The State of Massachusetts had a special election to fill the seat held by the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Perhaps you heard of it.

Be warned – this is my first (and probably last) political blog. But I wanted to share with you what was the amazing response of our citizens – it wasn’t an election. It was a happening.

The Democratic primary was won in a landslide by Martha Coakley our Attorney General who promised, among other matters, to tax the medical devices industry (she didn’t say why – and didn’t think it was necessary to do so). In Massachusetts, Democratic registration is triple that of Republicans and our senators and representatives have all been Democrats for decades.

 

Notwithstanding my concern for my beloved medical device industry, it was going to be the scapegoat of the current administration and be severely taxed for no other reason than its name sounded a lot like the pharmaceutical industry. I was used to accepting the inevitable.

 

Confession is good for the soul – so let me share my long hidden shame. I have lived in Massachusetts 44 years. I came to work at MIT and attend medical school at Boston University. During that time I remained a fiscal conservative and registered Republican (who once had a Nixon sticker on my car) living in what we fondly call the People’s Republic of Massachusetts.

 

Moreover, I built 4 medical device companies (helping take two public) while living in Massachusetts rather than moving to tax-free New Hampshire and paid the confiscatory taxes. Somehow, for a guy with 5 college degrees, I just didn’t get it.

 

My experience in politics was minimal. I once (as a university professor) ran for the local school committee (as a Republican) and lost to a soda jerk (Democrat) working at a local luncheonette who admitted to being virtually illiterate. I lost by only 2000 votes (unfortunately out of 4000 cast). I voted in national elections only for the fact that I wanted to see my neighbors at the local high school.

 

There didn’t seem to be a reason to go out in the cold to vote against the political machine for a state senator who was one of only a few Republican members of the Massachusetts legislature.

 

But then I noticed that the polls that once gave Coakley a 31% lead showed that Brown had drawn within 2 percentage points – and an amazing thing happened. People everywhere were cautiously asking “what do you think of Scott Brown?” When I answered that we were going to vote for him, we experienced an unusual outpouring – like a confessional (being Jewish – but having a Catholic wife – I can only assume that it’s this way). Registered Democrats and Independents were confessing that they saw a way out of this mess. Some were engineers, others teachers, others just working folks but they each understood that we can’t tax innovation and small businesses out of existence. And they were encouraged to participate and help get out the vote (Brown won by 5 percentage points).

 

Americans are resourceful and the emergence of and growth in medical, computer and embedded businesses are what gave us the greatest standard of living the world has ever seen. Small businesses contribute 80% of job growth. We have been tracking local and out of state technology (and energy) companies to get the pulse of future employment. I have spoken with engineers that are getting a lot of interviews (for when the crunch comes) but no offers. I’m told that companies are waiting to understand the financial risks they will have for funding employee health care under the proposed Senate and House bills. Also there is a fear as to which markets will be arbitrarily taxed (currently banks and healthcare – but potentially telecom) that need to be resolved before small and medium sized businesses will increase hiring.

 

So, for my friends, colleagues and neighbors this was not merely an election – this was a happening! I have received emails from colleagues around the USA expressing their joy and relief.

 

Even though the Senate will only have 41 Republican members, what happened January 19, 2010 in Massachusetts (known as the Scott heard around the world) may well be the dynamite that opens up the logjam that will help embedded vendors and developers get the loans and financing that they need to support growth.

 

Dolores, a lifelong Democrat who is equally frustrated about state politics, is now changing her registration to Independent. It’s hard to break an addiction.

 

Post Script: The Power of a Single potential vote

 Today, one day after the Massachusetts election, President Obama requested that his healthcare legislation be significantly scaled back to a less comprehensive but more affordable bill. This will reduce the need to tax the medical devices industry to pay for the larger proposed program.

Thanks Scott

 

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