Ex-eBay, HP chiefs laud McCain's economic plan
Former HP Chairman Carly Fiorina says John McCain is a better choice for the economy than his Democratic rival.
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)ST. PAUL, Minn.--Two of Silicon Valley's best-known female executives on Wednesday enthusiastically endorsed Sen. John McCain's presidential bid, saying he was a far more attractive candidate than his Democratic rival on economic and tax grounds.
The pro-McCain pair were Meg Whitman, who stepped down as eBay's chief executive officer in March, and Carly Fiorina, the chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. Both are active in the McCain campaign; both have been talked about as receiving high-level appointments if McCain is elected.
"I know John McCain," Fiorina said. "He will demand that the federal government be transparent and accountable to the American people. In his first year in office, he will subject every government agency to a top to bottom review and post the results on the Internet for all Americans to see."
Fiorina also said that McCain will help to advance clean coal technology and nuclear power, thereby creating jobs and lowering the cost of energy.
Whitman was no less effusive. She said that McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his vice presidential pick who spoke about an hour later, will lead a "historic effort" in moving toward energy independence.
"John understands the truth," Whitman said. "Higher taxes encourage wasteful spending, demonstrate government's inability to choose among competing priorities, and destroy your prosperity."
These unblushing encomiums are expected, of course. A major purpose of modern Democratic and Republican conventions is to heap praise on the chosen nominee, and Barack Obama received his share last week in Denver.
A secondary purpose is to let the ex-CEOs introduce themselves to party insiders and TV viewers. Whitman has expressed interest in running for governor of California in two years. And after Fiorina's aggressive defense of McCain during the campaign--focused largely on taxes and energy--it would be no surprise were she to be offered a Cabinet post in a McCain administration.
Declan McCullagh, CNET News' chief political correspondent, chronicles the intersection of politics and technology. He has covered politics, technology, and Washington, D.C., for more than a decade, which has turned him into an iconoclast and a skeptic of anyone who says, "We oughta have a new federal law against this." E-mail Declan.
Why in the world would you choose a person that almost killed one of the best hi-tech companies in the valley as you economic advisor?
Or you could say, almost clean coal technology and DIRTY nuclear power. This is because nuclear power plant generate several and nasty subproduct.
The rest sound BS.
That is why you will see some company people applaud McCain.
Obama is about helping the PEOPLE (wow, imagine that) who earn less than $250k, so that is real economies. That helps the country as a whole, while McCain only helps his corporate buddies.
Obama isn't looking for stupid people, but McCain wants to make sure people stay ignorant of what is really going on.
:-)
Yeah, there's a couple of economic whizzes. Fiorina and Whitman are successful only at enriching themselves. They have zero understanding any financial issues that are not self-centered.
Which, of course, explains why they're Republicans.
Seems as though he's throwing lots of female bodies at the public to make sure he gets 100% of the PUMA vote!
Fact: the majority of the Forbes 400 votes Democrat. Fact: the majority of millionaires in the US vote Democrat. Fact: the blue dominated areas of the country have the highest per capita incomes and the highest levels of poverty. The Republican Party is clearly not the party of the rich. Fact: the top one million Americans pay the same in taxes as the bottom 140 million Americans; clearly the rich more than pay their fair share. Indeed, they're paying everyone else's fair share as well.
Fact: Meg Whitman took eBay from a market valuation of less than a billion to a market valuation of $40 billion during her term, generating 15,000 high paying new jobs and a massive shareholder return, while taking an irrelevant salary and taking no major golden parachute packages (her compensation was in eBay stock, her wealth being derived from producing returns for shareholders).
I have no idea about the Forbes 400. Meh, you're on your own.
But Meg Whitman has almost destroyed eBay. Ebay was in the right place at the right time and every single decision by eBay since it started to become popular has pissed off the rank-and-file eBayer to no end. I believe that with the right leadership eBay could have been much bigger without all the meddling in the affairs of users.
Who cares what the rich think. They don't care what I think.
Thanks Jonathan you are dead on in the world of the mostly left leaning blogosphere (especially tech oriented). If the Republicans are so rich, why have the dems raised twice as much money and did Obama break his promise to take matching campaign funds...Thats a real reformer...
Typical Chicago big politics big government Carter the II with a "clean fresh look" (To paraphrase Joe Biden on Obama)
Now ask someone who makes less than a million dollars a year what they think about the Republican plan.
I pay very little federal tax, mostly because my state and city tax me to death. Federal tax cuts will do VERY little for me, but if they cut taxes for the small software company where I am a developer then they can pay me more (plus we have profit sharing). If my company gets taxed more, how will that help me?
When people say they should tax companies more, don't they realize its the employees that pay the highest cost (its not like the CEO's gonna take a pay cut, you tax him more and he'll just demand more pay). In the end ALL taxes are paid indirectly by consumers
After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings. Senators John Glenn and >>> John McCain >>>> for having exercised "poor judgment". <<<<<
Mc Cain record since Viet Nam has been a profile in greed and corruption more than one of courage. I'm waiting for the press to dissect Palin's record on her "Bridge to NoWhere." and where the funding for the bridge went - since she changed her mind on building the bridge. We'll see if the press is up to their job. Mc Cain's handlers (Rove) have already drawn their battle lines with the press in an attempt to keep a lid on their candidates checkered past - and anything that doesn't match the script they are writing. Let the censorship begin.
From CNN Money - "Shares of HP (Research) jumped 6.9 percent in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday on the news. But at one point, the stock was up as much as 10.5 percent.
"The stock is up a bit on the fact that nobody liked Carly's leadership all that much," said Robert Cihra, an analyst with Fulcrum Global Partners. "The Street had lost all faith in her and the market's hope is that anyone will be better."
Fiorina, the only female CEO at a company in the Dow Jones industrial average, had been with HP since 1999. But the company's controversial deal to buy Compaq in the spring of 2002 -- after a bruising proxy fight led by one of the Hewlett family heirs -- has not produced the shareholder returns or profits she had promised."
Another canned executive that was canned because the didn't deliver on their promises. Does Rove think his base can't read or what? Perhaps he's right.
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by Foggy
September 4, 2008 11:43 AM PDT
- What kind of drug is this writer on, because I'd like to get some. You're listening to what Carly has to say after what she did to HP. Aren't you aware that she helped the living Mummy write his economic plan and did you do your homework and notice that Carly was on his short list along with Palin for VP? Com'n man think!!!!.
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