Bush and Kerry ignoring technical issue, October 20, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Craig Barrett, Intel Corp.'s chief executive, on Tuesday (Oct. 19) blasted the presidential candidates over their lack of attention to declining U.S. competitiveness, according to the Associated Press.

Speaking at the Gartner Symposium ITXPO at Walt Disney World, Barrett said the United States is losing its edge over other nations in education, technology and research and development, according to the report.

Barrett said, for example, well-educated engineers from China, India and Russia are competing with the United States for jobs, according to the report.

"This is what you don't see being debated by our two presidential candidates today," Barrett said in the report. "What we're debating about instead is how we're going to protect a textile worker in South Carolina. The future of the United States is not pillowcases."

Barrett said the U.S. spends nearly $20 billion on agricultural subsidies. The funding, he said, could be better spent on education and research and development, according to the report.

"What do you think the [U.S.] industry of the 21st century is going to be? Agriculture?" he said in the report. "We're sending our workers into the marketplace with a disadvantage: their education."