Carly Fiorina

Born on September 6, 1954, Carly Fiorina is American business executive who led Hewlett-Packard Company as CEO from 1999-2005. Among other accomplishments, Fiorina was the first woman CEO listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. She is seeking the Republican Party nomination for president in 2016. (Britannica)

Official Website

Tax Reform

Simplify the tax code

• The tax code is too complicated and "needs to go from "73,000 pages down to about three pages." (CFWTR)
• Move from revenue-neutral to revenue-reducing tax reform (CFWTR)

Lower rates and close loopholes

• Supports a low, flat tax for businesses and individuals (CFWTR)
• Supports The Hoover Institution and Congressman Michael Burgess's plans

Jobs and Business Policy

Fiorina's background at HP

• "I was recruited to HP to save a company. It was a company that had grown into a bloated bureaucracy that cost too much and delivered too little to customers and shareholders. As an outsider, I tackled HP's entrenched problems head-on, I cut the bureaucracy down to size, reintroduced accountability, focused on service, on innovation, on leading in every market and every product segment. It was a difficult time. However, we saved 80,000 jobs. We went on to grow to 160,000 jobs. I had to make tough calls in tough times. I think people are looking for that in Washington." (RD3)

Fiorina's two fundamental problems with the American economy

1. "We have tangled people up in a web of dependence from which they can't escape" (Fox)
2. "We're crushing small businesses now" (Fox)

Her solution:

• "if we want the middle class growing again, we've got to get small and family-owned businesses going and growing again." (Fox)
• Fiorina "recognizes the importance of increasing access to capital so that small businesses have the resources they need to succeed, reducing the cost of doing business so that home-grown entrepreneurs have the opportunity to thrive, and eliminating barriers to job creation to put Americans back to work." (CFCW)

Health Policy

Repeal Affordable Care Act

• Affordable Care Act not the solution (CFWHC)
• "We were promised improved access and higher-quality care, but the complexity of Obamacare is preventing the very competition that would allow more and better options for patients." (CFWHC)
• Repeal Affordable Care Act and replace with plans [1] [2] she claims "protect those with pre-existing conditions in state-run high-risk pools, reduces costs, protects religious liberty, and moves us closer to the one thing we've never tried before: real competition." (CFWHC)

Pro-life

• Would sign Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (CFWL)
• Would stop allowing taxpayer money to fund Planned Parenthood (CFWL)
• Would support those pregnancy centers and women's health clinics "that are actually serving their communities." (CFWL)
• Watch her "Welcoming Every Life" speech

Drug Policy

Opposes marijuana legalization but respects states' choices

• "I don't support legalized marijuana for a whole host of reasons, including the fact that this is a very complex chemical substance, and when we tell young people it is just like drinking a beer, we are not telling them the truth. But I think Colorado voters made a choice. I don't support their choice, but I do support their right to make that choice." (Hill)

Drug addiction a serious problem

• "I very much hope I am the only person on this stage who can say this, but I know there are millions of Americans out there who will say the same thing. My husband Frank and I buried a child to drug addiction. So, we must invest more in the treatment of drugs." (RD2)
• Putting people in prison for drug related crimes is not the solution (RD2)
• "We do need criminal justice reform. We have the highest incarceration rates in the world. 2/3 of the people in our prisons are there for non-violent offenses, mostly drug related. It's clearly not working." (RD2)

Lost daughter to drug addiction

• There's a very real reason Carly Fiorina is against legalizing marijuana: She watched her stepdaughter, Lori Ann Fiorina, battle drug addiction and die an early death, at just 35 years old. (CNN)

Middle East

Would call Iran on first day of office, call off nuke deal

• "My second call will be to the Supreme Leader of Iran. He might not take the call, but he will get the message. I will tell him: new deal. Unless and until Iran opens itself to full and unfettered inspections of all nuclear and military facilities, we are going to make it very hard for Iran to move money around the global financial system." (CFWFP)

Familiar with Middle Eastern leaders

• Fiorina said, ""I know Bibi Netanyahu," and "I know King Abdullah of Jordan," as a way to critique the Obama Administration's policies in the Middle East. (OTI)
• Told Hillary Clinton to "Please, name an accomplishment," arguing that traveling the world doesn't count as one. Essentially, Fiorina was arguing that a long political resume doesn't necessarily mean a candidate is qualified--and suggesting that her short one shouldn't disqualify her. (OTI)

Calls for more arms to Middle East

• "The Egyptians are asking us to share intelligence, we are not, I will. The Kurds have asked us to arm them for three years, we are not, I would. The Egyptians, the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, the Bahrainis, the Emirati, the Kurds--all of these understand ISIS is their fight, but they must see leadership support and resolve from the United States of America. We have the strongest military on the face of the planet, and everyone has to know it." (RD4)

Sources Key

(Britannica) = [3]

(Fox) = [4]

(RD3) = [5]

(CFWTR) = [6]

(CFCW) = [7]

(CFWHC) = [8]

(CFWL) = [9]

(Hill) = [10]

(RD2) = [11]

(CNN) = [12]

(CFWFP) = [13]

(RD4) = [14]