The 2016 presidential campaign of
Carly Fiorina
Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina ('' née'' Sneed; born September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). As chief executive officer of HP from 1999 to 2005, Fiorina wa ...
was announced in a video message posted on May 4, 2015. Fiorina was formerly
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the technology company
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
, and was the Republican nominee for
U.S. Senate in California in 2010.
Fiorina suspended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on February 10, 2016.
On April 27, 2016,
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
announced that Fiorina would be his running mate should he win the nomination.
She joined his campaign days before the Indiana Primary, which he lost. Cruz suspended his campaign that evening, effectively ending Fiorina's vice-presidential bid.
After the election, however, Fiorina received one electoral vote for vice president from a faithless elector from Texas; the other 37, as pledged, voted for
Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
.
Background
![Carly Fiorina (13045507865)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Carly_Fiorina_%2813045507865%29.jpg)
A candidate for the United States Senate in 2010, Fiorina ruled out running for the U.S. Senate
in 2016, but did not rule out running for President
in 2016. In November 2014, ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reported that Fiorina was "actively exploring" a run for president. Her business background and status as the only CEO and the only woman in a "sea of suited men" were mentioned as positives, with Republican strategists pointing to her unsuccessful 2010 Senate campaign, unpaid campaign debt and dismissal from HP as "considerable challenges." On March 29, 2015, Fiorina told ''
Fox News Sunday
''Fox News Sunday'' is a Sunday morning talk show that has aired on the broadcast Fox network since 1996, as a presentation of Fox News Channel. It is the only regularly scheduled Fox News program carried on the main Fox broadcast network. Host ...
'' host
Chris Wallace
Christopher Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American broadcast journalist. He is known for his tough and wide-ranging interviews, for which he is often compared to his father, ''60 Minutes'' journalist Mike Wallace. Over his 50-year care ...
there was a "higher than 90 percent" chance that she would enter the race to be the
Republican Party nominee in the 2016 presidential election.
Campaign
Announcement and media blitz
In the weeks leading up to her campaign announcement, Fiorina made numerous strategic appearances in the key battleground states of
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
and
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. Fiorina announced her candidacy on May 4, 2015, via an online video posted by her campaign, followed by appearances on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
''
and ''
The Kelly File
''The Kelly File'' was an American news television program hosted by journalist and former attorney Megyn Kelly on the Fox News Channel. The program was a spinoff of ''The O'Reilly Factor'', and focused on late-breaking stories in a live format ...
''. On May 5, Fiorina made publicized appearances on ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' and ''
Late Night with Seth Meyers
''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknights a ...
''. After days of national media appearances described as a "media blitz," Fiorina returned to campaign in Iowa on May 7.
Controversy over tenure at Lucent and Hewlett-Packard
Shortly after Fiorina announced her entry into the 2016 presidential race, and in a replay of her 2010 senatorial race, social media and editorial outlets referenced her tenure as HP's CEO and chair as a basis for her run for president. Commentators challenged Fiorina's claims of success, citing dozens of examples and anecdotes of why Fiorina had allegedly failed in her business leadership roles at both
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
and
Lucent
Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the dives ...
. The discussion revolved around the 30,000 U.S. job cuts as well as
offshoring
Offshoring is the relocation of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Usually this refers to a company business, although state gover ...
, which Fiorina directed during her tenure at HP, contrasting it with the high compensation bonuses she received from the company, and the events surrounding her resignation from HP.
Campaign manager
Sarah Isgur Flores deflected the criticism saying, Fiorina "worked hard to save as many jobs as possible", and her defenders argued that Fiorina made difficult and unpopular decisions to turn around a struggling firm.
[
Other discussions focused on her well-documented public record, including coverage of risky vendor financing programs that Fiorina was said to have supported during her time as Lucent's president of consumer products.] The programs, which allegedly inflated the company's revenue figures to the benefit of Fiorina's bonus payout, were said to have contributed to the downfall of the company, formerly part of the iconic AT&T Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...
organization.
On the afternoon of May 4, 2015, a website appeared under the domain name CarlyFiorina.org stating that Fiorina's organization had failed to register the domain and criticizing her tenure as CEO. According to '' The Hill'', the site was created by an employee of the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of member ...
, a labor union representing over 1.9 million US service industry employees.
On May 10, Fiorina appeared on ''Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
''; responding to host Chuck Todd
Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who is the 12th and current moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He also hosts ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition on NBC News Now and is the Political Directo ...
's question asking if Fiorina has "regrets about those layoffs hat occurred while she was CEO of HP
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
, Fiorina said that they doubled the size of the company, grew it from 2% to 9%, tripled the rate of innovation to 11 patents a day, and grew jobs in the U.S. and abroad. She added "I had to make tough calls during tough times. Tough times that many technology companies didn't survive at all. Andrew Sorkin, from ''The New York Times'', challenged Fiorina's assertions about her success as a businesswoman, writing that these percentages refer to revenue and not profit, and that the revenue growth was a result of acquisitions.
In August 2015, and in what was reported as a rebuttal to Sorkin's article, Tom Perkins, who was one of the HP board members who voted to oust Fiorina, published a full-page ad in the form of a letter in ''The New York Times'', paid for by a pro-Fiorina super PAC "CARLY for America", in which he commented on the firing from HP by saying: "Critics often claim Carly was fired at HP because she was unsuccessful. As a member of the board, I can tell you this is not true. In truth, it was the Board I was a part of that was ineffective and dysfunctional."
In mid-September 2015, Fiorina addressed previous criticism from Yale business management scholar Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (born 1 April 1954) is the Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management at Yale School of Management, and Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies. Sonnenfeld is best known as the founder and CEO of Chief Executive ...
who had said in 2008 that Fiorina used a "street bully" style of management, and that she had been a failure as HP's CEO. He also described in August 2015 how Fiorina was saying she had doubled revenue at HP, but Sonnenfeld said this was an empty metric; the real gauge was that HP had lost 52% of its value during her tenure. Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, a Republican contender against Fiorina in the 2016 presidential race, used Sonnenfeld's analysis against her during the second televised debate in 2015, and she countered by calling Sonnenfeld a "Clintonite". Sonnenfeld wrote back in ''Politico'' magazine that problems with Fiorina's leadership style were what caused HP to lose half its value during her tenure. He said she does not admit mistakes and thus does not learn from them, that she manipulates statistics, that she makes poor executive decisions, and that she turns to ''ad hominem'' attacks when others oppose her plans. Sonnenfeld responded that four of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates had requested and received his advice, and that he had never been a "Clintonite".
Meg Whitman
Margaret Cushing Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is the US ambassador to Kenya, an American business executive and former gubernatorial candidate for California. She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and General Motors. Whitman was previously ...
, the current CEO of Hewlett Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
, who endorsed Governor Chris Christie during the primaries, stated that in her opinion while Fiorina was a good CEO, she was not qualified to be President of the United States, stating that a business background is important but that having worked in government is also important, and that "it's very difficult for your first role in politics to be President of the United States".
June–July campaigning
Fiorina's presidential campaign had provoked both praise and criticism. ''The National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
'' pointed out her foil to Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
(also a female presidential candidate), saying "Carly Fiorina is no doubt getting attention because of her unique background, but more and more people are staying to listen because she has something fresh to say", and that "Fiorina also seems to relish the role of being the most pointed critic of Hillary Clinton…. She contrasts her background as a 'problem solver' with Clinton's record as a professional politician." ''The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'' commented, "With so-called women's issues poised to play an unprecedented role in the upcoming election, Republicans need someone who can troll Hillary Clinton without seeming sexist."
On July 6, the Fiorina campaign announced that it had raised $1.4 million in donations and the CARLY for America super PAC reported raising $3.4 million.
On July 16, Fiorina starred in a Buzzfeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
video about sexism in the workplace. Fiorina became the second presidential hopeful to shoot a video with Buzzfeed, after Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
. The video generated praise for being bold and funny, as well as criticism that the video was divisive, pandering, and overtly liberal.
Performance in the first GOP debate
On August 6, Fiorina participated in Fox News's first GOP debate. Failing to qualify for one of the Fox News prime-time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
debate slots, she was relegated to the debate airing earlier the same day. Fiorina's performance led news sources to conclude she had won the early debate. Following the debate, pundits correctly predicted that her polling numbers would surge. On August 9, Fiorina reported an uptick in fundraising support. In an online poll
An open-access poll is a type of opinion poll in which a nonprobability sample of participants self-select into participation. The term includes call-in, mail-in, and some online polls.
The most common examples of open-access polls ask people t ...
by NBC and SurveyMonkey
Momentive Inc. (formerly SurveyMonkey Inc.) is an experience management company that offers cloud-based software in brand insights, market insights, product experience, employee experience, customer experience, online survey development, and a s ...
on August 10, Fiorina came in fourth of the seventeen Republican contenders with 8% of Republican primary voters saying they would support her in a primary or a caucus. This reflects a gain in support of six points from previous polling data.
An article on the ''Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' in the aftermath of the debate, noted Fiorina's surge and described the challenge she will face in translating the post-debate bounce into a viable campaign for the nomination, citing the 1.7 million she raised during her first two months of her campaign (3.4 from her super PAC), which is far less than other candidates, and her difficult tenure at HP.
Second GOP debate
On every national poll that was released after the first debate held on August 6, 2015, all showed Fiorina to be firmly within the top ten of Republican candidates. However, because CNN chose to include all national polls after July 10, 2015 (multiple weeks before the debate), and before September 10; before the September 16 debate, Fiorina consistently polled under 2%; and because a significantly larger number of polls was released before the debate Fiorina was projected to not make the later of the debates, which follow the same top ten formula as the first FOX debate to decide which candidate goes into which debate. Fiorina publicly requested that Republican National Committee, or RNC, force CNN to change their standards, and her Deputy Campaign Manager, Sarah Isgur Flores, wrote an article on the website Medium expressing annoyance with CNN's standards. On September 3, 2015, CNN decided to amend the criteria stating any candidate who ranks in the top 10 in polling between August 7 and September 10 would be included.
Fiorina's appearance on September 16, 2015, in the second debate at the Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the administration of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, and the burial place of the president and first lady, Nancy Reagan. It is the larg ...
was generally seen by the press as improving her standing in the Republican field. ''The New York Times'' described her performance as: "steely, self-assured and at times deeply personal", and as one which may "help correct a problem that her party has struggled with in recent elections: how to appeal more effectively to women". ''The Washington Post'' commented on how what they described as her "polished showing" and "widely praised performance" in the second televised Republican debate, "lit up social media and cable news". ''Time'' magazine called her performance a "strong showing" in which "Fiorina laid out detailed foreign policy visions, made an impassioned speech against Planned Parenthood and sparred with Donald Trump...."[Tessa Berenson ]
"Carly Fiorina 'Very Satisfied' With GOP Debate Performance"
Time, September 17, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-17 For her own part, Fiorina commenting to ABC's ''Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'' about her performance, said: "When I went into the debate, almost half the audience didn't know my name, and I introduced myself successfully."[
In the debate, Fiorina misrepresented a Planned Parenthood sting video, describing a scene of an aborted fetus moving its limbs, which was not in the video. She was sharply criticized for this in the media; the gaffe consumed much of the post-debate coverage.][ ]Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
responded that she had lied about the video, saying it was "not the first time Carly Fiorina has lied." PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...
chief editor Angie Drobnic Holan mentioned this factor in a December 2015 comparison of the presidential candidates with regard to their truthfulness. In the comparison, Fiorina scored 50% falsehood, the sixth worst performance.
Subsequent performance and campaign suspension
Her performances in early debates for the Republican primary nomination, particularly her rebukes of front-runner Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
in the debate on September 16, 2015, earned her a significant spike in the polls from 3% to 15% post-debate, but her polling numbers dropped to 4% by October, and to 3% in December.
As a result of low polling numbers, Fiorina was left out of the ABC News debate on February 6, 2016, despite mounting a protest that included her, two fellow GOP presidential candidates (Sen. Ted Cruz and Dr. Ben Carson), and other high-profile GOP leaders such as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to be included in the debate.
On February 10, 2016, Fiorina suspended her presidential campaign due to weak results in Iowa and New Hampshire. She received two percent of the votes in the Iowa caucuses and four percent of the votes in the New Hampshire primary. On March 9, she formally endorsed Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
for president.
Political positions
Abortion
Fiorina describes herself as pro-life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
.[William Petroski]
Fiorina blasts 'crony capitalism' in Iowa soapbox remarks
''Des Moines Register'' (August 17, 2015). She has expressed support for legislation to ban abortions
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
20 weeks after fertilization, with an exception for cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. Fiorina supports overturning ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
'', the 1973 ruling by the Supreme Court which legalized abortion in the United States
Abortion in the United States and its territories is a divisive issue in American politics and culture wars, with widely different abortion laws in U.S. states. Since 1976, the Republican Party has generally sought to restrict abortion ac ...
, and leaving it for the states to decide. Fiorina opposed criminalizing abortion and said she would not apply a litmus test when considering judges.
The National Right to Life Committee
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide.
Since the 1980s, NRLC has influen ...
, the Susan B. Anthony List
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly Susan B. Anthony List) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the U.S. by supporting anti-abortion politicians, primarily women, through its SBA List ...
and the California ProLife Council all endorsed Fiorina's 2010 U.S. Senate campaign in California.
Fiorina supports eliminating federal funding for Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
, the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, performing over 300,000 per year.[Sarah McCammon]
Feeling Momentum, Carly Fiorina Visits The Iowa State Fair
NPR (August 18, 2015). The use of federal funds for abortions is mostly banned under current law.
During the September 16, 2015, GOP presidential candidates' debate on ''CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
'', Fiorina criticized Planned Parenthood for their involvement in abortions. She referred to the secret recordings made by The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), and stated:
: "As regards Planned Parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. This is about the character of our nation, and if we will not stand up and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us."
According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', "there was never any video that depicted, as Ms. Fiorina stated, a live fetus on a table being prepared for organ harvesting." PolitiFact.com
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...
noted that a completely different video produced by an anti-abortion group contains stock footage of a fetus added for dramatic effect. Fiorina's claim made it sound as if there is actual footage of Planned Parenthood examining an aborted fetus whose heart is still beating, which was false.[ PolitiFact said "Fiorina makes it sound as if the footage shows what Planned Parenthood is alleged to have done. In fact, the stock footage was added to the video to dramatize its content. We rate her statement Mostly False."] As PolitiFact.com pointed out, Fiorina is likely talking about a video showing an interview with a woman talking about a scene similar to the one Fiorina describes; the video's creators have supplemented her interview with grisly stock footage of a fetus outside the womb."[
]
Climate change
In a February 2015 speech, Fiorina acknowledged the scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by human activity, but remained doubtful that government can affect the issue and has "implied that targeting the coal industry will not solve the problem".
On April 4, 2015, Fiorina spoke out about climate change in her home state of California as well as how the state has fared in the 2012–15 North American drought
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
, stating that "liberal environmentalists" have brought what she described as a "tragedy" and that California is an example of "liberals being willing to sacrifice other people's lives and livelihoods at the altar of their ideology".
Drugs
Fiorina said in May 2015 that "drug addiction shouldn't be criminalized" and cited "decriminalizing drug addiction and drug use" as an example of a successful reform.
Fiorina opposes legalization of marijuana
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
, but says that she believes in states' rights and that as president she will not enforce the federal ban on marijuana in Colorado, where voters have legalized marijuana as a matter of state law.[Jesse Rifkin]
Carly Fiorina Wouldn't Enforce Federal Marijuana Ban In States With Legalization
''Huffington Post'' (May 8, 2015).
Economy
Fiorina opposed the 2009 federal stimulus act, calling it a waste of taxpayer money.
Fiorina has said she would cut the pay of federal workers and base their compensation on performance.
Education
Fiorina is a critic of the Common Core State Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, is an educational initiative from 2010 that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the concl ...
, calling them a "heavy-handed and standardized" example of "Washington bureaucracy".[Mark Hensch]
Fiorina: US education 'a big problem'
''The Hill'' (May 31, 2015).[Carly Fiorina]
How to Fix Our Broken Education System? Give Every Parent and Student a Choice and a Chance
, ''Iowa Republican'' (July 22, 2015). According to PBS, "In a position paper while running for the U.S. Senate in California, Fiorina strongly advocated for metric-based accountability in schools. She praised No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
as setting high standards and Race to the Top
Race to the Top (R2T, RTTT or RTT) was a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education competitive grant created to spur and reward innovation and reforms in state and local district K–12 education. Funded as part of the American Recovery ...
for using internationally-benchmarked measures." Fiorina has also argued for a reduced federal role in education, saying, "The bigger our education department
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
becomes, the worse our public education becomes. There's no connection between spending more money in our nation's capital and a better school system. "
In 2010, Fiorina indicated that she would support "a voucher
A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include housing, travel, and food vouchers. The term voucher is also a ...
program for the areas, or neighborhoods, or student populations most in need".[Maureen Sullivan]
"Carly Fiorina on Education: 6 Things the Presidential Candidate Wants You to Know"
''Forbes'' (May 4, 2015). In 2015, Fiorina wrote that she supported a school choice
School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools.
The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...
or voucher program for all students. In February 2015, Fiorina stated, "Parents should be given choice, competition, and accountability in the classroom."
Fiorina stated at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). ...
that President Obama's proposal for free community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
was intended "to distract us from the fact that we have too many failing high schools".
At a May 2015 event, Fiorina asserted that the federal government "in the last several years under the Obama administration has nationalized the student loan
A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest r ...
industry".[Lori Robertson]
Fiorina Misleads on Student Loans
FactCheck.org (May 7, 2015). The Annenberg Public Policy Center
The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) is a center for the study of public policy at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. It has offices in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, where the University of Pennsyl ...
's FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org is a nonprofit website that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in Politics of the United States, U.S. politics by providing original research on misinformation and hoaxes. It is a project of the Annenberg Public Po ...
stated that "Fiorina gave a misleading description" since "private and federal student loans are available now, just as they were in the past."
Embryonic Stem cell research
Fiorina supports the use of human embryos in stem cell research
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
provided that the embryos were not created for that purpose. In a 2010 debate, she said, "I've also been very clear in saying if embryos were going to be destroyed in any event, that I have no trouble with research."
Foreign and military policy
Fiorina has criticized the Iran nuclear agreement
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
, based on a number of issues that she called "suspicious". She has said that Iran is not a good actor and did not negotiate in good faith, and that if the U.S. wanted to achieve a good deal then the negotiators on the U.S.'s behalf should have walked away from the bargaining table but never did. Fiorina also stated that the U.S. cannot trust the verification components of the deal because Iran does not allow access to military sites and Iran has broken sanctions and inspection agreements in the past, and that the approval of the international community is suspect because Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
were negotiating on Iran's behalf looking out for their own self-interests (specifically gaining access to Iran's economy) and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
negotiates weak deals.[Carly Fiorina]
Opinion: A false choice and a flawed deal
Fox News (April 2, 2015).
Speaking on Russia–U.S. relations and the Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
during her 2015 campaign, Fiorina said that if president, "I wouldn't talk to him (Russian president
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
) at all." Fiorina has said that if president, she would "stand up and arm Ukraine" and conduct more aggressive military exercise
A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...
s in the Baltic nations
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
to "send a very clear message to Vladimir Putin."[Eleanor Clift]
This Is Carly, Hear Her Roar
''Daily Beast'' (April 22, 2015). Fiorina also supported the missile defense program in Poland and increasing the U.S. troop presence in Germany.
In a January 2015 discussion with an Iowa political blogger, Fiorina said of the Chinese: "They're not terribly imaginative. They're not entrepreneurial. They don't innovate. That's why they're stealing our intellectual property."
Fiorina has criticized the international nuclear agreement with Iran, saying that Iran is "at the heart" of evil in the Middle East; that the agreement is a "flawed deal"; and that "there is a lot of reason to be suspicious" of it. Fiorina said that: "It would be different if Iran was a good actor and had negotiated in good faith all this time but they haven't" and said "If you want a good deal, you've got to walk away sometimes. We never did." Fiorina also suggested that verification provisions in the agreement were insufficient and that approval of the agreement by the international community
The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world.
As a rhetorical term
Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is ...
and the U.S.'s negotiating partners was suspect because Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
have an interest in gaining access to Iran's economy and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
"has negotiated, frankly, a number of weak deals."
Fiorina expressed for a military building, calling specifically for an additional "50 Army brigades, 36 Marine battalions, between 300 and 350 naval ships, and an upgrade of 'every leg of the nuclear triad
A nuclear triad is a three-pronged military force structure that consists of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines, and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles. Specifically, these components are land-based ...
.'"[Kate Brannen]
Carly Fiorina's Military Would Cost an Extra $500 Billion (And That's Before the New Nukes)
''Daily Beast'' (September 17, 2015). This proposed military buildup would be an increase of more than 500 billion (excluding a nuclear arsenal overhaul, which would cost some additional sum of money) over existing planned defense spending of 5 trillion over the next decade.
Fiorina opposed the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, telling Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network and an attorney, academic, and author. A conservative, he writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is ...
that if elected she would close the U.S. embassy in Havana.
At a forum at The Citadel
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...
in September 2015, Fiorina said that if president she would cancel a scheduled state dinner
A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is ...
during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
and instead would confront the leader on Chinese hacking: "I'd have a long conversation in the Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
to say, 'Understand, there will be consequences. We will retaliate. We consider this an act of aggression.'"[David Catanese]
Carly Fiorina Would Cancel the State Dinner With China
''U.S. News & World Report'' (September 22, 2015). Fiorina did not give specifics on what type of retaliatory measures she would favor if elected president.
Fiorina supports keeping the Guantanamo Bay detention camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...
in Cuba open.
In September 2015, Fiorina "offered a vigorous defense of CIA waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water torture, water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method ...
," a tactic used by the United States during the George W. Bush-era War on Terror
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...
.[Michael Isikoff]
Carly Fiorina defends Bush-era torture and spying, calls for more transparency
Yahoo News (September 28, 2015). Fiorina rejected the conclusions of the Senate Intelligence Committee Study of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program (publicly released in 2014), which "portrayed waterboarding as 'near drownings' that were tantamount to torture and concluded that the agency's often brutal interrogations produced little actionable intelligence." Fiorina called the report "disingenuous" and "a shame" and said that "I believe that all of the evidence is very clear — that waterboarding was used in a very small handful of cases ndwas supervised by medical personnel in every one of those cases. And I also believe that waterboarding was used when there was no other way to get information that was necessary."
Health care
Fiorina has stated that the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
is a vast legislative overreach that did not fix the problem it started out to fix and created problems for everyone else. Among her criticisms of the Affordable Care Act is that the number of uninsured is not coming down fast enough, deductibles have gone up, and the amount of paperwork has increased. She supports repeal. Fiorina has proposed establishing federally subsidized but state-run "high-risk pools to help those who are truly needy."[Sahil Kapur]
Carly Fiorina's Obamacare Replacement Plan Hasn't Fared Well With House Republicans
Bloomberg Politics (May 4, 2015). She has also supported an individual mandate requiring that individuals purchase "catastrophic care" insurance.
Referring to childhood vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
s, Fiorina said: "When in doubt, it is always the parents' choice."[Betsy Klein & Tal Kopan]
Republicans spar over vaccinations
CNN (August 14, 2015). Fiorina defended the right of school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
s to require that children be vaccinated against common communicable diseases, but said that districts should not be permitted to require that children receive "some of these more esoteric immunizations" in order to attend public schools.
Immigration
In California, Fiorina supported the DREAM Act
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States ...
, which would allow children brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were under the age of 16 to secure permanent U.S. residency and a path to citizenship if they graduate from college or serve in the armed forces.[David Knowles]
Carly Fiorina: No Path to Citizenship for those Who Came to U.S. Illegally
Bloomberg (May 4, 2015).
In a May 2015 interview with Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
, Fiorina said that she does not support a path for citizenship "for those who came here illegally and who have stayed here illegally." Fiorina drew a distinction between people in that category and those who came legally but overstayed their visas.
Fiorina has stressed the need to improve border security before undertaking comprehensive immigration reform.
LGBT issues
In November 2009, in an interview by ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', Fiorina said that she voted in favor of Proposition 8
Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a constitutional amendment, state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the California state elections, November 2008, Novem ...
, a California ballot proposition
In California, a ballot proposition is a referendum or an initiative measure that is submitted to the electorate for a direct decision or direct vote (or plebiscite). If passed, it can alter one or more of the articles of the Constitution of Cal ...
which banned same-sex marriage in that state, but noted that "she created a strong program of domestic partner benefits while at HP".[John Fund]
She Wants to Reboot California
''The Wall Street Journal'' (November 28, 2009).
During the 2010 United States Senate election in California
The 2010 United States Senate election in California took place on November 2, 2010. The election was held alongside 33 other United States Senate elections in addition to congressional, state, and various local elections. Incumbent Democratic U ...
, Fiorina was endorsed by GOProud
GOProud was an American tax exempt 527 organization supported by fiscally conservative gay men, lesbians, and their allies. GOProud advocated for free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights and worked at the federal an ...
, a gay conservative
LGBT conservatism refers to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals with conservative political views. It is an umbrella term used for what is bifurcated into two specific sub-categories, each with its own term and meaning. Th ...
organization.
In 2010, while answering a Christian Coalition questionnaire, Fiorina said that she supported a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.[Amanda Terkel]
Carly Fiorina Changes Mind On Amending Constitution To Bar Same-Sex Marriage
''Huffington Post'' (May 5, 2015). During an interview with the conservative Christian website ''Caffeinated Thoughts'' at a Dallas County, Iowa
Dallas County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 Census, the population was 99,678, making it the seventh-most populous county in Iowa. Between 2010 and 2020, it was ...
Republican event in May 2015, Fiorina reversed her previous position, saying that she now opposed such a measure: "I think the Supreme Court ruling will become the law of the land, and however much I may agree or disagree with it, I wouldn't support an amendment to reverse it." She further stated that "government shouldn't discriminate on how it provides benefits and ... people have a right to their religious views and those views need to be protected."
In August 2010, Fiorina indicated on a Christian Coalition questionnaire that she opposed enforcing the 1993 law banning homosexuals in the military.
In 2010, Fiorina stated that she supported the Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
, but also supported civil unions
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
. In 2015, Fiorina reaffirmed her support for civil unions and stated that those in such unions should receive the same government benefits accorded to married persons.
On September 19, 2010, in a Faith2Action survey, she opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender id ...
.
On March 17, 2013, on ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
, Fiorina said "I think we have to be careful, because John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
's views, which are different from Rob Portman
Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...
's views, are equally sincere. And I think when we get into trouble on this debate when we assume that people who support gay marriage are open and compassionate and people who don't are not. It's why I believe the right way to solve these very personal issues is to let people vote on them, don't have judges decide it, don't even have representative government decide it, let people vote on it in the states. I think people of both points of view, accept the democratic process. What they don't always accept is a bunch of self-important, self-appointed judges saying this is culturally the new norm."
In April 2015, Fiorina defended the Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act and government benefits to same-sex couples. She stated that the Indiana bill is about the "opportunity to practice their religions freely" and "It has not and has never been a license to discriminate." On April 2, 2015, in an interview with ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', she described it as "shameful" how, in her view, liberals have fanned the furor over the Indiana law. "I honestly believe this is a set of liberal political activists who practice a game of identity politics and divisive politics to whip people into a frenzy, and I think it's very destructive to the fabric of this country," she said. She blasted business leaders in Silicon Valley and elsewhere who have criticized the Indiana law as discriminatory, questioning why there isn't similar outrage "in the Twitterverse about the subjugation of the rights of women and gays in many countries in which these companies do business. Where is the outrage about that? Where is the outrage about how gays are treated in Iran, for example? Where is the outrage about how women are treated in Algeria?"
During an April 2015 interview with ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
, Fiorina stated, "I think it's really too bad, honestly, that CEOs are being pressured .. What this law basically says is that a person can push back against ... either federal government mandate or state government mandate to exert their religious liberties. She also reaffirmed her support for civil unions.
In June 2015, as a response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in ''Obergefell v. Hodges
''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...
'', which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
under the Fourteenth Amendment, Fiorina said the decision was "only the latest example of an activist Court. I do not agree that the Court can or should redefine marriage. I believe that responsibility should have remained with states and voters where this conversation has continued in churches, town halls and living rooms around the country." In May 2015, however, she said that she hoped that the nation could support the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage and, at the same time, respect individual consciences. In 2017, Fiorina headlined the 40th anniversary gathering of Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT Republican organization which supports same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights.
Maternity leave
Fiorina opposes federal legislation to require companies to provide paid maternity leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...
to their employees. Fiorina has said that the private sector should make these decisions, pointing out that HP, while she was CEO, offered paid maternity leave voluntarily, and that companies such as Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
have done the same.
Minimum wage
Fiorina opposes a federal minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
increase, adding that she believes it "is a classic example of a policy that is best carried out in the states", saying a national minimum wage does not make sense because economic conditions in New Hampshire vary significantly from more expensive economic conditions in Los Angeles or New York. She also believes that raising the federal minimum wage would "hurt those who are looking for entry-level jobs."
Net neutrality
Fiorina opposes net neutrality
Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...
rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
and has said she would "roll back" that policy, because "Regulation over innovation is a really bad role for government."
Regulation
Fiorina "generally believes that reducing government regulations helps to spur the economy."
Fiorina has condemned the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as Dodd–Frank, is a United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010. The law overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the Great Recessi ...
, saying in April 2015 that "We should get rid of Dodd-Frank and start again."
Fiorina has stated that not "a single regulation has ever been repealed."[Glenn Kessler]
Fact Checker: Carly Fiorina's claim that not 'a single regulation' has ever been repealed
''The Washington Post'' (April 27, 2015). Glenn Kessler of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' "Fact Checker" column gave this statement three out of four Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
s, finding that "Important parts of the economy have been deregulated in recent decades. While the repeal of a specific rule is relatively rare, there are certainly examples." Susan E. Dudley, director of the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, preside ...
, said that Fiorina is "generally right that regulations, once issued, are rarely revisited and even more rarely actually repealed".
Taxation
During her 2010 Senate campaign, Fiorina "called for eliminating the estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
and capital gains taxes
A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property.
Not all countries impose a c ...
for investments in small businesses, and lowering marginal tax rate
In a tax system, the tax rate is the ratio (usually expressed as a percentage) at which a business or person is taxed. There are several methods used to present a tax rate: statutory, average, marginal, and effective. These rates can also be p ...
s."
Fiorina opposes proposals to increase the federal gas tax or state gas taxes in order to fund the Highway Trust Fund
The Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund in the United States which receives money from a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel and related excise taxes. It currently has two account ...
, asserting in a February 2015 op-ed in ''The Wall Street Journal'' that "Any gas tax hike, big or small, will harm American families and hurt economic growth."
Technology employees
Fiorina favors expanding the H-1B visa
The H-1B is a visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101(a)(15)(H) that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires the application of ...
program. Writing in opposition to proposals she considered protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
in a 2004 op-ed in ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', Fiorina said that while "America is the most innovative country," it would not remain so if the country were to "run away from the reality of the global economy." Fiorina said to Congress in 2004: "There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore. We have to compete for jobs as a nation." While Fiorina argued that the only way to "protect U.S. high-tech jobs over the long haul was to become more competitive n the United States
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
" her comments prompted "strong reactions" from some technology workers, who argued that lower wages outside the United States encouraged the offshoring
Offshoring is the relocation of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Usually this refers to a company business, although state gover ...
of American jobs.
Endorsements
;Cabinet officials (former)
* Wallace Stickney
Wallace Elmer Stickney (November 24, 1934 – June 27, 2019) was an American civil servant, most prominently as the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President George H. W. Bush.
Stickney was born in Salem, New Ham ...
, former Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
;U.S. Representatives (current and former)
;Statewide officials (current and former)
;State legislators
;Mayors and other municipal leaders
;Businesspeople
;Celebrities, commentators, and activists
Vice Presidential campaign
On April 27, 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
announced that Fiorina would be his running mate should he win the nomination. She joined his campaign in the Indiana Primary, which he lost. Cruz then suspended his campaign that evening. Fiorina's vice presidential campaign lasted precisely one week.
In December of that year, a "faithless elector
In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...
" from Texas gave her one electoral vote for vice president.
See also
* Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016
Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that were se ...
* Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
This article contains the list of candidates associated with the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries for the 2016 United States presidential election.
Candidates
Individuals included in this section have their own Wikipedia page and ...
* Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
The 2016 presidential campaign of Ted Cruz, the junior United States senator from Texas, was announced on March 23, 2015. He was a candidate for the Republican Party's 2016 presidential nomination and won the second-most state contests and delega ...
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carly Fiorina presidential campaign, 2016
Fiorina, Carly
Fiorina, Carly