"Economic Choices 2008"-- John McCain's Economic Advisor Explains The Candidate's Energy Plans & Policies
Friday, May 16, 2008JEFF YASTINE: President Bush didn't have much success pressing Saudi leaders to pump more oil. But Senator John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, hopes to end U.S. dependence on foreign oil. As part of our "Economic Choices '08" coverage, Darren Gersh spoke with McCain adviser and Republican victory '08 Chairman Carly Fiorina today and began by asking if McCain would pressure the Saudis on oil production.
CARLY FIORINA, ECONOMIC ADVISOR, JOHN MCCAIN CAMPAIGN: Well, I don't think jawboning the Saudis is much of a solution. I think what's driving the price of oil right now is demand, first of all. And I think one of the reasons the price of oil shot up so much in the last couple of days is because we not only have supply problems in Nigeria, but I think there's great anticipation that demand out of China will go up even more, given the requirement for reconstruction after the earthquake. So I don't think jawboning really helps. I think what President John McCain would do is first of all, take measures in the short term to help the American people combat the high price of oil at the pump and he's proposed a summer gas tax holiday and I think he would focus on what does it take to lessen our dependence on foreign oil in the medium to long term, which is why he talks about nuclear power and green technologies and clean coal, et cetera.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Let me ask you about one thing, though. Phil Gramm is an adviser to John McCain. Phil Gramm is also the person who put in place the Enron exemption, which allows for unregulated trading of energy commodities. It's an exemption that the Senate just cracked down on and closed, with the argument being that speculation is causing a lot of the run-up in oil prices. Is that something John McCain believes or does he think that his fellow senators are just off base there, that it's not speculation, it's supply and demand?
FIORINA: Well, I think everyone agrees that speculation is some element of the price increase. But I think most experts would say, you know, you can hear some people say it's worth $20. You can hear other people say it's worth $10. I mean, it's real money, but it's not the bulk of the price increase.
GERSH: Can we expect John McCain to be tougher on speculators and the market impact on oil, though? Is he going to be more regulatory than the Bush administration?
FIORINA: Well, I think what John McCain has said for example, during this credit crunch and the housing crisis is that he expects accountability and transparency. And that's true of Wall Street, just as it's true of the government. So transparency means do people know what you're doing? Accountability means are you accountable to your shareholders and do they understand? I think those are the principles that he will focus on.
GERSH: Let me ask you, you were a CEO, quite prominent one. John McCain has said that CEO severance packages and pay packages were extravagant. Do you agree with him and do you think that President John McCain is likely to be tougher on CEO pay?
FIORINA: Well see, John McCain is very careful about not making general statements. Some CEO packages are outrageous. Others are not. Again, going back it his principles, when he has called out specific CEOs by name and he has, as you know -- he's focus on the principles of transparency and accountability. What he would say is for example, CEO's pay packages ought to be accountable to shareholders and ought to be subjected to a shareholder vote. I agree with that. It's what we did at Hewlett-Packard.
GERSH: One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you about the CEO pay thing is because when you look at what some of the analysts who advise Wall Street are saying about President John McCain's policies, they're saying that there's as much reason for investors to be concerned about him being tough on corporate America, typically drug companies, on climate change, defense contractors, he'd be pretty tough on corporate America, they're saying. I'm wondering, you know, you talk to business leaders, are they saying to you, we're worried about John McCain?
FIORINA: No, I think what most business people that I talk to think is that, gee, John McCain believes that to get the economy growing, we have to lower the burden of taxation on businesses and the American family. John McCain believes that to get the economy growing, we have to encourage free trade. The Democrats believe just the opposite, whether it's Senator Obama or Senator Clinton. What they're proposing is higher taxes and curtailing free trade. But what I would say about John McCain is this -- John McCain has demonstrated that he will take on concentrations of power that are unaccountable wherever he finds them.
GERSH: Carly Fiorina, thank you very much for your time.
FIORINA: Thank you.
YASTINE: Just a note about our "Economic Choices '08" coverage. While we heard from the McCain camp tonight, we have interview requests out to both the Obama and Clinton campaigns.
