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Americans produce are couched in Washing-ton-speak and technobabble about American

competitiveness and do not stand up to scrutiny. The words rationalize the workings of a

system in which taxing and spending drive us in a downward economic spiral.

Congress should stop taking money from Americans for socialist subsidies.

Companies do not need or want that kind of money. Capitalists make money from

customers who voluntarily trade their money for the higher value we provide them.

We in Silicon Valley wish to declare our independence from the corporate welfare

state. The difference between it and free-market capitalism is the difference between

taking and giving, immorality and morality, poverty and wealth.

Appendix--Declaration of Independence: End Corporate Welfare

The high taxes that our company and its

Fred Bialek, Director, Cypress

employees pay to support the current

Semiconductor

local-state-federal government tax burden

John Blokker, President & CEO,

of 35% of GDP hurts our economy more

Luxcom

than any possible corporate benefit from

Ted Buttner, President & CEO,

government spending. If an independent

Coastcom

commission similar to the military base-

Chuck K. Chan, General

closing commission identified a fair and

Partner, Alpine Technology Ventures

substantial government spending cut in

Robert Cohn, Chairman & CEO, Octel

the area of so-called "corporate welfare,"

Communications

I would support that cut, even if it meant

Samuel D. Colella, General Partner,

funding cuts to my own company.

Institutional Venture Partners

Scott Cook, Chairman, Intuit

***

Wilf Corrigan, CEO, LSI Logic

Joe Costello, President, Cadence Design

Gale Aguilar, President, Mitem Corpora-

Systems

tion

Charles Crocker, Chairman, President &

Jim Ashbrook, Chairman of the Board,

CEO, BEI Electronics Inc.

Prism Solutions, Inc.

Frank DeRemer, President, MetaWare,

Alex Balkanski, CEO, C-Cube

Inc.

Microsystems

James V. Diller, Chairman &

Dado Banatao, Chairman, S3

CEO, Sierra Semiconductor John

Incorporated

Doerr, Partner, Kleiner, Perkins,

Robert G. Barrett, Managing Partner,

Caufield & Dyers

Battery Ventures

Bruce Dunlevie, General Partner,

Allen Batts, President & CEO, Hello

Benchmark Capital

Direct

Herbert M. Dwight, President & CEO,

Don Bell, CEO, Bell Microproducts

Optical Coating Laboratory