Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina channeled former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Monday’s Voters First Presidential Forum in New Hampshire.
Fiorina stated, “I started out as a secretary in a little nine person real estate firm. I went on to lead the largest technology country in the world, and now I’m running for the presidency of the United States. My story is only possible in America. But our nation is at a pivotal time. Whatever your issue or cause or festering problem that you hope would be resolved, the political class has let you down. Margaret Thatcher once said, ‘I am not content to manage the decline of a great nation.’ Neither am I. We need a president who understands the economy, the world, how it works, who’s in it, bureaucracy, how to hold them accountable, cut them down to size, technology. I have a proven track record of challenging the status quo and problem solving. With your support and your vote, I will lead the resurgence of a great nation.”
Fiorina said the 2008 financial crisis was “a classic case of where the political class failed. So, the financial crisis was caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Government sponsored entities that have been supported by both Republicans and Democrats alike. They have never been reformed. 25 federal government agencies were supposed to be minding the store, they didn’t. Democrats passed Dodd-Frank. Dodd-Frank has caused, what, 10 Wall Street banks too big to fail have become five, even bigger, more powerful Wall Street banks. And thousands of community banks have gone out of business. This is an example of crony capitalism. So, we need to repeal Dodd-Frank, just like we need to repeal Obamacare. But we also need to get about what we should have been doing years ago, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government should not be in the mortgage business. And have government agencies who are supposed to be regulating the financial system be competent at their job. Not, as we know, from IG reports, have federal government regulators, supposed to be minding the banking system watching pornography all day long, and earning the same pay, pension, and benefits as somebody trying to do a good job. This isn’t rocket science, folks. It just never seems to happen.”
Fiorina also spoke out on foreign policy, arguing, “President Obama has continuously provided to the American people a false choice. The false choice is this: Either you agree with what I’m doing, or not doing, or the option is to go to war. It’s not true. There are many things we could and should be doing. First, we must have the strongest military on the face of the planet, and everyone has to know it, which means we have to invest in tooth, fighting men and women, the tip of the spear. And we need to reform tail, bureaucracy in the Department of Defense.” And “on my first day in the Oval Office, I would make two phone calls. The first would be to my good friend Bibi Netanyahu, to reassure him we stand with the state of Israel. The second would be to the supreme leader of Iran. Realistically, he might not take my phone call. He’d get the message. The message is, until and unless you allow full, unfettered, anytime, anywhere inspections, we will make it as difficult as possible for you to move money around the global financial system. Why do I start with those two things? Because, knowing more world leaders on the stage today than anyone running, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton, only I didn’t do photo ops, I know that our allies need a message from us that we will stand with them, and our adversaries need a message from us as well, we will confront you. In terms of ISIS, we have allies who know this is their fight. King Abdullah of Jordan, a good man, I’ve known him many years. The Jordanians, the Saudis, I know the Saudi royal family, the Egyptians, the Kurds, the Kuwaitis, the Emirates, the Bahrainians, all of these people know ISIS is their fight. But they’ve asked us for very specific things, bombs, materiel, sharing intelligence, weapons, so, I would hold a Camp David summit, and ask them what they need from us. Yes, they may need more special forces, but we need to show leadership, resolve, support, or our allies will lose courage.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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