Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in 2008 | John McCain — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Carly Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and is the current Republican National Committee Victory Chair working to get John McCain elected as the next President of the United States. RNC officials got in touch with me and asked if I was interested in interviewing Mrs. Fiorina about economic issues facing Americans and the McCain campaign's economic stance, since she is currently in Chicago, where I live. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity and she was very gracious with her time.

I started out by asking Mrs. Fiorina why it was that Americans, facing tough economic times, should prefer John McCain on the economy over Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. She responded by first pointing out that any discussion ought to start with the acknowledgment that the American economy is weakening, an acknowledgment that Senator McCain has made. Mrs. Fiorina discussed the factors that have brought about the current economic slowdown; the loss of jobs, price increases that have affected a number of commodities--most notably, gas, the spike in oil prices in general and the credit and housing crunch that is affecting the lives of the American people. She then discussed Senator McCain's proposed solutions, which include putting money in the hands of the American people through tax cuts rather than leaving that money in the hands of the government because the American people know how to spend their money better than government does. This entailed ensuring that the Bush tax cuts be made permanent--something that Democrats have long resisted. She mentioned the need to get Social Security under control and to solve the crisis currently affecting Social Security. Mrs. Fiorina also discussed the need to lower tax rates on business so that more small businesses could be created and assisted and so that more jobs could be created. She pointed out that while Senator McCain supported the use of unemployment insurance programs to help Americans in tough times, he also believes that it is necessary to make job retraining part of any unemployment program so that the unemployed can rejoin the workforce as fast as possible.

Read on.

Mrs. Fiorina also mentioned the need to stick to a free trade program. I took this as a launching point for my next question and asked what it was that Senator McCain could do to reverse the current protectionist and populist backlash against free trade. She agreed that there was a backlash but reinforced the need to push for free trade as strongly as possible. She said that Senator McCain could counter the protectionist backlash by pointing to all of the examples in which free trade has helped advance the economic interests of the American people. Since this interview was conducted while we were both in Chicago, it was only natural that she mentioned the Caterpillar company, which is strongly in favor of the pending free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia because the agreement will open Colombian markets to American products and services and will therefore help Caterpillar expand its operations by creating more jobs. At the same time, Mrs. Fiorina acknowledged that while free trade ultimately helps those who partake in it, there is worker displacement. Senator McCain knows this, which is why he believes that worker retraining programs are so important and why it is so necessary to help foster the creation and success of innovative industries that can become economic linchpins in communities throughout the country.

Of course, any discussion concerning financial matters has to involve Congressional spending and the earmark culture. I asked Mrs. Fiorina what Senator McCain would do to combat the earmark culture, given just how embedded it is in our politics. She started off by pointing out that John McCain has never taken an earmark during his Congressional career. Not once. Never. That puts the Senator in a very strong position to combat the earmark culture and Mrs. Fiorina pointed out that a President McCain would not only use his veto pen to shoot down bills loaded with earmarks, he would also use the Presidential bully pulpit--in the manner of his hero, Theodore Roosevelt--to embarrass and call out politicians who take earmarks and sneak them into bills by attaching their names to those earmarks and by rallying the American people against the earmark culture itself. Given that so many Americans are currently struggling to make ends meet, the Senator is outraged that Congress is spending so much in earmarks and Mrs. Fiorina emphasized that the earmark culture runs against Senator McCain's values, which place a high priority on taking money from the hands of unnamed, faceless bureaucrats and bureaucracies and putting that money into the hands of the American people.

Since she mentioned the need for Social Security reform, I asked what a President McCain could do to advance the cause of reforming Social Security--and reforming Medicare and the tax code while he was at it. Mrs. Fiorina emphasized that Senator McCain wanted to approach the issue in a bipartisan fashion but in the context of ensuring that we reduce costs and actually engage in meaningful reform on the Social Security, Medicare and tax fronts. That's why Senator McCain supports the creation of a bipartisan commission to move forward on these issues in as unified a fashion as possible. Mrs. Fiorina referenced the BRAC model as a very useful template for any bipartisan commission to bring about reform. But she also emphasized that no matter what the commission or the problem-solving approach of the commission, we need to have a President who is tough, smart and strong enough to bring about genuine and meaningful change--something she knows a lot about as a leader in the business community. Mrs. Fiorina said that one of the strongest assets Senator McCain would bring to this process is the toughness, smarts and strength that he possesses, qualities that along with his experience, allow him to bring about the changes needed. Mrs. Fiorina emphasized that Senator McCain knows where the bodies are buried when it comes to Social Security, Medicare and tax policy and because of his mindset and his experience, he is in the best position to drive change and bring about meaningful reform in entitlement and tax policy.

Finally, I asked Mrs. Fiorina what the business reaction has been to Senator McCain in the context of his Presidential run during tough economic times. She responded by pointing out that when we discuss business, we have to make sure that we remember the crucial role that small business plays in our economy. Senator McCain knows that we have to honor and assist small businesses by reducing tax and regulatory burdens on them. As for the business community in general, it has had a negative reaction to Democratic calls for increases in regulation and taxation. The business community, she said, is smart and savvy enough to know that Senator McCain would reduce regulatory and tax burdens across the board and thus allow business and the economy to thrive. They know that there is a significant difference between Senator McCain on one side and Senators Clinton and Obama on the other.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable interview. Carly Fiorina is an engaged and engaging person and she knows the issues backwards and forwards and can speak with authority on them and on Senator McCain's position regarding those issues. I only wish that she had a little more time to spend discussing economic policy but as you might expect, her schedule is jam-packed.

But I had fun. Encounters with famous people are always fascinating--especially when there is so much valuable substance to the encounter.