ATLANTA, Ga. – Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina spoke about what she sees as the difference between conservatives and progressives during a speech Friday at the RedState Gathering in Atlanta.

“I’m a conservative because I know that no one of us is any better than any other one of us,” Fiorina said. “Each of us are gifted by God. All of us want to live lives of dignity and purpose and meaning. And I know that our values, our principles and our policies work better to lift everyone up.”

She said the progressive message is that “some of us are smarter than others. Some of us are better than others. Some of you really can’t live lives of dignity and purpose and meaning, But don’t worry. Some of us are going to take care of the rest of you.”

“It is the height of disrespect and disregard, and it is the fight we must have in 2016,” Fiorina said.

Fiorina, a Republican presidential candidate, was the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company.

She said that the next president must break up the bureaucracy of the federal government.

“Crony capitalism is crushing the engine of economic growth in this country,” Fiorina said.

She said that as president, she would implement a “new deal” with Iran: stricter economic sanctions.

“We need an unmistakable signal that America is back in the leadership business,” Fiorina said.

Fiorina called for zero-based budgeting in the federal government, expanded school choice options for parents and reinvesting in the military.

Fiorina, who has never held political office, said that “ours was intended to be a citizen government” because “a professional political class” becomes entrenched in the “status quo.”

“People who protect the status quo most aggressively are the ones who have benefited from it,” Fiorina said.