(Leighton, IA) Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina spoke at a fundraiser held for State Senator Ken Rozenboom (R-Oskaloosa) at Tassle Ridge Winery.
“I think this election is a fight over whether conservative values, principles, and policies will guide this nation going forward or whether left-wing, progressive values and policies will,” Fiorina said. “I think we need to reintroduce conservatism to the American people so they know it applies and lifts everyone up, truly.”
Fiorina discussed the low bar that had been set in this election. “I have people come up to me all of the time and say, ‘thank you for answering questions,’ ‘thank you for speaking clearly,’ ‘thank you for talking common sense,’ and I was really, of course, gratified by those comments, but then I started to think about it. You know, what a low bar actually. What a low bar when people are surprised that a presidential candidate actually answers a question, speaks plainly and talks common sense,” Fiorina stated.
She criticized the professional political class that exists in Washington.
“Ours was intended to be a citizen government. It is what by, for and of the people means. Somehow we’ve gotten used to this idea in the last forty or fifty years that only professional politicians can run for office. I don’t think it’s worked real well for them,” Fiorina explained.
“Eighty percent, eighty percent of the American people believe that we have a professional political class of both parties that is more concerned with the preservation of their power, privilege and position than on getting any work done,” she added. “I think there is a lot of evidence to support that. How long has the border been unsecure? Twenty-five years. How long have we had sanctuary cities? Two issues we have been talking a lot about lately. Fifteen years. How long has the Veterans Administration been a stain on our national honor? At least two decades.”
She pointed out the aftermath of the Arizona wait times scandal. “Remember a year ago when the Arizona wait times scandal hit and all of these politicians took to Capitol Hill and gave impassioned speeches, and they held hearings, and they passed a law? The law, by the way, said you could fire the top four hundred senior executives at the VA? Good, a breakthrough, we should do it all throughout the federal government. Only one has been fired, but what happened? They all moved on and just five days ago we learned that over 250,000 veterans have died while waiting for some bureaucrat to tell them they can get care. This is not the America we should be in the 21st century,” Fiorina remarked.
Watch her remarks here or below:
Fiorina also took questions from those in attendance. Watch here or below: