Political Quotes

“I do not want to see an end to venture capital in the Silicon Valley, and my argument is that this is greatly overblown. Here is the argument; we have just heard it. We have this very valuable resource in America, these high-tech start-ups. They are, on the whole, quite productive; they generate wealth, venture capitalists give them money, and we are being told that the venture capitalists in America are so stupid that a change in accounting, which represents no change in reality, will drive them away from this business. Now, I agree with those who say that the options are a good thing. I do not think investors are misled. If you are going to invest in a company, read the footnotes, and if you did not read the footnotes when you invested, do not complain to me. I have got constituents with real problems. On the other hand, the argument that if you change the accounting and the reality is not changed, remember this has not been the issue. Nothing about FASB is proposing would stop the issuance of options. It simply changes the way they are accounted for literally.”