Ben Carson in Speech at 2013 CPAC conference
On Education:
Education worked for me; don't throw young people away
Education worked for me, Carson said. After studying at Yale and the University of Michigan, Carson became the youngest person to lead a major division at Hopkins Hospital. "We can't afford to throw any of those young people away," said
Carson, who with his wife set up a scholarship program for exceptional students. A better-educated populace means fewer people on welfare and more taxpayers, he argued.
Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Baltimore Sun
Mar 17, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Not running for office, but God may call on me
Carson, who told the Christian Post this month that he is not interested in elected office but that God may call on him to run in the future, was evasive in front of the audience of hundreds when he was pressed about his
post-retirement plans. "I'm very dedicated to education of the next generation," Carson told the audience at the conference, held in Prince George's County. "Once we get that taken care of, who knows?"
Earlier in his appearance, after bringing the crowd to its feet by setting up a hypothetical with the words, "Let's say you just magically put me into the White House,"
Carson quickly reversed course: "OK, I take it back. Let's say somebody were there... ."
Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Baltimore Sun
Mar 17, 2013
On Principles & Values:
End the "war on God"
In a wide-ranging speech, Carson advocated for a flat income tax and called for an end to the "war on God." He also spoke passionately about the need to improve the American education system, the thing he attributed to leading him from an
impoverished inner-city childhood in Detroit to a storied medical and writing career. "Education worked for me," Carson said.
Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Baltimore Sun
Mar 17, 2013
On Welfare & Poverty:
Charities better at providing for needy than the government
He railed against the government's lack of forethought to deal with the national debt. "We're not planning for the future," Carson said. "If we continue to spend ourselves into oblivion, we are going to destroy this nation."
He also said the government is treating corporations "as enemies" and that corporate taxes should be lowered to encourage growth. "Corporations are not in business to be social-welfare organizations; they are there to make money,"
Carson said.Charities, he added, are better at providing for the needy than the government. "Nobody is starving on the streets. We've always taken care of them,"
Carson said. "We take care of our own; we always have. It is not the government's responsibility."
Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Baltimore Sun
Mar 17, 2013
On Health Care:
Health savings account from birth; teach poor responsibility
Carson's idea for health-care reform is Washingtonian. Instead of the technocratic behemoth of Obamacare, empower the individual. "When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health-savings account to which
money can be contributed--pretax--from the time you're born till the time you die. If you die, you can pass it on to your family members . . . and there's nobody talking about death panels."The beauty of Carson's argument exceeds its simplicity,
particularly as even economist Paul Krugman now concedes that something like death panels are inevitable if we stay on our current path. Taxpayers, the rich, or charities can contribute extra money to the accounts of the poor (with everyone's account
seeded at birth), but at the same time, Carson says, the poor will "have some control over their own health care. And very quickly they're going to learn how to be responsible."
Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in National Review
Feb 13, 2013
On Tax Reform:
Bible endorses flat tax--10% tithing
Although much of Carson's speech focused on personal responsibility, he offered two concrete policy ideas. The first is a flat tax. The Bible endorses the idea, Carson explained.
Everyone should tithe--give 10 percent--in good times and bad. It doesn't have to be 10 percent, he conceded. It's the principles of proportionality and simplicity that matter.
Critics complain that the poor guy who puts in $1 will be hurt more than the rich guy who puts in $1 billion. But, Carson asks: "Where does it say you've got to hurt the [rich] guy?
He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him. It's that kind of thinking that has resulted in 602 banks in the Cayman Islands."
Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in National Review
Feb 13, 2013
Page last updated: Dec 05, 2018