The U.S. Supreme Court next week will review and possibly overturn a much-needed campaign finance law that limits corporate spending to support political candidates.

Campaign finance laws safeguard and preserve the integrity of our country’s 233-year-long democracy. Should the Supreme Court decide to lift these regulations that limit corporate spending in political campaigns, they are heightening the threat of corrupt electioneering to our government election process.

Our founding fathers said that all men are created equal. That statement applies to many facets of life, including the fact that corporations should not be given rights that supersede the rights of any one individual. Corporations should not be allowed to drown out the voices of individual citizens by "buying" a political office with excessive campaign contributions.

Being a taxpaying citizen first, and the founder of a successful information-technology consulting firm second, I fully recognize that responsible individual citizens as well as corporations that create jobs each have essential and indispensable roles in our democratic, capitalistic society.

But neither corporations nor private citizens should have unbridled power to use unmatchable resources and campaign tactics that directly influence outcomes of political elections.

Large corporations have thousands of employees who labor to help them realize profits. An ironic injustice would occur if that company could, in turn, heap an unlimited amount of those profits to support a political candidate who the majority of its employees oppose.

Some would argue that restricting corporate support of political candidates is infringing upon the right of free speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. Limiting campaign contributions of corporations does not violate free speech but, contrarily, it increases free speech and gives a more pronounced voice to every day citizens.

Removing corporations from the political election process prevents them from spending hundreds of millions of dollars to directly support legislatures who, once elected, could be pressured or feel obligated to carry out their wishes. Restricting contributions of large companies and wealthy private citizens forces politicians to attain multiple sources of support, and prevents democracy from being in the grasps of only a few.

Further consideration should be given to whether corporations are "people" who should be allowed the full protection of free speech that is allotted to all citizens in our Constitution. Although corporations are key influencers in our nation’s economic stability in an increasingly competitive global market, they still should not be allowed to interfere with and disrupt a democratic process that since inception was designed to be governed by the people.

I support the government’s right to limit corporate spending. It would be naive, however, to think that there are no external influences successfully lobbying our legislative, judicial and executive branches of our government.

At some point, our entire political system deserves a proper reevaluation to ensure that it stands independently and is not corrupted by corporate influence and control. If we neglect the responsibility to maintain an accountable and transparent democratic process, we are in danger of losing sight of the sacrifices our forefathers made in the early formation of America, which today is the world’s greatest model of democracy.

As a member of the Republican Party, I refuse to remain silent on the recurring instances of hatred and divisiveness that have arisen from other Republicans. Why does my party continue to tolerate racial insensitivity that does nothing but alienate minorities?

The election of our first African-American president should have inspired all citizens, regardless of political party affiliation, to celebrate the ideals on which America was built: With hard work and opportunity, anyone can fulfill his or her dream.

Instead, we’ve seen appalling and highly offensive mockeries of the president emerge from members of the Republican Party. Most recently, a Tennessee Republican state senator’s aide circulated an e-mail depiction of our president as a spook. This insult joins a list of other blunders, such as a GOP official distributing the song "Barack the Magic Negro" to his colleagues. Where is the accountability? Where is the shame?

I’m a member of the GOP because many of my views align nicely with the party’s; i.e. small government, lower taxes, traditional marriages and other conservative values. But these ideals are being drowned out by the louder voices of the party that are constantly spewing tactless and shameful messages. While we talk about expanding the GOP tent to become more diverse and inclusive, our actions counter our talk.

Are we so callous and numb that we can’t feel the pain that is inflicted by off-color and inappropriate remarks? Not only are these actions hurtful to African-Americans, but it is simply un-American to direct derogatory statements or gestures to the person serving in the highest position in our land. Our efforts should be focused on finding common ground among all U.S. citizens and building upon the similarities that bind us. We must remind ourselves of the honorable and good qualities of America instead of constantly reviving the disgraceful issues that will forever divide us. We need to teach our children that the ugly biases and injustices that once crippled our nation’s potential won’t be allowed again.

If the Republican Party hopes to enjoy any future success, we must eradicate the party of divisive, offensive and racist behavior. We must focus on sound policy ideals, not ignorant racial ideology. It’s the responsibility of the party leaders to demand this change. And if they fail to do so, we’ll find that we’re the ones who’ve been isolated, left behind and excluded from the richness that this country’s diversity has to offer.

Talent, hard work, even vision will only get you part of the way to success. To go the distance, cultivate these surprising traits that draw investors, attract great employees and inspire.

Secret #1: Faith

For some entrepreneurs, literal faith in God gives them the courage and tenacity to stick with their vision despite setbacks. But for almost all successful entrepreneurs, faith is hard won.

Not long ago, St. Louis-based Kwame Building Group, which provides construction management for public and private infrastructure projects, was involved in a $100 million lawsuit brought after a train extension project ran over budget. In the end, Kwame was found without fault. But in the four years of the suit, Kwame CEO and founder Tony Thompson says his company shed 25 employees and spent $6 million on defense. If he lost, it would have bankrupted the company and Thompson personally.

“I had to make some tough decisions very quickly and continue to market and stay active in the community with charitable organizations and boards while traveling the country developing new business,” he says.

Doing that took faith in himself, his employees, and his company’s practices. It paid off: 2008 was Kwame’s best year in its 17-year history, and Thompson says the experience of working lean and under financial stress prepared his company for the current economy. “I am what this economy needs,” he says firmly.

“It’s almost analogous to guts, but it’s more than guts–it’s what made me stand up as the only black guy in a room of CEOs and fight for my life in the middle of litigation,” he says. “You have to have total and complete confidence in your ability to succeed.”

Secret #2: Humility

It’s one thing to trust your vision. It’s quite another to insist on it rigidly, says Darrell Freeman, founder and chairman of Nashville-based Zycron Information Technology Services and Solutions, which provides IT staffing, outsourcing, and project development to Fortune 500 companies.

Freeman walks his talk.

Founded in 1991 with $2,000 in personal savings, Zycron has grown to a $20 million-a-year company. Still, Freeman stepped aside and appointed executive vice president Steven Howard Smith to the role of president and CEO this year. He believed Smith was better at company management than him, and the company has maintained the growth to back up his assertion.

At the time, he told the Nashville Business Journal that “more small business owners should move their egos out of the way and turn the reigns over to a seasoned veteran.”
“If I’m the smartest guy in the room, that’s a problem,” he says. “When you have a big ego, it can hurt business because people are afraid of you, so they aren’t telling you information you need to get ahead. They’re afraid to tell you messed up with a customer. If you don’t know, you can’t correct it.”

Secret #3: Optimism

You may be shaking in your loafers and heels as you watch the stock market wobble, but you can still cultivate a positive outlook that reassures current clients and attracts new ones.

In fact, a positive outlook might make your business nimbler, says Maurice B. Tosé, founder and CEO of multi-million dollar TeleCommunication Systems, a Maryland-based provider of wireless data products and services to the public, government, and carriers.

“The world could be crumbling around me, but how am I doing? Never better,” he says. “When you’re positive, you’re looking for the answer, not worrying about the mistakes.”
Aba Kwawu brings a “sunny disposition” to The Aba Agency [3], her seven-year-old boutique public relations firm. She specializes in high-end beauty, fashion and entertainment brands including DeBeers, Cirque du Soleil and Fashion Week Miami–brands that might be tempted to cut publicity until the economy stabilizes.

But Kwawu has retained clients by explaining how they can use this economy to promote their brand. For luxury brands, that often means reminding consumers that high-quality outlasts shoddy, cut-rate products.

“The way I see it, this is a great opportunity for many of us–not just my clients but myself,” she says. “What’s happening in the market now is a return to what’s really valuable and high quality. That’s what consumers are looking for and that’s what the client is looking for.”

By Darrell S. Freeman, Sr.

There’s an unofficial rule that says many U.S. states project their need for new prisons partly based on the reading scores of second, third and fourth graders. Although some correction officials will deny this method, there are other disturbing facts that cannot be refuted.

In 2008, the state of Tennessee spent more than $675 million on corrections, while only investing (along with private donors) $83 million to fund pre-Kindergarten education.

This is a flawed system. Our society must remember that to have a high-quality end product, you must first start with high-quality raw materials. To effectively develop the future leaders of our communities, our states and our nation, we must invest in our human capital and provide the best possible education system to our children. Education is the foundation of economic development, and pre-K is the foundation for education.

Studies have shown that children begin forming cognitive abilities very early and those who don’t know their ABCs, can’t count or relate well with others will already be behind on the first day of kindergarten.

Pre-schoolers will be better prepared to learn and will be less susceptible to poor test results, failing grades or eventually dropping out. Research also shows that attending pre-K schools can yield significant results even into adulthood including higher college attendance rates and income.

According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, a high school dropout earns, on average, about $260,000 less than a high school graduate. Also, one class of non-graduating high school students alone costs the nation as much as $319 billion in lost wages and more than $17 billion in Medicaid and expenditures for uninsured health care.

Tennessee’s education issues are by no means simple to resolve as they stem from many complexities such as insufficient curriculums or unequal funding for all schools.

Our state consistently ranks near the bottom of national education rankings, and is currently ranked 41st by the National Assessment of Education Progress. It’s therefore imperative to examine every factor plaguing our system and implement programs to address each one.

Gov. Bredesen should be commended for expanding Tennessee’s pre-K program, which has added 786 new state-supported pre-K classrooms during the past four years.

Today, because of his efforts, Tennessee’s voluntary state and lottery funded pre-K classes are available in almost every Tennessee school district. And, a newly-released report from the National Institute for Early Education Research gave Tennessee’s pre-K system the nearly perfect score of 9 out of 10.

It’s the responsibility of business and community leaders, particularly Tennessee’s next governor who will be elected in 2010, to continue to make this a priority for our state. In an increasingly competitive global marketplace where are children will lead our country through unforeseen challenges, we have no other choice.

Being an entrepreneur for 18 years has taught me that unexpected and potentially crippling circumstances are bound to appear in the marketplace which can threaten any businesses operations. As an instrument rated pilot, however, I learned that if you get too distracted by a storm or commotion in the cabin, you’re in danger of letting your air speed drop and your plane falling out of the sky. So today, amidst the perpetual distractions of negative media reports heaped at small business owners, I offer a message of resilience that centers around one basic principle: keep flying the plane.

Entrepreneurs today must keep a steady hand on their control sticks, make the necessary adjustments, and have confidence in their ability to maneuver through this economic storm and land whole on the other side. To some this may seem like a daunting task, but it’s imperative to remain focused on these four core principles that are the foundation for successful businesses.

1. Focus on the quality of your services. Use this time to examine every detail of your business to make sure you’re as efficient, effective and adding the most value as possible.
2. Take care to assemble the best possible team of professionals in your industry. During challenging and competitive economic times, all errors will be exponentially magnified.
3. Continue basic blocking and tackling and planting seeds. Capitalize on every opportunity.Market your services while your competitors are giving up and your name will remain prominent.
4. Seek innovative and out of the box solutions for your clients. Determine how to reduce the cost of doing business, and pass that saving on to your customers.

Small businesses owners should be encouraged in knowing that we are the backbone of the U.S. economy. We’ve prevailed over economic hardships before and we’ll survive this one. As President Obama stated in the joint session of Congress last week, America will emerge from this crisis stronger than we were before.

Business owners who effectively manage these four basic principles will prevail in these economic times and will thrive when the market returns, because we know that it will come back.

Since the 1950s, African Americans have made their mark in every sector of information technology, including semiconductors, magnetics, VM, 3-D workstations, software and networking, according to John William Templeton, a business commentator, journalist and historian and author of books and writings on the role of African Americans in California history and technology.

In 1998, Templeton, a former editor of the San Jose Business Journal who has studied African-Americans in technology since 1992, was asked by two Silicon Valley pioneers, Roy Clay Sr. and Frank Greene Jr., to mount an exhibition of the top 20 black technologists for the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose.

Now in its ninth year, the exhibition and list, which is has expanded to 50 of the most important African Americans in technology, will be displayed at Palo Alto City Hall, starting with an opening reception on Monday at 5 p.m.

Three Palo Alto figures — two members of the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame and a late inventor — will also be recognized by the Palo Alto City Council.

The exhibition, “Soul of Technology,” was created by Templeton’s company, eAccess Corp. of San Francisco.

Mayor Peter Drekmeier and the Palo Alto City Council will honor Clay and Greene, along with the late Ronald L. Jones, a Palo Alto resident and business owner, who developed the raster image processor for producing large-format prints from personal computers.

A representative of Stanford’s Electrical Engineering Department will also speak about the importance of Greene’s semiconductor work.

In addition to the exhibit, the Ron Jones Innovation Award is awarded annually to an emerging researcher or entrepreneur.

Here is Templeton’s 2009 list of the 50 most important African American technologists, including Greene and Clay:

Public policy makers

• Jerry L. Davis, Deputy CIO, NASA
• John Hines, director, Biomolecular Systems Research Program (BSRP) NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.
• Jack B. Johnson, Prince Georges County, MD executive
• Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator
• Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass.
• Timothy A. Simon, commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission
• Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mo., chairman, House Homeland Security Committee

Entrepreneurs

• Pauline Brooks President/CEO Management Technology Inc. Clinton, MD
• Gale Burkett, CEO, GB Tech Houston
• Al Edmonds, CEO, Edmonds Enterprise Services
• Preston Edwards, CEO, imDiversity, New Orleans, La.
• Darrell Freeman, CEO, Zycron Inc., Nashville, Tenn.
• Rodney Hunt, CEO, RS Information Systems Inc., McLean, Va.
• Alfred Liggins, chairman/CEO, RadioOne, Lanham, Md.
• Willie Johnson, chairman, PRWT Services Inc. Philadelphia, Pa.
• James Makawa, CEO, The Africa Channel, Beverly Hills, Calif.
• William Moss, CEO, Moss Interactive, Columbus, Ohio
• Lori Perine, senior vice president, TrueCarbon
• Earl Stafford Sr., chairman, Universal Technology and Engineering
• David Steward, chairman/CEO, World Wide Technology Inc., St. Louis, Mo.
• James C. Smith, CEO, Systems Engineering and Management Associates, McLean, Va.
• Maurice Tose, CEO, Telecommunications Systems Inc., Annapolis, Md.
• Vercell Vance, CEO, Alpha Data Corp. Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.

Executives

• Adriane Brown, president, Honeywell Transporation Systems, Torrence, Calif.
• Ursula Burns, president, Xerox, Rochester, N.Y.
• David Drummond, senior vice president corporate development, Google, Mountain View, Calif.
• J.D.Harris, vice president, contracts and supply chain, Raytheon, Waltham, Mass.
• Monte Ford, CIO, American Airlines
• Charles Philips, president, Oracle, Redwood Shores, Calif.
• John W. Thompson, chairman/CEO, Symantec Corp. Cupertino, Calif.
• Ray Wilkins, president, ATT Sales and Marketing, San Antonio, Texas
• Ronald E. Blaylock, Arthur H. Harper, James Shepard, Lloyd G. Trotter, general partners, GenNXT360 Capital Partners, New York, N.Y.

Educators

• Deborah Auguste, assistant professor of bioengineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
• George Campbell, president, Cooper Union, New York, N.Y.
• Michael Drake, chancellor, UC-Irvine, Irvine, Calif.
• Juan Gilbert, associate professor and director, Human Centered Computing Lab, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.
• Sossina Haile, professor of materials science and chemical engineering, Caltech, Pasadena, Calif.
• Charles Isbell, associate professor, associate dean, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Ga.
• Shirley A. Jackson, president, RPI, Troy, N.Y.
• James Johnson, dean, College of Engineering, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
• V. Trent Montgomery, dean, School of Engineering and Technology, Alabama A&M University, Normal, Ala.
• Mark Hardy, dean, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Jackson State University, Jackson, Miss.
• Kunle Olukotun, professor of electrical engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
• Reginald Perry, assistant dean, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
• Mark Smith, head of engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
• Eugene Washington, provost, UCSF, San Francisco, Calif.
• Carole Espy Wilson, professor, electrical engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
• Dhyana Ziegler, professor of journalism, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fla.

Source: eAccess Corp of San Francisco, John William Templeton, president/executive editor. Find this article at: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=10342