Obama's Inauguration Speech Praises Tech, Ignores Small BusinessObama's Inauguration Speech Praises Tech, Ignores Small Business

Obama's highly anticipated inaugural address looked to technology to solve our problems, but failed to mention small businesses.It wasn't a long speech, less than 2,400 words, but Obama still found time to address the current economic crises and how he plans to rely on technology to help deal with it. But he had little to say about the role of small business or entrepreneurship.

See Time magazine for the full text of the speech.

From bMighty's perspective, the call for a renewed commitment to technology was clear and encouraging:

We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.

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But I was disappointed that the most he could offer small businesses was this passage:

Greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted  for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk takers, the doers, the makers of things...

It's nice to hear the props, but there's nothing there about and supporting and encouraging those folks. And in spite of bMighty security blogger Keith Ferrell's hopes, he didn't mention cyber security at all.

On the plus side, Obama echoed my call to find other ways to cut costs besides layoffs:

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the ... selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.

Finally, it was also illuminating to hear where he placed the blame for the economic crisis:

Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

It sure would be nice to see some responsibility being taken -- by government, by businesses, and by consumers. Despite the promise of today's speech, I'm not holding my breath.