Whitman For White House?
EmailShe never thought about it. At least that's what Meg Whitman told me this morning on "GMA."
Instead the former eBay CEO, now running for governor of California, said she wants to concentrate on lowering the 12.3% unemployment rate in California – which translates to about 2.25 million people out of work.
“Knowing about what conditions are required for small businesses to grow and thrive, knowing how to balance a budget, bring people together, get things done,” she said. “I’ve run a very large organization and I think that knowledge of jobs and the economy is just what California needs.”
The candidate, who is running against democrat Jerry Brown, said she supports extending all of the Bush era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year.
“I do not think this is the right time to be raising taxes on anyone. And we should be making sure we are nurturing this recovery, not cutting it short,” Whitman said.
California should also enact targeted tax cuts, streamline regulation and push for further economic development, Whitman said.
The 10 year eBay veteran dismissed criticism from her opponent who has said she lacks the government experience necessary to run the most populous state in the country.
“Well actually two or three years ago he said that experience didn’t matter for the job of governor,” Whitman fired back.
Instead she pointed to her experience at eBay as the reason Californians should elect her, telling me that the state needs to compete for small businesses, not put its “head in the sand.”
“What eBay became on the internet was the platform for small business. Hundreds of thousands of individuals made most if not all of their living selling on e-bay. So I saw exactly what was required for small business to grow and thrive,” she said. “And if California is going to be let out of this recession, it is going to have to be let out by small business.”
Watch the interview here:
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Bait and switch headline there, eh George?
Posted by: Carl Youngblood | July 27, 2010, 10:46 am 10:46 am
Meg Whitman: George, such a “lame” interview. why didn’t you ask her why she had not voted for 28 years!!?? This goes to her citizen duties. I live in CA and would love to know the reason. Also, you didn’t ask her how she would create jobs. Such a waste of your opportunity to be the real reporter that you are.
Posted by: victoria | July 27, 2010, 10:56 am 10:56 am
ditto to what Carl Yongblood said – plus
Why didn’t you ask her how is she going to create jobs, when she was part of the rampant off-shoring of tech jobs here in California. What’s her opinion on off-shoring? That’s one of the reasons for the high unemployment levels in our state.
Posted by: sandra | July 27, 2010, 11:06 am 11:06 am
While I agree a lot of what should have been ask was not, when it comes to off shore drilling I for one hope it is never starts up again. Have we learned nothing from the last 2 extremely damaging results of this practice? We have become such a narrow mind people when it comes to this subject and want to provide jobs at any cost rather then look for alternative options that would serve all We take the h— with the environment attitude. Way to go!
Posted by: Nita | July 27, 2010, 11:22 am 11:22 am
angelgrove,,,the bell city situation? where was jerry brown the watchdog ag? these salaries are all public info that anyone can obtain. where was the oversight? we need anyone besides a liberal democrat to clean up this sewer of a state. take america and california back from the grips of illegals and mexican drug cartels.no more sanctuary and stay out of my walllet.
Posted by: catman | July 27, 2010, 12:00 pm 12:00 pm
Catman. All government is knee-jerk reaction. That is how our law works. We are not a watchdog society we are for better or worse a lawful society.
The AG can only as a legal authority go after Bell after the bar was raised to awareness. If you think we should have known about the scandalous pocketing of money in Bell, Bell needs to have an ordinance that states it as so. The AG has little authority to making that happen. Cities are encouraged to adopt a Statewide standard in setting up their laws. Nothing keeps them from going a stray vis a vis the city of Bell.
Since this has exploded on the scene the AG is actively pursuing it. If anything this is the power of the press and I applaud the LA Times exposing this poster-child of government corruption. All Republican to boot. I would say the press should continue all throughout California, keep the AG busy and he will have no time to campaign.
Should be a Republican strategy. That way the porn queen can try to re-brand herself before the election comes. This bodes very badly for her.
Posted by: Angelgroove | July 27, 2010, 12:30 pm 12:30 pm
Meg is too phony she comes across as insincere and well coached as most top executives for billion dollar companies are.. stays on Rep talking points but has no concrete plans just the same sound bites and slick Ads. ahh the things money can and cannot buy.. Sorry Meg you’re unqualified to lead our great state.. Is it any wonder that not even Arnie the great failure has endorsed you?.. You and Carly are both corporate busts trying to parlay marginal corporate successes into Gov’t power..
Posted by: gregory | July 27, 2010, 1:16 pm 1:16 pm
angelgroove…you have missed the point…these salaries are PUBLIC information disclosed in financial statements which are submitted to the attorney generals office amongst others. BELL is not the only city with outrageous salaries and benefits. thats why we are upside down when it comes to govt spending. rather than raise taxes someone should be picking apart the government fleecing of the citzens. jerry brown should have his staff look at all cities and counties financial statements. do you know how many city managers make over 250,000 a year?
Posted by: catman | July 27, 2010, 1:45 pm 1:45 pm
Sure why not?
Whitman has billions to burn, and she is willing to spend $100 million in a primary. Who could compete against that? Maybe a Mike Bloomberg or Carly Fiorina or some other billionaire down the road. Besides, it’s good for America (esp the media – who makes millions off of these hunches and hype) …
My best advice: “Give it a rest.”
Posted by: Dan Francis | July 27, 2010, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
Catman that just took place this year with public disclosure. There are over 2000 cities in California are you out of your mind? No this is up to the locals to ferret out and report to the AG which will make a determination it merits legal scrutiny.
There is no law I can find that says a mayor cannot earn exorbitant amounts anyway. What witch hunt are you proposing. There was a legal case a long time ago that showed it is illegal to arrest someone simply on intent. There has to be an illegal act. There is no law that regulates government employee pay. Again what legal witch hunt are you proposing the AG should undertake. Here hind sight is always 20-20.
The porn queen hired people alright, sex offenders. That is her contribution. Ready for those kinds of jobs?
Posted by: Angelgroove | July 27, 2010, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm
angelgroove…lets say it another way…all of this info is public and it would have been a huge feather in jerry browns cap if he raised the issue that state city and local governmants are fleecing the people.regarding arrest on intent…ask blago.albeit not illegal a littlr sunshine goes along way. the point is they are all in it together.whn the state is bleeding you would think they would look at peoples salaries.
Posted by: catman | July 27, 2010, 2:12 pm 2:12 pm
Yeah Catman “if”, and the AG did. End of discussion.
Posted by: Angelgroove | July 27, 2010, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
angelgroove…he didnt, it had to be brought to his attention. without a public outcry nothing would have happened. i want a govenor who is going to take on the state city and local governments and the unions and especially cal pers. there were 800 new millionaires last year ,,,they were all state retirees.new blood, not a carrer politician please.
Posted by: catman | July 27, 2010, 3:00 pm 3:00 pm
Meg Whitman,
Could never be Elected to the WH.
She’s too far left.
Califonia politicians, are SO far off the mark, on nearly every issue that the VAST Majority of Americans want.
Steph, waste of time, and esp yours……….
Can’t balance a Budget,sanctuary cities for ILLEGALS………
Are in debt out the WAZOO……….
Nothing good comes from California, when it’s politics.
All one has to do is look at Feinstein, and Boxer………….
And their records.
Lord Help Us All.
Posted by: DosZap | July 27, 2010, 4:30 pm 4:30 pm
George,you cannot say you forgot to ask this question.I dislike the way you interviewed and hope interviews of this sort wont drive away people who really respected you so far as a journalist. why didn’t you ask her why she had not voted for 28 years!!??why dint you ask her why she has voted her for 28 years?why dint you ask her why would people vote for someone who has never voted for 28 years ?If you dont ask and if meg dares to show up on CBS they are gonna ask this question.For you this is a missed opportunity.
Posted by: Rahm | July 27, 2010, 9:24 pm 9:24 pm
DosZap- I only wish Calif. politicians could never get elected to the WH, that way we would probably not have slid down the path we have since 1980.
Posted by: KO | July 28, 2010, 10:42 am 10:42 am
Oh, is she gonna try to buy that position too?
Posted by: Brock | July 28, 2010, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm
No, but she might be a decent choice for governor of CA. Has to be better than Brown, in any case. We have already seen how bad his fiscal policies are.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | July 28, 2010, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
@ Rick McD… Meg Whitman would be a 1,000 times worse than Brown and I’m a Republican…!!! FactCheck.org has called Whitman out about her TV ads being full of lies and mistruths and yet they keep coming… in her interview with George S. the other day she mentioned some companies which may leave CA due to state regs and tax laws and all I’ve got to say regarding her comment that DaVita may leave CA is –HA! DaVita’s main corporate office is in Denver, CO… so any state regs/taxes to the corporation will be in CO not CA! As long as Meg’s lies don’t stop her credibility shrinks each day she does not explain why she never voted in 20+ years… her only explanation thus far is “because, just because” and for anyone to consider her as White House material is laughable!
Posted by: JMMMB7 | July 29, 2010, 1:24 am 1:24 am
JMMMB7 – you obviously haven’t a clue about doing business in CA. Regardless if your company is HQ in another state, if you do business out of CA, you still have to pay taxes here and you are still subject to the same regulations/laws.
When she came to eBay, there were only 30 people and she turned that company into a multi-billion dollar one and hired thousands of people. Not to mention all the ancillary jobs that were created because of eBay.
Posted by: BlameAmericaLast | August 2, 2010, 10:30 am 10:30 am