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Hewlett Packard (HPQ) reported its worst quarterly loss in its 73-year history Wednesday. The PC-maker suffered an $8.9 billion loss in its fiscal third-quarter, or $4.49 a share. The hit to HP's bottom line was due in large part to an $8 billion write-off of its 2008 acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) Excluding one-time charges, HP earned $2 billion in the quarter, down from $2.3 billion a year-ago amid a 5 percent drop in overall revenues to $29.7 billion. The company's major PC business slowed in the quarter as sales dropped 10 percent from the previous year. Printer...

The California Nurses Association, which antagonized Republican Meg Whitman with its relentless "Queen Meg" parody during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, is back for a second act - this time poking fun at wealthy people opposing Gov. Jerry Brown's November ballot initiative to raise taxes. The influential union, in a campaign to paint tax opponents as "bungling billionaires," will stage a skit on Tuesday at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. The union promised reporters a "colorful event," with visuals including life rings and a model yacht.

The daunting task of restructuring Hewlett-Packard will begin in earnest next Wednesday when the company reports its quarterly earnings. Sources familiar with the company’s plans say that CEO Meg Whitman will discuss the opening steps of a company-wide restructuring plan that will include the elimination of about 30,000 jobs. A report by Business Insider yesterday pegged the range of cuts at HP to between 10 percent and 15 percent of its current work force of 320,000 people. But sources familiar with HP’s plans tell AllThingsD that the cuts will be carried out over a relatively long period of time, perhaps...

Hewlett-Packard Co is considering cutting its workforce by 8 to 10 percent, or a minimum of 25,000 jobs, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as newly installed CEO Meg Whitman strives to return the storied Silicon Valley institution to growth.

San Diego – Van Jones, the former Obama Administration green czar who resigned in controversy, appears on the fast track to a political comeback — emerging as a star at this weekend’s California Democratic convention and lauded by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a “leader of the future.” Jones, who as head of an activist group called “Rebuild the Dream” has become a leading voice of the Occupy movement, was given the star speaking slot to address hundreds at the kickoff Friday night reception here sponsored by state party chair John Burton. To the cheers of the grassroots activists,...

In late September, when Steve Jobs was a fortnight from his long night, HP, whose co-founder Bill Hewlett had once chatted with and inspired the high-schooler Jobs, named Meg Whitman as its latest CEO. Meg Whitman has many positive and unappreciated qualities, but no one has ever compared her to Steve Jobs. He was the West Coast acid-dropping dropout and seeker; she was the East Coast Ivy Leaguer who kept her nose clean. Her rise up the corporate ladder to eBay was as predictable as any Harvard Business School grad’s can be: Disney, Procter and Gamble, Bain Capital. Even her...

According to her attorney, former maid Nicky Diaz, who worked for former Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, was sexually harassed by Herman Cain. The allegation was revealed in a press conference today. The attorney, who would not reveal her own identity, said that Diaz told her, "He treated me like dirt." "He just laughed and turned his face to one side," Diaz said through her attorney. Cain's office issued a statement denying the allegation. "We never asked her for anything," the campaign said. Media commentators are saying that the Cain campaign cannot survive the latest allegation. Donations to Cain are...

The media circus surrounding Herman Cain just got its third ring. The celebrity gossip website Radar reports that Gloria Allred — yes, that one — will introduce America to a woman who says Cain harassed her in the past.

The process of firing a CEO is always full of drama -- just ask Yahoo. But Hewlett-Packard's board has taken it to a new level. It's all but certain that members of HP's (HPQ, Fortune 500) own board leaked the big news -- that they were planning to oust CEO Léo Apotheker -- to media outlets including Fortune on Wednesday. The leak hit before HP finally made an official announcement on Thursday, saying it had replaced Apotheker with former eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) head Meg Whitman. The surreal spectacle raised the bar for boardroom dysfunction. "These guys are a bunch...

Breaking. Just a banner.

All Things D reports that former eBay CEO, gubernatorial candidate could replace Apotheker. Silicon Valley veteran and politically connected former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is being considered to replace Leo Apotheker as Hewlett-Packard's CEO, according to sources speaking with All Things D. The NYSE seems to be on board, as HP stock spiked after the rumors surfaced. (You can follow the stock in real time here.) Apotheker's recent moves -- shuttering TouchPad, WebOS and shopping the PC business -- has left at least 500 people out of work. Those layoffs were announced this morning. The TouchPad was on shelves only...

...Whitman doubts she will ever again run for elected office, and for many months she said little about the campaign. But she has started popping up recently on radio and TV. For a beaten candidate who wishes to remain relevant in politics – Whitman is advising Republican front-runner Mitt Romney in his presidential campaign, and she plans to involve herself in California ballot initiatives – it helps to stay in view. (snip) She said she plans to support ballot initiatives perhaps as early as this summer, likely involving education policy. She said she will recruit and support Republican candidates for...

Former staffers for defeated California candidates Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have an urgent message for fellow Republicans: Their political future depends on Latino voters, and the Obama administration may be providing an opening. (snip) Mr. Wilson, managing partner at Wilson-Miller Communications Inc. in Sacramento, said that if the topic of immigration arises, Republicans should avoid anti-immigration rhetoric meant to stir up the conservative base. "We're on safe ground when we say, 'We have to secure our borders and get a guest-worker program, then work on a pathway for citizenship for people who are already here'—and then quickly pivot off...

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who made her first foray into politics with a bid for California governor last year, said that after losing that race, she’s probably out of politics for good. “I doubt it,” she said Wednesday on Fox Business Network when asked whether she’d run for elected office again. Some had speculated that Whitman, who lost to Democrat Jerry Brown by 13 points in November, might consider a run for Senate. Last month, she said she was “definitely not” plotting a 2012 Senate bid challenging Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

California is being looked at as the rare alternative to Tea-Party rule these days. Jerry Brown’s direct style and transparent budget strategy as governor have led to a waning in people’s longtime pessimism about state government. Yet, with the extreme policies of other new governors dominating the news -- and with Meg Whitman remaining in the public eye-- one must wonder how it would have been if California had voted the other way in 2010. It was certainly significant that voters went to the polls and beat back Whitman's $178 million candidacy. This is further relevant because in California elections...

The reinvention of Meg Whitman continues apace. The former eBay (EBAY) chief has been joining corporate boards at the rate of one a month in the wake of last year's unsuccessful run for governor. On Tuesday, powerhouse venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers announced Whitman is joining as a part-time strategic advisor. Whitman will coach entrepreneurs and help evaluate new digital investments, according to a statement. "Her experience and strategic advice will be invaluable," said Kleiner Perkins partner Ted Schlein. Whitman, in the statement, called Menlo Park-based Kleiner "fabulous advocates for technology-based start-ups." Whitman in January joined the...

2012 U.S. SENATE RACE: GOP hopefuls lining up to battle Nelson Republicans are bracing for a tough 2012 U.S. Senate primary pitting such political heavyweights as a former U.S. senator, a sitting Florida Senate president and the congressman son of a Republican icon. But to hear a growing number of Republican activists tell it, the candidate to watch is a fellow few Floridians have heard of. “Absolutely -- it’s Adam Hasner,” said Nancy McGowan, a prominent conservative activist and fundraiser from Jacksonville. “A primary for the most part is determined by the grass roots who look for the leadership they...

Once again, political pundits are saying that the California Republican Party is dead and never to rise again unless it begins to embrace more moderate candidates. And just where has trying to be Democrat-lite ever gotten the Republican Party but in trouble? You can’t out-promise or out-spend liberal Democrats! Politics is about real choices. In these challenging times, Republicans must teach, motivate, inspire, and, ultimately, draw a stark contrast between itself and the progressive politicians. Do citizens want more freedom or big government control, Constitutional rule or activist judges, individual rights or group advocacy, low taxes or wealth redistribution? Yes,...

Republicans in California "as a brand," said former GOP party chair Duf Sundheim, "are dead." Ouch. Not that we didn't already know that -- and we told you the other day about some trying to do mouth-to-mouth on the GOP (sorry about the image). But Duf's nugget at the end of a discussion about California's 2010 gubernatorial primary was one of several things we learned here at the lovely Hotel Shattuck at UC-Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies looky-loo-back at the 2010 Guv race. As the name hints, this confab is like a rave for political geeks-- and those who aspire...

The Republican Party, as a brand, is dead in California. That's the eye-opening consensus of a crowd of political observers, lawmakers and strategists - Democrats and Republicans - gathered at a UC Berkeley symposium this weekend to mull over California's defiantly blue status in the wake of a conservative tide that swept the nation in November. Many of the 200 attendees at the two-day Institute of Governmental Studies conference appeared surprisingly unified on one issue: that, barring dramatic upheaval, the GOP's prospects may be doomed in the voter-rich Golden State. "Republicans, as a brand, are dead," Duf Sundheim, the former...

George Skelton has an interesting column today, Whitman paid a high price for Latino distrust of GOP . Writes Skelton, "Senior advisor Rob Stutzman isn't exactly spilling his guts about the former EBay chief's spectacular thumping. The billionaire lost to low-budget Jerry Brown by 54% to 41%, despite spending a record $160 million-plus, roughly $142 million of it her own money."But the veteran Republican strategist is blaming the mini-landslide size of Whitman's loss on some ugly dust-ups over illegal immigration that alienated Latinos from the GOP." Bunk. Let's start with the biggest factor in Whitman's Titanic disaster of a campaign...

The pro-Republican wave in the rest of the nation on Nov. 2 is likely to pay dividends for the party for years to come, with the GOP so strong in the state legislatures, which control post-2010 census redistricting, that gerrymandering alone may yield 20 more House seats for the party in 2012. But in California, Republican prospects could scarcely be grimmer. Exit polls showed independent voters were overwhelmingly opposed to all but one of the statewide GOP candidates. Independents were key to Republican gains elsewhere. Meanwhile, the long-expected emergence of Latinos as a dominant voting bloc appears at hand. Exit...

alifornia Republicans woke up Wednesday with a political hangover. Nationally, they celebrated the GOP's taking control of Congress, but their dismal showing in California gave them a lingering headache. Many of them wondered how they missed the national wave - and differed on which direction to go next. They lost nearly every statewide office, drubbed by double digits in most of the races. Meg Whitman couldn't win the governorship despite straddling the political middle and spending a record $160 million. Carly Fiorina couldn't roust Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, despite tacking right and exploiting Boxer's low approval ratings.For months, party officials...

A Democratic governor and a legislative change from two-thirds to majority passage of the state budget means Democrats will control spending. It is true that Brown and Democrats will be able to jam through their own spending plan without GOP votes if they choose to; passage of Proposition 25 allows lawmakers to pass budgets with the simple majority that Democrats command. It will no longer be necessary that two-thirds of the Legislature approve. In that way, Tuesday's vote "is a tectonic shift," said GOP strategist Adam Mendelsohn. "Republicans are going to have to think seriously about how to reestablish their...

In one of the most critical midterm elections in recent years, Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer won over Whitman and Fiorina, both by at least 10% while on the national level, Republicans took back a majority of seats in the house, with 239 to Democrat’s 18, and Democrats kept their hold on the Senate, with 51 to 46. California kept true to its blue roots, choosing Brown over Whitman in a time when the Democratic vote is not the most popular one. His 13% lead over Whitman was predicted, however, as Whitman’s image had faltered with the public in the...

LOS ANGELES - Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Linda McMahon had a lot in common. All sharp, successful businesswomen who made millions as executives in the private sector, they identified 2010 as an apt historical moment for a Republican candidate with no political experience to break into politics. In pursuit of higher office, each committed considerable resources - more than $200 million combined - to challenge seemingly vulnerable Democrats. Each risk taker came up far short of her goal. Whitman, the 54-year-old former chief executive of eBay, burned through more than $140 million of her own money in a colossal...

At his post-victory news conference Wednesday morning, Governor elect Jerry Brown showed why he won the election with a million votes to spare. He's steeped in the issues, he listens to what is happening on the ground, and he's not afraid to mix it up. Now, I don't agree with Brown on a number of issues. But in the course of the campaign, I rarely got the feeling that Meg Whitman was listening to anyone other than her consultants or that she was even curious. California needs a strong governor; Whitman showed them a wind-up doll. Worse, the former eBay...

In the springtime, strategists for Meg Whitman in her campaign for governor of California probably felt they’d died and gone to heaven in. In a state roiled in political in-fighting, effectively bankrupt, and a political atmosphere in which the electorate was sharpening pitchforks and boiling tar, you had a non-political woman, an internet legend, immensely successful, running as a moderate Republican, which all the pundits agree is the only way for Republicans to get elected in California. Meg Whitman, the first female billionaire in fact, with all the private money available one could ever hope to spend. And the opponent?...

For me, the weirdest result of the night was the re-election as Governor of California of a man who first held the job when Harold Wilson was in Downing Street. Jerry Brown succeeded Ronald Reagan as governor (who himself succeeded Jerry’s father, Pat Brown, in the job) and went on to give Jimmy Carter a run for his money in the 1976 Democratic primaries. As a schoolboy, all I knew about him was that he was an ex-seminarian turned ultra-liberal Catholic, hung out with hippies and refused to live in the governor’s mansion. He was also very strongly opposed to...

I almost spit on my keyboard when on BOR's talking points memo, he says the following: "Jerry Brown is an honest guy!" O'reilly, you've shown your idiocy again.

Democrat and California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown has taken a giant step in pandering for the Hispanic vote. He claimed California has plenty of wealth and one of the first bills he signs will be special college admission for illegals. Here is a newsflash for Jerry Brown. California is broke and he is largely responsible by kicking open the doors for public employee unions. Here is the video.

“We have enough wealth to continue to have a great university and get every kid into this school that can qualify. Now when I say every young man and young woman, I mean everyone – whether they are documented or not. If they went to school, they ought to be here." Video at site

...the seventies... then Governor Brown literally ignored the expeditiously burdensome escalation of property taxes to the point that the common people had to drive an initiative called "Prop 13" through a June 1978 ballot just to save their homes and businesses. 'Then', Governor Brown was quotes as saying that he didn't want to squander the whole state surplus (nearly $7.1 billion in surplus in 1977) on helping homeowners curb their growing residential taxes. Brown's better idea was to spend from the surplus so to own and operate a communications satellite for California. Hence his nickname: "Moonbeam." If you ask Jerry...

O’Donnell likes nights on the town, Palin is a clotheshorse, Angle is “crazy,” Whitman is a “whore”—conservative women are being attacked from all sides, but voters will reward the victims at the polls, says Mark McKinnon. Nuts and sluts, bitches and whores: That’s the gauntlet conservative women must run to compete for the “honor” of political office today. While every campaign season is deemed more vicious than those that came before, the attacks this time around have reached a new low. Rather than debate ideas and policies, weak-minded opponents of strong-willed women resort to sexualized attacks—a cover to compensate for...

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These numbers move the race from Leans Democrat back to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard.

Former Gov. Pete Wilson is the only politician to have beaten Jerry Brown in an election. In 1982, Wilson, then-San Diego mayor, trounced Brown, then California's bigfoot governor, in the race for U.S. Senate 51 to 45 percent. Now Wilson serves as Meg Whitman's campaign chairman. On Thursday, he told me not to believe polls that show Whitman losing by as much as double digits. Whitman, he says, has a real shot at beating Brown. Polls that show Whitman losing, Wilson said, "are greatly underestimating the enthusiasm on the part of the Republicans and pretty much a lack of it...

If early voting is an indication of how Tuesday's midterm elections will go--and it's debatable whether, and how, it can--early vote-by mail turnout in California predicts close races for Senate and governor. Here's a breakdown of who has voted already through the state's vote-by-mail program, provided to The Atlantic by a source close to the California Republican Party. By party registration, here's a who has mailed a ballot so far: Total Returns:   2,456,455 Dem: 1,056,498 (43.0%) Rep: 959,617 (39.1%) Decline to State: 350,337 (14.3%) The California Secretary of State's office could not be reached for comment to confirm or deny...

We already know that Barack Hussein Obama Soebarkah AKA Barry Soetoro is not constitutionally eligible to be president, no matter where he was born. I also think it is very critical the fraud at all levels is exposed and dealt with. This includes the Obama COLB that was first posted online by the Daily KOS and then by Obama's FightTheSmears website, which both still have the forged COLB posted. Many in the Media claim, including the obots, that the short-form COLB is the only document obtainable by the Hawaii Department of Health, but, as proven here, that is not true...

I know it’s a bold prediction, especially in light of the poll numbers from the LA Times and the Field Poll, but Meg Whitman is about to take Jerry Brown to the mat. Here’s why: 1. Rasmussen has moved the race from Leans Democrat to Toss-up as of their latest report. It’s back in the margin of error of 4 points, at 49 to 45 in favor of Brown.

The Michael Kinsley definition of politcal gaffe is the accidental telling of an embarrassing truth — and if that’s the case, Jerry Brown committed the ultimate gaffe. Only Brown didn’t commit the gaffe in this campaign; he committed it fifteen years ago in an interview with CNN. Brown told the network that politicians in his experience don’t really have plans for governing, or at least specifically in his own experience. He admitted that he lied in order to win election in 1974, and Meg Whitman pounces on it in this eleventh-hour ad:

California’s progressive-era experiment in direct democracy was supposed to elevate the voters above the special interests, allowing voters make law themselves through the statewide initiative process. That this process is now virtually owned by the special interests is yet another example of the immutable Law of Unintended Consequences in government. A brief perusal of the California Secretary of State’s initiative campaign finance disclosure website shows that some $120 million dollars has been raised by 53 groups supporting or opposing California’s nine November ballot initiatives. By comparison, California’s two major candidates for governor have raised or given to their campaigns $176...

Between radical democrat Jerry Brown and rino Meg Whitman, Californians have no suitable candidate for governor.Mitt Romney spent $ 10 mill of his own money in a failed effort to win the Iowa Caucus in 2008. He was bested by Huckabee who spent $ 1 mill on Iowa.After the big primary showdown of Super Tuesday Romney suspended his campaign for the presidency after spending $ 42 mill of his own money out of a total campaign expense of $ 97 mill.By contrast rino candidate Meg Whitman has spent $162 mill trying to be elected governor in California. Thought Romney was...

California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman says her former housekeeper should be deported. Whitman — down 10 percentage points in the latest Field Poll after spending over $140 million of her own money on the campaign — said Nicky Diaz should be forced to leave the country for lying about her illegal status. “It breaks my heart, but she should be deported because she forged documents, and she lied about her immigration status,” Whitman told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday night.

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These numbers move the race from Leans Democrat back to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard. Last week, Brown held a 48% to 42% edge over Whitman. Support for Brown,...

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These numbers move the race from Leans Democrat back to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard. Last week, Brown held a 48% to 42% edge over Whitman. Support for Brown,...

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided.

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided.

As Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman tours parts of California that have traditionally been receptive to GOP candidates, she's also appealing directly to conservative TV audiences, hoping to fire up her party's base. Until now she has declined to comment on whether the former housekeeper should be deported. But Wednesday, in an interview with Greta Van Susteren, Whitman answered the question head on. "Well, the answer is it breaks my heart, but she should be deported because she forged documents and she lied about her immigration status," Whitman said. She also argued that as a Republican she would be a...

After defeating Steve Poizner in the Republican primary, it looked as though Meg Whitman would simply steamroll the Democrat candidate. Meg Whitman had been the CEO of e-Bay and became a billionaire in the process. The idea of a successful businesswoman running California had a strong appeal, but an over-managed campaign by inept advisers and Whitman’s inability to take a stand on key issues of the greatest importance to California doomed her campaign to failure. The individual running against Meg Whitman is none other than aging hippie retread, Jerry Brown, the same bungler who allowed California state workers to unionize,...

GOP's California Gubernatorial Candidate Plays Catch-Up With Sophisticated Voter-Turnout Effort in Campaign's Final Days. OAKLAND, Calif.—Volunteers for Republican Meg Whitman's campaign for California governor are calling voters in Farsi, Korean and two Chinese dialects. They are canvassing Latino voters in East Los Angeles. Ms. Whitman, trailing in every poll, has rolled out a big get-out-the-vote operation, funded with part of the $162 million she has spent on the race so far. The effort is a particularly sophisticated version of voter-mobilization pushes candidates and parties are ratcheting up with less than a week before Election Day. Many candidates believe get-out-the-vote drives...