Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina gave a meat-and-potatoes anti-tax speech before women business owners at a Sacramento area restaurant today.
Other states and other countries "are fighting harder for our jobs than we are fighting for our jobs," Fiorina told the group at Cafe Vinoteca. "And that's got to end."
The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who has never run for office before, says she has the know-how to push for policies in Washington, D.C. to create jobs.
Fiorina's corporate background, however, has become a focus of fierce criticism by her incumbent opponent, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Boxer's campaign ads attack Fiorina for "outsourcing" 30,000 jobs to other countries while she was an executive, and for taking $21 million in severance pay after Fiorina was fired by the company's board of directors when stock fell.
To help create jobs, Fiorina said, she favors creating "special economic zones" in the United States where the federal government could provide relief from taxes and regulations in partnership with states and local governments.
She also called for a five-year tax holiday for start-up businesses and a 10-year tax holiday for existing businesses that repatriate jobs that were exported.
"Other places have learned from us to attract jobs," Fiorina said, referring to countries that now compete with the United States in a global economy.
Fiorina on Tuesday attacked Boxer for failing to support many tax-cutting proposals during her years as a senator, and for supporting the stimulus-fund proposal last year. Fiorina said that California's unemployment rate, which rose from more than 10 to more than 12 percent was evidence of stimulus spending's failure.
Outside the cafe's windows, a small group of protesters held up signs echoing Boxer's charges. Fiornia supporters blocked the restaurant's windows, but some of the protesters knocked on windows briefly while calling out criticism.
Fiorina told the group that Boxer's criticism was hypocritical because Boxer has accepted campaign donations from companies that have also outsourced jobs to other countries.
A woman in the crowd said that those gathered were part of "the choir" that would like to see Fiorina win. But the supporter asked if Fiorina thought her campaign ads were "sharp enough" to overcome Boxer's "powerful" ads, which the supporter said were having an influence on independent voters.
Fiorina said that polls showing that Boxer has only a slight lead show that Boxer's line of attack isn't working.
"The truth is this election is not about my record. . .I will run on my record all day long," Fiorina said. "That isn't the subject. The subject is her (Boxer's) record."
PHOTO CREDIT: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina talks to a group of businesswomen and women small business owners, during a campaign stop in Sacramento, Oct. 19, 2010. (Associated Press Photo/ Rich Pedroncelli)
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