Rather than give the traditional stump speech at the Iowa State Fair Monday, Carly Fiorina opted to spend most of her 20 minutes taking questions from the audience. But Carly — being Carly — was prepared for each and every question, so her answers were very articulate mini-speeches.
One of her most striking answers dealt with EPA regulations and climate change, which she said was based on ideology not science. She also fielded questions about the minimum wage, foreign policy, and Planned Parenthood.
“First, I believe that minimum wage should be a state decision, not a federal decision,” said Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. “Because it makes no sense to say that the minimum wage in New York City is the same as the minimum wage in Mason City, Iowa.”
“Secondly, we have to remember that a lot of minimum-wage jobs are jobs where people start, and in those jobs they learn skills to move forward. So we need to be honest about the consequences of raising a minimum wage too high. One of the consequences is that young people who are trapped in poor neighborhoods will have less opportunities to learn skills and move forward.”
She added that minimum wage jobs are often the first jobs young people get, and she urged them to not worry about getting “the perfect job,” but to “get a job, any job.”
In answer to a question about drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, she expressed support for oil and coal industries, and denounced the EPA, saying jobs and businesses are being destroyed in the United States because of political ideology, not science.
“Yes, of course we have to be responsible stewards of our lands and of our resources and of our planet,” Fiorina conceded.. “But all the people who tell us we can’t do this – we can’t drill, we can’t keep the coal industry going…they all cite the science of climate change. Let me tell you what the scientists say. If you want to quote science, you’ve got to read the fine print. All the scientists that tell us that climate change is real and man made also tell us this: a single nation acting alone will make no difference at all. So we can destroy every job in this nation, we can destroy the coal industry, we can destroy the agriculture industry….By the way, the EPA as of the end of this month, the Environmental Protection Agency will control 95% of the water in this state just like they have controlled the water in California for decades, and as a result, the agriculture industry in California is in deep trouble. We can destroy all these jobs in this nation, we can destroy industries in this nation at the alter of science. But here’s the truth, ladies and gentlemen: those livelihoods and lives are being destroyed not at the altar of science, but at the altar of ideology.”
She drove the point home, saying, “This is about ideology — it is not about science.”
On national security, Fiorina called for a stronger U.S. military and a foreign policy that stands with Israel and America’s Arab allies.
“When the United States of America does not stand with our allies and confront our adversaries, the world is a very dangerous place. So these are the principles that I would apply. First, we must have the strongest military on the face of the planet and everyone has to know it. Second, we must care for those who served us. It is a stain on our nation’s honor that our VA has been broken for 20 years.”
She said her first two phone calls to Bibi Netanyahu and the supreme leader of Iran would “signal – loud and clear – to every ally adversary we have that the United States of America is back in the leadership business.”
Fiorina also said that he would immediately hold a Camp David Summit with our Arab Allies on ISIS. She stated that unlike the Obama administration, she would provide King Abdullah of Jordan the bombs and materials he’s been requesting, share intelligence with the Egyptians, and arm the Kurds to fight the Islamic State.
When asked about the Planned Parenthood videos, Fiorina took the opportunity to pick apart the pro-abortion argument defending America’s largest abortion provider as a force of good for women’s health.
“You don’t have to be pro-life to understand the hideous nature of what is going on here,” she said.
“This is about the moral character of our nation—when you can have employees who target poor communities, who are pushing women into later term abortions so they can more successfully harvest body parts even though late term abortions are demonstrably bad for women…”
“There is no excuse,” Fiorina continued. “Planned Parenthood must be defunded. And anyone who buys the Democrat argument that this is about women’s health, you need to look at all of the other facilities that provide women’s health services. You need to go look at the facts, at how many mammograms they actually do. You need to go look and understand the foundation of Planned Parenthood, which from its very inception targeted poor women, African American and Hispanic women.”
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