President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

It's been a while since a weigh-in on our current events.  So let's focus on the president's jobs and competitveness council.  An impressive group of people who are assigned with the task to take laser-focused bites into finding the holy grail of turning our country's economic woes around.  As many of you know, there are some small tweaks that can be made to a huge engine that will turn it's efficiency on like there's no tomorrow.  This council is on the hunt for those small tweaks.... distilling the problems, and then using laser focus to make hopefully radical changes in pushing America into a now global leader of (well, we don't know quite what yet) some new technology.  It seems like after their second meeting, the focus will be on:

here's the link to the official document:  

http://www.jobs-council.com/docs/JC_Ideas_FactSheet.pdf

1. green commercial buildings - yes - by hook or crook, we are are going to get away from using oil and make our buildings more sustainable!  A great way to make buildings super-expensive!  great for institutions, but tough for developers.
   
2. new high tech - (get more engineers) - there are more engineers in china and india than there are Americans, but hey, we are still going to try!
   
3. create new advanced manufacturing - yes, we are bringing manufacturing back!
   
4. stay focused on healthcare - we do have the best in the world
   
5. push SBA loans - yup - that's all we entrepreneurs need to grow - cheap money
   
6. bring in more investment from outside the US via EB-5 programs and other incentives.  can't complain here, that's what i'm in the midst of.  A great way to get china to re-invest back into the US.
   
7. Help with small business exports through the SBA
8. Improve tourism in the US - not within ourselves, but have the international crowd come and visit us

And that pretty much sums up the ideas and "laser" focus that is going to pull us out.

Personally I was HOPING for a new vision that was going to really super-charge CHANGE in America like:

• We are going to build a colony on the moon.  And that all the technology and innovation from that will trickle down into the commercial retail sector so we can boost our engineering innovation once again.  (kennedy put us on the moon and the innovation from that is still with us today.  Reagan started his star wars program that despite its unpopularity among doves, the innovation of satellite technology that came from it is unmistakeable. - if you don't agree, then give your iphone or blackberry to me.)
• We are going to feed the entire world.  Instead of just producing corn and wheat, let's start producing everything in a very high-tech sort of way - with such abundance that there will be an overabundance of food on the planet.  Agricultural practices in the US are still pretty archaic.  let's supply the world with spices, lettuce, tomatoes, and more fruits and vegetables.  the innovation needed to accomplish this will be mind-boggling.
• Personalize Energy:  For the Peace Corps enthusiasts - why do we need Advanced manufacturing?  let's just make innovative things that will put power and energy into everyone's hands instead of massive utilities.  Personal generation of energy, like the personal computer, and the hand-held wireless phone is totally achievable.  If you want change, there you go.  no one will ever fight for energy or oil because all people will have the power to pump water from the ground to feed themselves.  all our major global issues could go away.  we'd see incredible prosperity.  let's face it, people only riot and go to war when they cannot feed their families.  it's as simple as that.
• As a side note - you don't need a lot of engineers to solve our world's issues.  that assumption is a mistake.  you just need creativity and imagination to come up with new ideas.  we got enough engineers in the world.  if there is anything America needs is creativity.  Creativity is learned, and cultivated.  It's the reason why we lost so much ground in cars to Europe and Asia - we just need a better aesthetic in our engineering.  

President Obama has given the task of solving our economic woes by seeking the best minds in business.  This IS THE BOX.  If we want to think outside the box, he's done a great job of starting - because in order to think out of the box, you need to know what the box is.  

 I think therein lies the problem.  You don't ask corporate leaders to come up with new ideas.  You go to the street and look for creativity through scrappy entrepreneurs, and super hungry engineers looking to invent the next best thing.  Giant corporations end up buying or stifling these ideas in order to promote or protect their interests.  If you want to change the corporation of America, then the key is to find those tiny, scrappy individuals who are thinking way outside the box.  And now that our Jobs council has issued their collective ideas, we can really start to look beyond them.  

If anyone has comments or can suggest other super-unifying ideas that will push