Rachel McManus Newfoundland, New Jersey asks: Greetings from NJ. Under the Obama administration, federal agencies have been given unprecedented power over states and citizens. How would President Ben Carson reign in the unelected, unaccountable federal agencies (i.e. EPA, IRS, DOJ, FCC)? And how would you realign these agencies so that the employees cannot continue progressive activism? Dr. Ben Carson: Well, remember, all of those agencies are branches of the executive office, which means that the President has control over them, which means you can hire and fire whoever you want in those departments. So, obviously, we would put people in there of like mind who understand that, you know, again, our system is designed for and by the people and not to increase government bureaucracies. So, that’s a pretty easy problem. We also would not hire people after positions were vacated by retirement. Thousands of people retire from the federal
Ask Ben: Jobs
Timothy Hodge, Woodbridge, VA asks: What is your plan to revive the American industrial base? We are not creating capital at the level to sustain the populace and have been bleeding wealth for years. This has caused symptomatic issues in our country like what we have seen in Baltimore and even from my small area that I was born and raised – Martinsville, Virginia. It is a complete travesty of what has been perpetrated on the American people. There is too much of a cozy relationship between government and business. Dr. Ben Carson: Well, you know, for one thing, our corporate taxes are way too high. They’re the highest in the developed world and it shouldn’t surprise anybody that many of our businesses seek to do things in other countries because, you know, they don’t go into business to support the government; they go into business to make money. So,
Syrian Rebels Claim Bashar Al-Assad Used Napalm Gas in Recent Attack
Syrian opposition groups claim President Bashar al-Assad recently used napalm gas on Daraya, which is six miles southeast of Damascus.
Ask Ben: Obamacare
J.P. Spikes, San Diego, California asks: Dr. Carson, I view the (expensive to anyone who works and has to pay for) “affordable” care act as adding government intervention to an already bad health care/insurance scam system that has been broken for many years now in the US. There is no health insurance in the US for someone who works anymore, only some co-pay once you reach a deductible. Obamacare has created Emergency Health Insurance for all, except the very poor who have all expenses paid. How would you fix the current medical system in the United States if you had the opportunity to serve as President? Thank You, J.P. Dr. Ben Carson: I think we need to offer a viable alternative, and the one that I would offer surrounds health savings accounts which would be available to every American on the day that they are born and they would keep
Ask Ben: Why I’m Running
Tom Gates, Tuscon, Arizona asks: Why do you seek the presidency of the United States for your FIRST elected office? I know you are a highly accomplished medical doctor, but starting at the top seems backwards. Dr. Ben Carson: Well, interestingly enough, I had no intention of seeking the office of presidency of the United States. But, after the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013, there were hundreds of thousands of people just clamoring for me to do this and I thought it was silly and I said, “This will all die down,” but it never did. And, in fact, it continued to grow and I began to listen to people, and it became apparent to me that it was going to be something that was going to persist. A lot of elderly people said they had given up on America. They no longer thought that it was worth living and
Ask Ben: God
Linda Michaelson, Tulsa, Oklahoma asks: Dr Carson: Do you believe God is working through you to show the American people how to turn their country around and return it to its true and righteous destiny? Dr. Ben Carson: I do believe that God is heavily involved here because, quite honestly, I was intending, after a very arduous career in neurosurgery, to retire and to relax, and my wife was looking forward even more than I was. But, you know, sometimes the Lord has a different plan for you and, you know, as it began to become apparent to me that, you know, I was supposed to move in this direction, I still wasn’t that enthusiastic, and I said, “Lord, I really am not all that anxious to move into the political arena, but if you truly want me to do this, then you need to open the doors because all
The Nuclear Option: Donald Trump, the Media King Midas, Turns Toxicity into Ratings Gold
Just be sure to spell his name right. It’s T-R-U-M-P, as in Trump Plaza or Trump Casino or Trump Resort. Say whatever you want about The Donald, no one can deny that he is a marketing mastermind who has turned the button-down political world on its ear.
Ask Ben: Race
Jordan Hastings, Northport, Alabama asks: Dr. Carson, most Americans would agree that the black and white races have been pitted against each other, largely due to media bias and rhetoric, but also because the Democrats benefit from it. How high on your list is repairing the racial divide among Americans, and how will you do it? Dr. Ben Carson: That’s very high on my list. You know, there’re a lot of divides that need to be repaired. You know, there’s a war on women, there’s racial wars, there’s income wars, there’s age wars, there’s religious wars, it seems like they’re trying to drive wedges into every single aspect of our society. And, you know, we need to start concentrating on those things that we have in common, not those things that divide us. That’s why we’re called the United States of America, and I think the bully pulpit is an
Ask Ben: Education
Steve Benner, Bethpage, New York asks: Dr. Carson, I am a Social Studies Teacher in New York State and am greatly worried about the increasing federal overreach by the Department of Education. What especially would you do with that issue? Dr. Ben Carson: Well, you know, the Department of Education has 4,200 employees with average annual compensation of $135,000, by the way. We don’t need anywhere near that, and we don’t need anywhere near the overreach of the Education Department into everybody’s lives. We all know that the best education is the education that is closest to home, particularly when parents are involved, and we need to make sure that parents have choice. You know, not just public schools but charter schools and, you know, home schooling, private schools, all of these are things that should be made available to people through vouchers and other types of programs. That will
Ask Ben: Experience
John Baxter, Downingtown, Pennsylvania asks: You do not have experience in any of the areas that the other candidates may be bringing with them. For example: International Relations; National Security; the Economy; and administering a large governmental body. How would you make up for your shortcomings in those areas? We already have an inexperienced President, do we need another? Dr. Ben Carson: Okay, interestingly enough, experience comes from a variety of different areas. There’re a lot of people who’ve been bullied, almost, into thinking that the only place valid experience can come from is the political arena. I think that that is categorically false and, in fact, if you look at the political experience of everyone in Congress today, it comes out to just under 9,000 years. Where has that great experience gotten us? I, on the other hand, have had a career of solving extremely complex medical problems and