The Obama administration's top priority should be creating jobs for the millions of Americans out of work, U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina of California tells Newsmax.TV.
“When you consider the unemployment rate in our nation and in our states today, and the record budget deficits, I think someone like me, a private citizen with a lot of experience in what it takes to create jobs and get costs out of big budgets, [is] maybe we need a little bit more of in Washington,” Fiorina said.
The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard said she is uniquely qualified to handle California’s fiscal problems.
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“It starts with recognizing that our top priority in Washington has to be creating jobs,” Fiorina said. “Right now, Washington is spending it’s time focused on anything but the $787 billion stimulus package that is not creating jobs. We’re spending a lot of that money on wasteful things, like spaying and neutering pets in Wichita, Kansas. We bailed out the banks on Wall Street hundreds of billions of dollars, and yet small businesses and consumers still can’t get credit”
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Fiorina, who is challenging conservative candidate State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the 2010 Republican primary, told Newsmax she will focus her candidacy and Senate term creating jobs for California. If successful in her bid for the GOP nomination, she would face incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer, one of the most liberal members of Congress, in the general election.
“We have to really focus on entrepreneurs, innovators and small business owners in particular because they are the life-blood of the economy,” Fiorina said. “We are taxing them into a very difficult situation and have a whole host of regulatory mandates which they have to adhere to which makes business extremely difficult for them.”
Fiorina noted a Los Angeles Times poll that shows only 43 percent of California voters approve of the way Boxer is handling her senatorial duties.
Boxer’s voting record is clearly out of touch with most Californians, Fiorina said, and very different from the voting record of Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator from California. Boxer has voted against every free-trade agreement that has come to the floor during her time in the Senate, despite the fact that almost one-quarter of California’s economy depends on trade, Fiorina said.
“Boxer has voted with the unions 100 percent of the time. She’s a strong proponent of card check and a strong proponent of the public option,” Fiorina said. “Beyond her voting record, Barbara Boxer hasn’t accomplished anything for the people of California.”
Boxer is out of step with the people of California, said Fiorina, pointing to just three pieces of legislation Boxer co-sponsored successfully in the Senate:
Naming a river in Virginia Naming a courthouse in Fresno And bringing federal funds to the Bay area for seismic retrofits. Boxer's lack of performance makes her vulnerable, Fiorina said. Polls also show that people all over the nation and, in particular, the state of California, are concerned more about jobs and ballooning federal budget deficits, she said.
“The voters in this country and in the states are looking to Washington to make some tough choices because they know responsible businesses and families in tough times cut back on their own spending,” she said. “They pay down their debt and focus on the top priorities. They don’t see that happening in Washington, and they don’t see Barbara Boxer doing any of that.”
As chairwoman of the Senate Environment Committee, Boxer’s version of the national energy tax called “cap-and-trade” is predicted to cost between 2.5 million and 3 million jobs, Fiorina said.
She said she her top priority will be to focus on how to create more jobs.
“The cap-and-trade bill is a job killer,” Fiorina said. “Without a doubt, it will levy more taxes on vulnerable businesses at a time when they need it the least. It will make it more difficult to start new businesses. I need to talk to all of the people of California about the issues that matter to them most –– jobs, and the federal budget deficit. You start talking to people about trillion-dollar deficits, you get people’s attention.”
Fiorina said she will campaign on kitchen-table issues and offer real solutions. She vowed to make sure people understand that Boxer “doesn’t have solutions to those problems.”
Fiorina said she would focus her attention on the growing number of illegal immigrants in California. “Immigration is a great example of an issue that is federal in nature, but impacts California in particular,” she said.
She outlined her plan:
Secure America’s borders. “People do not believe that the federal government is capable of anything if the federal government cannot do its most fundamental duty and protect the borders.” Create a temporary worker program that will work in California. “A lot of our industries here in California depend upon temporary workers. We need to make sure that we have a temporary worker program, whether it is for agriculture or technology, that is effective and workable. But we have to secure the border first.”On another issue, America needs to take advantage of every fuel source it has, including offshore drilling. Although applauded sun, wind, and tide efforts, she said the United States must drill offshore to achieve energy independence,.
“We must take advantage of our natural gas reserves,” Fiorina said, noting advancements in technology makes offshore drilling of California’s coast far safer and more environmentally sound than 25 years ago.
“We must build more nuclear power plants; we must invest in clean coal technology. All of these technologies can help us achieve energy independence.”
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