Why "Boot Camp"?

Why did we choose to name our advocacy training program "Advocacy Boot Camp"?

Open the newspaper or switch on the 6:00 news... We're at war.

No, I'm not talking about what's going on in the Middle East - I'm talking about the reality of what the business community is facing in a decidedly anti-business political environment. As the nationwide economic crisis rears its ugly head, what are the solutions that are being presented by state governments? Raise taxes? Put more of a burden on employers and families? Economists are worried that the diametrically opposed philosophies of Washington and the states on how to deal with the recession could actually undermine the federal effort to create jobs.

It's not a stretch to reference "war," and describe our everyday efforts as "battles." Think about some of the things we're opposing here at the Partnership:

• A slew of proposed taxes and fees coming from Albany on everything from health insurance to trout fishing - rather than wholesale changes in the way Albany operates;


• An IDA bill that would inflict wage mandates on any companies receiving IDA incentives - a frightening foray into government dictating to private business how they spend money and the nature of their relationship with their employees;


• A federal bill - Card Check - that would provide a much easier path to organization of private companies' employees by revoking secret ballot rights.

These are not job creation initiatives - in fact, they're quite the opposite. They are detrimental to job creation. In today's global economy, when so much of business is conducted overseas or in cyberspace, these are frightening concepts for American companies trying to create jobs for American workers. But they have support among our elected leaders - in spite of the fact that they would serve only to turn the knife that's already been stuck into the economy.

In NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's report issued today, he said, "We have to use this crisis as an opportunity to fix what’s been broken for so long." That echoes our message - one that we've been trumpeting for "so long." The political will to change has not been there so far, in fact, with the examples above, it often appears that our elected leaders are headed in the opposite direction.

As a result, we're at war. Join us for "boot camp."