Ben Carson

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Ben Carson

Ben Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951. He graduated from high school with honors, pursued his undergraduate degree at Yale University, and went on to medical school at the University of Michigan. He became director of Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33. One of his most famous medical achievements there included separating conjoined twins. He has written several books on his career in medicine and his political views. In 2015, Ben Carson announced his plans to seek the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election. His poll numbers have fluctuated, though he remains one of the top Republican presidential contenders. (Bio)

Campaign Website

Contents

Tax Reform

Carson's Tax Reform (section page)

Repeal the Entire Tax Code and Replace It With a True 14.9 Percent Flat Tax

  • "Everybody should pay the same proportion of what they make. You make $10 billion, you pay a billion. You make $10, you pay one. You also have to get rid of deductions." (Fox)
  • Tax all income at 14.9%, with "no deductions, tax shelters, or loopholes", applied only to those whose income exceeds 150% of the Federal Poverty Level
  • Eliminate deductions for home mortgage interest, charitable giving and state and local taxes. Carson claims "the overwhelming majority of Americans do not benefit from these itemized deductions." (BCWTR)
  • Eliminate Alternative Minimum Tax (BCWTR)
  • Abolish the death tax (BCWTR)

Jobs and Business Policy

Carson's Jobs and Business Policy (section page)

  • "We last year there was an additional 81,000 pages of government regulations. If you stack that up it would be a three-story building" (RD7)

"Small businesses provide the entrepreneurial spirit that can make our economy thrive."

  • Believes the current regulatory climate has harmed the ability of small businesses to grow and create jobs. (BCWSB)

Proposes abolishing Affordable Care Act to reduce burden on small businesses

  • "Small businesses cannot expand beyond 50 employees without facing significant economic consequences from Obamacare. [Carson believes] removing such burdensome regulations would boost small businesses and help jumpstart the economy." (BCWSB)

Increase entrepreneurship and job growth through flat tax rate

  • [In response to question on Carson's preference of a flat to a progressive tax rate] "What we have to think about is, 'How do we fix the economy so that it encourages entrepreneurial risk taking and capital investment? How do we create a ladder that allows those people in the lower income brackets to move up that ladder?' That's what we need to be concentrating on. Not how do we make them comfortable in that situation. That's not what America was all about. And we can do that." (BCEWJ)
  • "In recent years, our economy has stagnated. I believe restoring free market policies, implementing a simpler, flat tax system, reducing the regulatory burden on businesses and reducing government debt will rapidly increase economic growth and jobs, allowing more people to achieve the American dream." (BCEWJ)

Health Policy

Carson's Health Policy (section page)

Repeal and replace Affordable Care Act

"Obamacare has damaged the American health care system. Premiums have skyrocketed across the nation while people are receiving worse health care. [Carson plans] on repealing and replacing Obamacare with Health Empowerment Accounts (HEAs) that give people...control of where, how and with whom they wish to spend their health care dollars. HEAs will help to lower premiums and ensure that Americans can choose the health care providers they actually want to ensure improved health outcomes. Alongside HEAs, Americans will also have access to high deductible, catastrophic insurance that will cover regular doctor visits, as well as more challenging health circumstances." (BCWHC)

Ben Carson's HEA healthcare plan would include:

  • First-dollar coverage for out-of-pocket expenses and premiums to buy the insurance of the patient's choice
  • Transferable between family members (BCWHC)
  • Give Medicare beneficiaries a fixed contribution to purchase the health insurance of their preference (BCWHC)
  • Increase the eligibility age for Medicare by 2 months each year until it reaches age 70 (BCWHC)
  • Give Medicaid beneficiaries Health Empowerment Accounts (HEA) to provide first-dollar coverage, supplemented by a major medical insurance plan of the patient’s choice (BCWHC)
  • Fix Medicaid by providing fixed-dollar support to the states, which must use the funds for premium payments and HEAs for beneficiaries (BCWHC)

Veteran Healthcare

  • "Our Veterans deserve the best health care we can offer. The health care neglect that many of our Veterans have faced is not what they earned while defending our freedom. As president, I will reform the VA and ensure that our Veterans receive the high quality health care they deserve. All Veterans should be allowed to receive health care at a hospital or with a health care provider they choose." (BCWVHC)

Vaccination proponent

"Vaccination is an important public health issue. Overall, vaccines have had a positive health impact for many Americans. It is very important to protect ourselves from serious diseases like polio that would be devastating if they returned to the United States. Effective, long-tested vaccines can prevent the spread of common diseases such as the flu and measles, while also helping to preclude future outbreaks. I have listened to concerns about the safety of vaccines, yet the comprehensive research on many longstanding vaccines reflects their safety and efficacy for most people." (BCWV)

Pro-Life, in favor of abolishing Planned Parenthood

  • "As a former pediatric neurosurgeon, I have dedicated my life to saving and improving the lives of children. I am committed to protecting innocent lives, especially when they are most vulnerable. The sanctity of life is something that we must wholeheartedly promote and enforce. For far too long, we have become callous to the slaughter of innocents." (BCWPP)
  • "As a society, we have allowed our sensitivities to be dulled and our disregard for the sanctity of life to grow. The very existence of such an organization as Planned Parenthood is proof of this and the recent videos that exposed them confirm that trend. In our country, we need to invest in better care for women, instead of providing federal funding to a corrupt organization that has been involved in abhorent practices." (BCWPP)

Drug Policy

Carson's Drug Policy (section page)

Though Carson's official platform doesn't explicitly address marijuana legalization or other drug policies, he has mentioned the subject in interviews and during debates. Here are some quotes from those exchanges:

On preventing the spread of drugs

  • One of his top priorities as president would be to seal the border with Mexico "to stop the flow of drugs and violence into the United States." (BCWBS)

Against marijuana legalization

  • "Growing up in poverty, [Carson has] seen the crippling effects drug addiction can have. Gateway drugs, such as a marijuana, lead many down a road to harder illegal drugs, like heroin, that devastate the individual and the family. We must prioritize stopping the flow of illegal drugs into our neighborhoods and inner-city communities." (BCWM)
  • "I think medical use of marijuana in compassionate cases certainly has been proven to be useful. But recognize that marijuana is what’s known as a gateway drug. It tends to be a starter drug for people who move onto heavier duty drugs—sometimes legal, sometimes illegal—and I don’t think this is something that we really want for our society." (The Atlantic)

Middle East

Carson's Middle East (section page)

Carson's Seven Step Plan for a Safer America

"We must destroy their caliphate and prevent their terrorists from infiltrating our homeland. We must also secure our borders, identify radical Islamic extremism by name and root out its agents and collaborators in our own country." (BCWCAIR)

  1. Calls on Congress to issue declaration of war against Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) (BCWCAIR)
  2. United States should lead the immediate formation of a military coalition in the Middle East to wage war against ISIS. He proposes a regional coalition consisting of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, to whom the United States would provide substantial advisory, financial and military support in their war efforts. (BCWCAIR)
  3. Establish a military force of Sunni Syrian men based in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and of Sunni Syrian male refugees in Jordan to destroy ISIS and to establish a protection zone for the victims of the terrorist state. (BCWCAIR)
  4. The United States should deploy its military resources and work with moderate Arab nations to establish a refugee safe zone in the Province. All refugees should be directed to that free area and to other liberated areas later, and be put under international protection. (BCWCAIR)
  5. Congress should immediately establish a war-time emergency visa and immigration policy and limit visitor visas to three months with mandatory check-ins for extensions no longer than three months. (BCWCAIR)
  6. Deploy the National Guard and military troops to patrol the U.S. southern border as well as designated spots along the northern border. (BCWCAIR)
  7. The Department of State should designate the Muslim Brotherhood and other organizations that propagate or support Islamic terrorism as terrorist organizations. (BCWCAIR)

Congress must be involved in Iran deal. U.S. should listen to and consider Netanyahu’s words

  • In his CPAC remarks this year, Carson expressed concern that the Shia-led government in Iran may be more dangerous than the Islamic State militant group. On CNN, he was critical of President Obama’s negotiations with Iran, saying Congress needed a strong role in the process. On Israel, Carson has said the U.S. must staunchly back its ally. He supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. (PBS)

Investigate Council on American Islamic Relations

  • Carson claims "CAIR has repeatedly and openly expressed support for terrorism, disdain for the U.S. Constitution and a desire for America to be ruled under Sharia law." (BCWCAIR)
  • "We should also press the leaders of CAIR to explain their devotion to Sharia law and their eagerness to impose Islam on Americans. We cannot afford to remain wilfully blind to the threats posed by terrorist-affiliated groups in our own backyard. As president, I will fight terror aggressively, no matter how politically incorrect or difficult it may be." (BCWCAIR)

Trade

Carson's Trade (section page)

Trans-Pacific Partnership

  • "I support reducing global market barriers and promoting economic growth and jobs through free and fair trade. We create more jobs and economic growth when we increase exports of American-made goods and services around the world. I am inclined to support TPP, but the American people and their representatives in Congress need to carefully review this large trade agreement in order to fully understand all of its benefits and compromises." (BCWTPP)
  • "Ben Carson has said that Americans should have a say in trade deals through their representatives, but he’s not exactly running on economics." (Newsweek)

In favor of stopping trade imbalance

  • "[A friend of mine, a self-made multimillionaire who owns many businesses,] has proposed that we place a stiff tariff on products that are manufactured in other countries and are shipped here fully assembled, while reducing tariffs on products that will require assembly once they reach our shores. Given the severe trade imbalance, such a policy would have a dramatic impact on the American job market." (Ben Carson, America the Beautiful, 79)

Debt

  • "Now the only reason that we can sustain that kind of debt is because of our artificial ability to print money, to create what we think is wealth, but it is not wealth, because it's based upon our faith and credit. You know, we decoupled it from the domestic gold standard in 1933, and from the international gold standard in 1971, and since that time, it's not based on anything. Why would we be continuing to do that?" (The International Economy)

Immigration

Carson's Immigration (section page)

"The overwhelming majority of Americans want the borders of our country secured and our immigration laws robustly enforced...as president, I will work to end government overreach, reform our immigration policies, boost visa enforcement and secure our borders." (BCWI)

Birthright citizenship

  • Believes the Obama administration's immigration policy has encouraged illegal immigrants to give birth to their children here, thus granting them birthright citizenship
  • To address, he proposes securing our borders and enhancing visa enforcement. (BCWI)

Illegal immigration

  • Carson would seal the U.S.-Mexico border by cutting all benefits that he says attracts illegal immigration (though he doesn't name any specific benefits he proposes cutting)
  • Carson said of this proposal: “You can pretty much get it to 100 percent" (Washington Times)
  • Those in the U.S. without a problematic record would be given a six month period to register and pay a tax penalty. They would have to pay taxes going forward by taking jobs as guest workers, but it wouldn’t amount to citizenship or voting rights. (Washington Times)
  • Rejects the idea of accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S. on the grounds that it would threaten national security. Carson instead said he would support offering resources and diplomacy to help them stay settled or resettle in their own country. (Washington Times)
  • Allow undocumented residents access to a national guest worker program if they leave the country first (PBS)

Environmental

Carson's Environmental (section page)

The climate change debate is irrelevant

  • Carson is not convinced that global warming is a threat or a proven trend (PBS)
  • Believes temperature change is cyclical (PBS)

Says the focus should be on eco-friendly ways of developing the nation's energy resources

  • "Our Environmental Protection Agency should be told to work in conjunction with business, industry and universities to find the most eco-friendly ways of developing our energy resources." (Bloomberg)

In favor of Keystone Pipeline

  • Carson said the Keystone pipeline should be allowed to be built. "It's perfectly safe, so I can't really see a good reason not to do it." (Bloomberg)

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Carson’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation (section page)

Quotes from the GOP Debates

  • "America became a great nation early on not because it was flooded with politicians, but because it was flooded with people who understood the value of personal responsibility, hard work, creativity, innovation, and that’s what will get us on the right track now, as well." (RD1)
  • This country was -- declared its independence in 1776. In less than 100 years, it was the number-one economic power in the world. And the reason was because we had an atmosphere that encouraged entrepreneurial risk- taking and capital investment. Those are the fuels that drive it. (RD4)
  • Carson says he backs immigrant entrepreneurs — but the government needs to watch out for terrorists. (RD7)

"Small Businesses Provide the Entrepreneurial Spirit that Can Make our Economy Thrive."

  • Believes the current regulatory climate has harmed the ability of small businesses to grow and create jobs. (BCWSB)

Proposes Repealing the Affordable Care Act to the Reduce Burden on Small Businesses

  • "Small businesses cannot expand beyond 50 employees without facing significant economic consequences from Obamacare. [Carson believes] removing such burdensome regulations would boost small businesses and help jumpstart the economy." (BCWSB)

Increase Entrepreneurship and Job Growth through Flat Tax Rate

  • "Diagnosis: A Tax System That Is Too Complex, Discourages Innovation and Stifles Economic Growth" (BCWTR)
  • "Prognosis: Without Change, Our Economy Will Continue to Suffer

Our current system reduces incentives for entrepreneurial ventures and investment, and at the same time inhibits the growth of a vibrant economy. Unless drastic reforms are made, the American people will continue to suffer the consequences." (BCWTR)

  • [In response to question on Carson's preference of a flat to a progressive tax rate] "What we have to think about is, 'How do we fix the economy so that it encourages entrepreneurial risk taking and capital investment? How do we create a ladder that allows those people in the lower income brackets to move up that ladder?' That's what we need to be concentrating on. Not how do we make them comfortable in that situation. That's not what America was all about. And we can do that." (BCEWJ)
  • "In recent years, our economy has stagnated. I believe restoring free market policies, implementing a simpler, flat tax system, reducing the regulatory burden on businesses and reducing government debt will rapidly increase economic growth and jobs, allowing more people to achieve the American dream." (BCEWJ)

Religion

Carson's Religion (section page):

Separation of Church and State

No Room for Separation

Carson's stance on the separation of church and state seems a bit unclear but leans towards his opposition of the idea. During a speech at his Iowa caucus outpost, Carson remarked that the idea of a separation between church and state was an unnecessary political correctness. Carson went on to make an appeal to Evangelical voters stating that God must not be banished from the public square. (WT) Carson however, mentioned at a speech during the Iowa State fair that politicians must " take the separation part to heart and keep the religion at home". Therefore, as he's primarily denounced the idea of a separation between church and state he still believes in its functionality. (AATP)

  • Notable Quotes on the Separation of Church and State:

“There are those who go around proclaiming separation of church and state. You can’t put anything up that has anything to do with God. … I’ll have a seizure if I see a cross and all of this kind of crap,” he continued. “The fact of the matter is — do they realize that our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, says we have certain unalienable rights given to us by our creator, AKA, God.” -Ben Carson during a talk at his Iowa Caucus site (WT)

"More and more we see the Right go deeper onto the slippery slope of shaping laws to reflect their own private religious beliefs. I am not a person who thinks a religious person can’t hold office, I’m just a firm believer that politicians should take the separation part to heart and keep the religion at home." - Carson at the Iowa State Fair (AATP)

Israel

Having Israel's Back

After an initial visit, Carson proclaims that he is a strong supporter of Israel and disparages the Obama administration for their handling of the Israeli crisis. Carson states that if elected into office, he would make it clear to the Israeli's that the US is a strong supporter and ally. Carson also made statements about a desire to counsel the Israeli's against divesting land for Palestinian peace efforts and instead suggested the responsibility should fall on neighboring states. (YH)

  • Notable Quotes on Israel:

"I would make sure that Israel knew that we had their back," he said. "Because if their neighbors know that we're backing them up, they're not going to be anywhere near as aggressive." -Ben Carson to the AP on visit to Israel (YH)

"I do not believe that Obama has been one to cultivate the relationship," - Ben Carson to the AP on visit to Israel (YH)

Education

Schools Shouldn't Be Too Political

When asked what he would do with the department of education, Carson responded that he wanted to repurpose it. Carson's vision for the department is to act as an overseeing body that monitors speech on University campuses. Subject to Carson's discretion, if speech on a University campus is deemed "too politically biased" Carson would cut federal funding to the institution. The Department of education therefore, would be employed to conduct monitoring efforts and report back to Carson. (MSN) Other than his views regarding changing the purpose of the department of education, Carson is relatively silent on the place of religion in schools, although he is admits to believing in creationism.

Persecution of Christians in other Countries

Stop the Islamic State

Carson feels strongly about moving quickly to counter the attacks of the Islamic state. Carson outlines a multi-step plan on his website including: issuing a formal declaration of war, partnering with moderate Arab nations, and instituting a task force to review and amend all visa and immigration policy. Specifically, Carson wants visas issued to expire after three months and require mandatory check in points throughout their duration. (BCW) Additionally, in response to the attacks abroad, Carson is vehemently opposed to the idea of allowing Syrian refugees into the country. Carson thinks that allowing the refugees across United States boarders before procedures are in place to prevent similar attacks to those that occurred in Paris, is a grave national security threat. Furthermore, Carson has proposed the idea of increasing ground troop presence in the Syrian region in attempt to combat the efforts of ISIS.

  • Notable quotes on the persecution of Christians abroad:

"We can no longer dawdle while ISIS continues to persecute Christians, enslave young girls, oppress civil societies and perpetrate terrorist attacks against the free world. We must destroy their caliphate and prevent their terrorists from infiltrating our homeland." - Carson (BCW)

"Until we have a process that will keep us all safe from what happened in Paris, I believe it is foolish to take in refugees into our country," Carson in a Facebook post. (CP)

"The Islamic State wants to destroy Western civilization and establish a caliphate and that its “convert-or-die doctrine” mirrors some of the ideas pushed by the “political-correctness police” in America." - Ben Carson (CNS)

Citation Key

Quotes

Carson's Quotes (section page):

Tax Reform

  • "You make $10 billion, you pay a billion. You make $10, you pay one." RD1

Jobs and Business Policy

  • "America became a great nation early on not because it was flooded with politicians, but because it was flooded with people who understood the value of personal responsibility, hard work, creativity, innovation, and that’s what will get us on the right track now, as well." RD1

Drug Policy

  • "We have extremely well-documented proof that there's no autism associated with vaccinations. But it is true that we are probably giving way too many in too short a period of time." RD2

Sources Key

(Bio) = [1]

(BCWTR) = [2]

(FOX) = [3]

(BCWSB) = [4]

(BCWEJ) = [5]

(BCWHC) = [6]

(BCWVHC) = [7]

(BCWV) = [8]

(BCWPP) = [9]

(BCWBS) = [10]

(BCWM) = [11]

(The Atlantic) = [12]

(BCWCAIR) = [13]

(PBS) = [14]

(BCWTPP) = [15]

(Newsweek) = [16]

(BCWI) = [17]

(Washington Times) = [18]

(Bloomberg) = [19]

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