Iris Kyle, Winner Brings to mind the image of long cancelled late night TV host Arsenio Hall, when he'd place his hand to the side of his narrow face, tap his temple with his index finger, raise his eyebrow, and nod his head while uttering that famous "Hhmmm".
Yep folks, keep your eyes and ears open, cause more "Things that Make You Go Hhmm," are about to go dancing by.
From my scan of her speech, Whitman seems to be putting all her eggs in 'Business' Basket' as the place where societies problems can be hatched.
In my book, helping Business does nothing, if Business doesn't share it's profits with it's workers.
And lowering the taxes on Businesses and deregulating agencies that keep Business mindful of how it's activities effect communities' health and well-being, creates cities and nations with polluted air and toxic water sources.
Take these months to learn all you can, about the candidates, so that your decisions are well rounded. The introduction that came with this email is biased. In fact it came with the title "Arnold's Evil Twin Sister," and because my friend is a former State employee, there was an urging from her colleagues that,
We need to get the word out to NOT vote for this lady for our next Governor if you treasure your state jobs!!!!!!!!
And this was the introduction that followed,
This is the same woman who has been making life miserable for people who sell on eBay. She was the CEO when changes were made, such as sellers not being able to leave negative feedback against ANY buyers, whether they were paid or not. She was trying to attract large companies like GMC, Ford, etc, and has left the little guys in the dust. Since eBAY receives a percentage of every sale, they no longer care about someone who is making a few hundred dollars a month, because they don't bring in a huge amount. Just look her opinion of State workers, and ask yourself... DO YOU WANT THIS PERSON TO BE THE GOVERNOR?
Meg Whitman formally announcing her candidacy 9/22/09 in Fullerton, CA .
It’s such a privilege to be here with all of you. Since February, when I began to explore my possible run for governor, I’ve been going non-stop listening to people, sharing ideas, thinking hard about the problems Californians face. I’ve visited dozens of towns in every corner of our state and participated in more than 100 events.
Californians have welcomed me into their homes, shown me their businesses, and introduced me to their families and communities. I’ve been deeply touched.
I’m quickly learning that the campaign trail is as rewarding as it is tough. Yes, there are some grueling days, but actually, every day is a gift. I already treasure the time I’ve spent with Californians during the campaign, and we’re only just beginning.
As I said, I’ve traveled to every corner of our state, and what I’ve heard time and again, from Californians in every walk of life – from Republicans to Democrats to decline to state voters – is that people desperately want California to be great again.
There’s a profound hunger for change, for leadership, and for authenticity. Californians want to trust their leaders again. They want to be told the truth. And most of all, they want to live in a place of opportunity and optimism, not a place of small dreams and scaled-down ambitions.
Californians love their state, but they understand that their home is in deep trouble. They know because they’re confronted by the problems every day.
More than 2.2 million Californians are out of work. Our unemployment rate is at a record-shattering 12.2 percent. And in some parts of the state, things are much worse. In Mendota, unemployment is at 38 percent. In Huron, we’re at almost 35 percent. And parts of Riverside County hover at around 30 percent unemployment.
Think about what that means… Think about the number of heartbreaking conversations that have taken place: Employers telling long-time employees they must go… Husbands telling wives that they can’t afford their homes… Parents telling children their college dreams are over.
For Californians who still have jobs, taxes and fees are eating into their lives. Every year we pay more to sustain an out-of-control state bureaucracy… A wasteful bureaucracy, out of touch with the needs of Californians… And a selfish and arrogant bureaucracy, unwilling to give an inch even in the toughest of economic times.
During the past decade, California ’s government spending has grown by 80 percent, while our bureaucracy has increased by 28 percent. Do you feel like our state is 80 percent better? … Of course it isn’t…
And since 2004, state government has added more than 40,000 employees. This year, at a time of deep recession, when local governments, families and businesses across our state are cutting back, the government of California has actually hired 10,000 more bureaucrats! Is it any wonder that Californians are fed up?
And if unemployment, taxes, fees, and out-of-control spending don’t ruin your day, there’s a good chance you’re very worried about your children’s education.
Too many Californians send their children to broken public schools. Schools where our best teachers lose faith and where union rules give our worst teachers a free pass. Schools where our children fail to learn and where the state’s future diminishes a little more each day. Is it any wonder that Californians are fed up? … Of course not…
Californians have every right to be in a foul mood. Cynicism towards everything Sacramento – towards the politics and the politicians – runs deep. People are tired of the lies. They’re angry at the lack of values and commitment. And they’re worried that if we don’t do something soon, it may just be too late.
I understand those feelings. I’ve lived in California for nearly 28 years. My sons were born here. I built a business here. My husband became a doctor here. I care deeply about this state. And I refuse to accept that California cannot be better than it is today.
I refuse to let California fail. The time has come for all of us to take a stand – to make an all out effort to reclaim the California we love. And that is why today I’m here before you to officially announce my candidacy for governor of the state of California .
Now, for those of you who know me, you know that first I’m a mom. I have two older boys, one’s in college and one just graduated. And I’m happy to report that the college graduate has actually found a job and is paying his own rent!
My husband, Griff, is a neurosurgeon at Stanford. We’ve been married 29 years. And after all those years, he’s still the love of my life, my inspiration… without him I wouldn’t be standing here today.
I’ve spent the past 30 years in business. I’ve worked for such great companies as Procter & Gamble, Disney, Hasbro, Stride Rite, and FTD. I’ve had to be confident, efficient, focused, and accountable.
During the past 10 years, I was the President and CEO of eBay. I built eBay from a 30-person, $4 million dollar company, to a company of 15,000 employees and nearly $8 billion in revenues.
eBay was the culmination of my business career. It’s the place where I tested my years of experience and honed my leadership skills. But it was also much more.
At eBay, I helped millions of people create small businesses in the marketplace. I became intimately familiar with the challenges small businesses face in this country.
I came to understand that job creation is dependent on a fragile mix of circumstances – circumstances all too often disrupted by the intrusive hand of government.
And I came to love the inspired individual – a person set free to pursue his or her dreams by an open marketplace and a free society.
Government does not create wealth in this country – inspired individuals create wealth. Helping those people succeed on eBay was the privilege of a lifetime.
My interest in public service blossomed from my years at eBay. It’s an interest that was fueled by my parents, both of whom served their country in the Pacific during World War II. And it’s an interest that was inspired by my long friendships with Mitt Romney and John McCain.
I am running for governor because California simply cannot continue on the path it’s on. And I want your support because I believe I’m uniquely qualified to help turn our state around.
California is the world’s 8th largest economy. It contributes 13 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product. America ’s future is deeply woven into the fabric of California . And I believe that the outcome of our struggles to govern our state and fix our problems will define America ’s destiny in the 21st century.
California is at a tipping point. Our finances are bankrupt. Much of our society’s infrastructure – the roads, the ports, the water delivery systems – is at the breaking point. Our schools don’t teach our kids. Our taxes force people and businesses to leave the state. And our politics and government are so broken that people wonder whether Californians are even capable of governing themselves.
Now, we can continue down the path we’re on: We can bury our heads and just accept the inevitability of reckless government spending…
We can keep sucking up tax increase after tax increase…
We can pretend that it’s not a big deal when a neighbor we know or a business we depend on moves to another state…
We can ignore the schools, especially if our kids aren’t in them…
And we can blame the whole mess on the politicians and move on.
But if we do that – if we continue down the ugly path we’re on – our children and grandchildren will inherit a much-diminished state… a state with much lowered expectations and limited opportunity…
California will become a symbol not for what’s possible, but for the missed potential of a great people.
I want to take a different approach. I’m a big believer in focus. And I believe the next governor has to focus on three things to save our state. She must create jobs, cut spending, and fix our broken education system.
We could spend hours talking about each of these areas. Instead, what I’ll do now is share the main parts of what I propose to do. I invite you to visit my website at Meg Whitman dot-com for more details.
Since early this year, I’ve been crystal clear that if I’m elected I will look at everything through the lens of job creation. California simply cannot begin to solve its problems until our people are working again. We must put jobs first.
My number one goal as governor will be to help the private sector create at least 2 million jobs for Californians by 2015. This is the amount we need if we’re going to replace the jobs our economy has stopped producing or is losing to neighboring states. It’s the target we need to hit if we’re going to restore prosperity.
The way you create jobs is by lowering taxes and eliminating redundant and ill-conceived regulations that stifle job growth. You have to create an environment where businesses can afford to stay in California and create more jobs.
As governor, I’ll cut taxes to create jobs. … Specifically, I’ll cut taxes on job-creating businesses of every size and implement targeted tax relief to rebuild manufacturing in California . I’ll expand research and development tax credits. I’ll establish tax incentives and credits for companies that train and hire displaced workers.
And I’ll establish a cabinet-level position in my administration dedicated to private sector job growth.
Times have changed and California has to compete for jobs. When I was CEO of eBay, I frequently got calls from governors around the country trying to get me to move business to their states. If I’m elected, you can bet I’ll be burning up the phone lines to businesses in Nevada , Utah , Colorado , Texas , and beyond.
If the burden of taxes and fees in California don’t kill off your business, don’t worry, regulation will.
When I began to tour the state, I expected to get an earful about taxes, and I have. But the passion I’ve seen around government regulation, especially from small business owners, has been just as strong, and with good reason.
For the sake of one cause or another, California has piled mountains of bad regulations on business. We do a lousy job of anticipating the unintended consequences of all those rules. Half the time, we don’t even bother to check whether existing laws address a particular problem. …
You see, bureaucrats rarely have the desire to think things through, and politicians rarely have the courage. And that’s why California ’s regulatory environment is a proven job killer.
I recently visited Teixeira Farms in Santa Maria . Teixeira Farms owns about 4,500 acres in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. They produce huge amounts of broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, and cauliflower. I’m certain you’ve eaten their produce.
Mark Teixeira, general manager of the farm, is a 5th generation California farmer. Mark and his sister, Pam, pride themselves on their family’s history and the fact that they use the latest technology to run their farm.
As I toured the farm with Mark, he explained to me how often government bureaucracy had stifled his intentions to do the right thing, whether it was to create better conditions for his workers, plant new fields, or improve water usage and reclamation.
Mark’s stories are simply remarkable. He told me about government commissions fighting with each other at his expense. About political appointees with no farm experience telling him how to plant his crops. And about smug, government-backed environmentalists telling him that farming destroys the environment and should be restricted. As Mark said to me, “don’t these people eat?”
Now, all this might be frustrating to just Mark and his family, except the same thing is happening across every type of business in California . …
If you elect me, I’ll stop the insanity. On my first day in office, I’ll issue a moratorium on all new regulations until our economy has begun to recover. I’ll initiate a complete review of the state’s existing regulations to root out and eliminate the rules that don’t make sense or are outdated. I’ll appoint people who share my view on regulations. …
And once the economy is stronger, I will require that all new regulations be thoroughly reviewed for their impact on businesses and jobs in our state.
And if I’m elected, I’ll take a careful, thoughtful approach to environmental regulation.
The environment of California is important to all of us. California ’s natural beauty is one of the reasons I love this state so much. And I worry that man has not always been a careful steward of our state’s natural resources.
As governor, I will work hard to protect our environment. But, the needs of our environment have to be balanced with the needs of our people and our economy.
We have unilaterally implemented too many over-reaching environmental regulations – laws that have left us at an economic disadvantage.
AB 32 is a prime example. Governor Schwarzenegger signed this legislation into law in 2006. It’s goal was admirable – to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions. But the consequences to the economy were ignored.
A recent study estimates that AB 32 could cost the state more than a million jobs and implementation costs could exceed $100 billion. That’s devastating.
As governor, I would place a moratorium on AB-32 by executive order, until we fully understand the law’s impact on our economy.
My bottom line is this: I love California ’s environment. But I reject radical environmental policies that do little for the environment and devastate California ’s economic future. … Liberal environmentalists may not like jobs or people, but California needs both.
Now, let’s talk about spending. And honestly, when I talk about spending, I get mad. I simply do not understand how even politicians could have let things get so bad.
It’s really very simple. California cannot spend more money than it takes in. Why is it so hard for politicians to come to terms with this concept? Families get it. Businesses get it. We all get it.
Our problem is not revenue. We collect enough taxes to run this state and then some. Our problem – our addiction – is spending. And it’s an addiction that’s killing us. It is killing our state and it is killing our country.
Simply put, Californians can no longer afford the government they have. The Democrats and special interests can jump up and down all they want and try to convince us that our taxes are reasonable, and that we should all just be grateful to live here. But people know better.
Californians are tapped out. They have no more money to give to Sacramento or Washington for that matter. And Californians are mad. They don’t have the luxury of getting a pay raise whenever they need one. So why does California ’s government get to raise our taxes whenever they want more money?
We need a governor with a spine of steel who will look at the books, decide on priorities, deal with the legislature, and take the heat for what we cut and what we fund. If being popular and getting re-elected is your goal, then being governor is a really bad job-person fit.
As I committed to in February, if elected I will identify and implement at least $15 billion in permanent spending cuts from the state budget. I’ll eliminate redundant and underperforming government agencies and commissions. And I will reduce the state workforce by at least 40,000 employees. That’s a 17 percent reduction that would reset the workforce to 2004-2005 levels and save the state a projected $3.3 billion annually.
But cutting simply isn’t enough. We have to get our heads around the concept that mismanagement and waste in government is sapping precious dollars away from the things we want to do.
Did you know that almost every state worker receives a merit pay increase every year until they reach the top of their pay scale? How can that be? Are your pay raises guaranteed?
With automatic pay increases every year, there is no incentive for state workers to perform, and managing performance is nearly impossible.
As governor, I’ll reform government management. I’ll crack down on the overly generous benefits of state employees. I’m deadly serious about rooting out the waste of tax dollars.
And I am serious about the need for California ’s government to finally enter the 21st century.
Technology and innovation have improved business efficiency and saved companies billions of dollars during the past decade. We need to systematically apply technology to our government agencies, so we can realize the same savings and efficiencies that have helped our overall economy.
Finally, I believe you can only manage what you can measure. I want to start measuring government performance. I will create meaningful performance goals for departments and publish the results on line. I want our government – and your governor – to be held responsible for delivering the services Californians are paying for.
Education must be the third priority for our next governor. And again, the issue here is very simple.
If we don’t rededicate ourselves to education with the same energy Americans have applied to going to the moon and fighting wars, the results will be profound. We will lose our ability to innovate and create the next generation of companies and jobs in California – to create the next eBay, the next Google, or the next Genentech. We will permanently erode California ’s prosperity.
We must start producing more and better-qualified high school graduates – graduates ready for advanced studies or prepared for strong vocational careers.
More than fifty percent of our state budget, or about $50 billion, goes to education, and we are still failing our children. We’re ranked at the bottom in the quality of our K-12 education. In two of the most important skills for elementary school education – math and reading – our state ranks 47th and 48th. In science, we rank 43rd.
The issue is not money. There’s plenty of money. It’s how the money is spent.
If you send me to Sacramento , I’ll put more control in the hands of local educators and parents…
I’ll grade our schools A through F and put the results on line so parents can easily determine how their schools are doing…
I’ll give parents the ability to move their children out of failing schools…
And I’ll remove the state cap on the number of charter schools so we can have more competition in our education system…
I will reform our spending programs so that the people closest to our children – teachers and principals – can make spending decisions that make sense. Right now, too much is decided by bureaucrats in Sacramento …
Finally, I’ll reward outstanding teachers and those in key areas, such as math and science.
My goal is nothing short of bringing California ’s schools back to number one. It’s an audacious goal. It won’t be easy and it won’t happen right away. But it has to happen. The prosperity of California and the strength of our nation depend on our success at reclaiming educational excellence.
As I hope you’ve noticed by now, the theme of my campaign is A New California. And I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well Californians seem to like the phrase. People will come up to me just to talk about what A New California means to them. And this has been really interesting.
For most of the older Californians I meet, A New California means the California they grew up in… the idealized California of the past… where jobs were plentiful, schools were strong, the roads were new, taxes were under control, and California had its act together. Our state was the envy of the world. Our leaders seemed honest and bold. Things were better, safer, less confused, and more optimistic.
For younger people, the phrase speaks to the future. They talk about how they want things to be. And guess what? They talk about honest and bold leaders. Plentiful jobs. They want strong schools and better roads. They want to be able to afford an education. They love technology and its ability to change things. They want to be optimistic.
Californians young and old want the same thing – they want California to be great again. They want their communities to be strong and safe. They want jobs that pay well and give them a chance to enjoy the American dream. They want government in its proper place.
Californians want to feel opportunity again – the joy of knowing that when they work hard and play by the rules, really terrific things will happen. That the future can always be better than today, and that California ’s best days are ahead, not behind.
I’m asking for your help. I need your support. Restoring California is a daunting challenge. Too much has gone wrong for too long. But there’s so much that can go right.
The potential of our state and her people has never been greater. For generations, Californians have shown that they’re wired for innovation, courage, creativity, and compassion. Our struggles have been the struggles of our nation, and California ’s success has defined the American experience.
If today’s Californians can come together to uproot old habits, old ways of thinking, and old ways of doing business, then we will save the state we love and the country we cherish.
I invite you to join my campaign… I look forward to building A New California with you.
Thank you so much…
Volunteers exercise rescued dogs at the Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW), on the edge of Soweto, Saturday Saturday July 18, 2009. Former South African president 
