Carly Fiorina: Hillary Clinton ‘Flunks Economics’

GOP 2016 candidate Carly Fiorina says Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton “flunks economics” if she believes the economy is better with a Democrat in the White House.

“Whose economy is she talking about? The middle class has shrunk under the Obama administration,” Fiorina responded in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

“According to government figures and industry analyses, median-income households have lost nearly $1,300 after inflation, while the prices of food, health care and college tuition have risen almost twice as fast as inflation,” said Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

On Oct 13. Clinton claimed that “the economy does better when you have a Democrat in the White House.” She made her claim during the first Democrat primary debate.

The third GOP presidential primary debate will be held Wednesday, Oct. 28. It will be run by CNBC, will focus on the economy, and is titled “Your Money, Your Vote.”

So the former CEO is using Clinton’s statement to bolster her own campaign, by saying Americans need someone in the White House who understands how the economy works.

Labor force participation has fallen more than 60 percent, “a level last seen in the Jimmy Carter-era recession,” she wrote.

“92% of the jobs lost during Mr. Obama’s first term—when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state—belonged to women, according to the BLS. The National Women’s Law Center reports that the poverty rate among women is 16.1%—the highest level in 20 years—and the extreme poverty rate among women the highest ever recorded.”

“African-American unemployment is almost twice as high as the national average. The median household net worth for black families fell by 33% from 2010 to 2013. The left continually urges more spending for the Education Department, yet the achievement gap between black and white students has stagnated and remains far too wide—and only half of black male high-school students graduate on time. Meanwhile, liberals pander to the teachers unions while blocking merit pay and shutting down school-choice programs.”

Fiorina notes that people at the top do well under Democrat policies, pointing to a Wall Street Journal report last year stating that 95 percent of income gains between 2009 and 2012 went to the top one-percent.

 “That’s because big government only works for big business, the powerful, the wealthy and the well-connected. Consider the 2010 Dodd-Frank law: Under that legislation passed by a Democrat-led Congress, “too big to fail” banks got even bigger, while 1,500 community banks—the source of half of all loans to local businesses—reportedly have been destroyed. The remaining community banks have had to hire 50% more compliance staff just to keep up with the regulations.”

Fiorina said the big government regulations are crushing small businesses, which create two-thirds of new jobs.

“Mrs. Clinton stunned listeners earlier this year when she admitted being “surprised” to learn that small businesses are struggling. Since the Obama tenure began, the Gallup organization reports, America has seen a net total of 70,000 more small businesses closed than startups begun—reversing a growth trend that had lasted a decade.”

Fiorina says America must simplify the tax code, shrink the “bloated federal bureaucracy” and roll back a “corrupt regulatory regime” in order to get small businesses growing again.