-9/11 than before

·         Take away tax-subsidy from oil companies to put towards alternative energies

·         Health-care (joked it’s an issue she has a "little experience in")--need a system of shared responsibility and choices

o    Insurance companies will have to change--she's offering them a new business model--they've made a lot of money not insuring people

·         50B spent in underwriting to avoid coverage plus more unproductive costs arguing on coverage

·         Big push towards electronic records for medical records

·         One of big problems in Katrina is how many records were lost

·         Wants to create a framework to give us private, confidential, secure electronic records

o    Also need to pay for prevention--insurance companies won’t

o    And manage chronic conditions

o    All added up will reduce costs and cover everyone

·         Improve education--it hasn't advanced either

o    Need to make college affordable and offer cheaper loans

o    Harder to go to university than 30 yrs ago

o    75% of students are from top 25% of income

o    Only 3% from bottom 25%

3.       Reform government to competence and to be results-oriented

·         We have been building a two-tier system

·         Tax system tilted towards top income

·         US was #1 for internet access 6 yrs ago--now 14th-25th depending on survey

·         Got to end Bush's muzzling of science

o    As president first thing will do is issue executive order to not interfere with science and lift the ban on ethical stem-cell research

·         End cronyism and appoint qualified people--re Katrina

4.       Reclaim the future for our children and our dreams

·         Don't want to be part of 1st gen of Americans who leave their country worse than when they found it.

·         Thrilled at idea of being first women president, but not running because is female. She is running because she feels she is the best-qualified

·         Not interested in all the personal attacks--am an expert on it  --have been recipient for over 15 yrs--that won't educate a child

·         Wants people to think that our best years are still ahead of us

James Hamilton, Windows Live Platform Services
Bldg RedW-C/1279, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington, 98052
W:+1(425)703-9972 | C:+1(206)910-4692 | H:+1(206)201-1859 | JamesRH@microsoft.com

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