In Case You Missed It: Meg Whitman's interview on KTLA
August 11, 2010
CUPERTINO - This morning Meg Whitman interviewed on KTLA where she discussed her consistent position on immigration, Jerry Brown's union ties and her plan to stimulate job growth in California. Watch the interview below:
Meg Whitman Interview On KTLA
WATCH HERE:
http://bit.ly/bsBCULMichaela Pereira: She has spent a decade as the head of eBay, and has served in executive positions for companies like Procter & Gamble and Hasbro.
Frank Buckley: Now she is the Republican nominee to become the first female governor of California. We want to welcome Meg Whitman to our program. Welcome, good morning!
Meg Whitman: Thank you very much, happy to be hear.
Frank Buckley: Good to have you here. Let me get right to --- We are getting to some of our questions from our viewers, but I want to ask you about illegal immigration because it has been such a hot topic. You get beat up pretty bad on John & Ken the other day, but let me ask you about some of the allegations. 2009, you said you favored a path to legalization. 2010, you are not for a path to citizenship. What is the difference? Are you trying to have it both ways?
Meg Whitman: No, so I have been entirely consistent on this from the beginning despite what you read and hear, and I have never been for amnesty, ever, from day 1 on this campaign I have not been for amnesty. What I have been for is, we do have to get our arms around the illegal immigration question in California. I want to secure the borders. I want to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers. I want to eliminate sanctuary cities, but we have to combine that with a temporary guest worker program for the agricultural industry in the Central Valley. So that has been my stance from the beginning. From the beginning, I also came out against Prop 187 because I wanted a K-12 education for any child in California, and also, from the beginning said I did not think the Arizona law was the right thing for California.
Michaela Pereira: Let's move on to something that has dominated local headlines here, what is going on in the city of Bell. We have got a question from one of our viewers. Joyce from Hemet is asking "How is she going to handle the out- of-control pensions for government workers?"
Meg Whitman: Right, well what you have highlighted every day on this show about Bell is the perfect example of what is wrong with government in California and why Sacramento is also very broken because the state workers have very generous pension benefits. Maybe not quite as generous as Bell, but very generous pension benefits. This will cause California to run out of money, and we have to reset these pension benefits, so I want to renegotiate with the very powerful unions. We have to raise retirement ages. We have to extend vesting periods, meaning the amount of time that you have to work before you get those benefits. The employees will need to contribute more to their pension program, and for new rank-and-file public servants, they are going to have to come in under a different deal probably like what you get here at the station, a 401(k) program, not a guaranteed payout, and, you know, this is where I am very different than Jerry Brown because I will stand up to these public employee unions to get these changes made for the benefit of hard working California families, and Jerry Brown is bought and paid for by the public employee unions.
Frank Buckley: Well let's talk about jobs. That is concern number 1 for so many of our viewers, and I am going to try to find 1 of these that hits it, but 1 of our viewers, Walter says "Could you please be very specific in how you are going to create jobs in California since most companies are outsourcing to save money?"
Meg Whitman: Yes. Well your viewer is exactly right. It is the number 1 issue in California today with the 12.4% unemployment we have 2.3 million Californians who wake up every morning without a job, so here is my very detailed plan, which you can find on my website and in a booklet that I have created. First, we have got to do targeted tax cuts to give employers the confidence to hire again, and a very --- one that would be very relevant here in LA, I want to eliminate the factory tax. We are one of only 3 states in the whole country that charges manufacturers a sales tax on the equipment they buy to manufacture in the state, so if you are a small company like Super Digital here in LA, or a big company like Intel, every financial incentive is to go to an Oregon or Nevada or Colorado. Then I want to streamline regulation. You know, I have been to now almost all 58 counties. I have seen all kinds of businesses from agricultural to high tech to manufacturing to builders. Regulations are strangling us. Regulation upon regulation upon regulation. We have got to streamline this. I want to put a moratorium on all new regs til we get this sorted out. And then, lastly, we have to have an economic development team. You know, Rick Perry, the governor of Texas calls into our companies every month, every week. The governor of Colorado. We have to stand up and compete for our jobs. I want to set a goal of not losing another job to a neighboring state.
Michaela Pereira: We will see if we can get a few more questions from viewers in a second, but right now we want to talk about spending because a lot has been made in the news about the amount that you have spent on your campaign thus far. $100 million. You have outspent Jerry Brown significantly. Here is what he actually had to say about your spending. Lets run that sound real quick.
Jerry Brown: I was brought up, you know, to treat my money carefully, my campaign money the same way I treat the people's money. Meg has a different philosophy. She flies around in a private jet. She paid herself $120 million her last year at eBay. Then they had to lay off 10% of the work force. Wow! So, just a difference of philosophy. I think, going forward, the country, the state, the city, Bell, we all have to learn to live within means. Frugality, innovation and transparency with the people. That is my point.
Michaela Pereira: What is your philosophy on spending?
Meg Whitman: So I am a fiscal conservative. We are not spending taxpayers' money efficiently and effectively in Sacramento, and no one will do a better job of making the government do more with less and wringing out the waste and fraud and abuse that exists in the federal --- in the state government. And what Jerry Brown does not tell you is that while he is not spending much money on his campaign, the unions are, and he is --- his whole campaign right now, they have spent $12 million against me since the primary, so money is being spent on his campaign. It is just, he is not being completely forthright about that. And I want to make one other point to you, the money that I am spending on my campaign is mostly mine, and here is what is great news about this for the voters of California. I do not owe anyone anything except for the voters if they put me in office, and this is very different than a career politician who owes political favors. Do you think Jerry Brown is going to stand up to the public employee unions if they have bought and paid for his entire campaign? I do not think so.
Frank Buckley: One more question, this one from our viewer Darius from Los Angeles writes "Regarding Proposition 8, you have state you don't believe in gay marriage. When the case regarding Prop. 8 is brought to federal court, will you defend it…or will you stand up for the civil rights of all Californians regardless of your personal views?"
Meg Whitman: Darius is right, I am not in favor of gay marriage, but I am in favor of our civil union laws, and I want the courts to take its normal course here. You know, the ruling is likely to be appealed, but that is why we have a judicial system, so I will let the courts go forward.
Frank Buckley: We have so many questions, we wish we could have you here for many more hours, but they are running us along.
Michaela Pereira: We will invite you back ----
Meg Whitman: You know, when I am in LA, I would like to spend time with you. Thank you very much.
http://www.megwhitman.com/story/9561/in-case-you-missed-it-meg-whitmans-interview-on-ktla.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
