Ben Carson in Speeches at 2015=2016 Values Voters Summit
On Budget & Economy:
$18T national debt pales with $200T liability fiscal gap
We have a national debt of greater than $18 trillion. What a ridiculous amount of money. I mean, a million is a lot. A billion is a thousand million. And a trillion is thousand billion. And we're talking over 18 trillion (dollars). To pay that back at a
rate of $10 million a day, 365 days a year, it would take you over 5,000 years. And that's what we're putting on the backs of our young people. But that's the good news, because it's actually much worse than that, because the fiscal gap--it's the amount
of unfunded liabilities that we have as a nation--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, all the departmental programs. So you look at that amount versus the amount of revenue expected to be brought in through taxes and other revenue sources. Those two
numbers should be almost identical if you are responsible. However, when you're not, there's a gap. And you bring that up to today's dollars and you're talking a fiscal gap which is over $200 trillion. It is a staggering amount of money.
Source: 10th Annual Value Voters Summit - 2015
Sep 25, 2015
On Foreign Policy:
Foreign development aid is a win-win situation
I deeply believe in compassion, in being kind to other people. And I think we're in a very good position in America to be kind to other people. I think about what's going on in a nation like Cameroon right now, where some major American companies have
gone over there and are helping to develop millions of acres of incredibly fertile land and getting record crops. Making a lot of money, I will admit, but also developing the infrastructure of that nation and providing jobs and teaching them the
ag business so that they can do that on their own to a much better extent.And that's the kind of thing that is a win-win situation. It's making friends for us. And we're not borrowing money from China so we can give them billions of dollars in aid.
That's the kind of thing that makes sense. That's the kind of thing we also should be doing in South and Central America, so that they won't feel that they need to come here.
Source: 10th Annual Value Voters Summit - 2015
Sep 25, 2015
On Immigration:
Our southern border is so porous, anybody can get in
We need to be thinking about sealing our borders because, the fact of the matter is, having gone down there recently and looked at how porous those borders are, anybody could get through there. The fences that they had there would barely slow me down
when I was a kid. And there's no border guards there. The border guards are all 70 miles inland. Why are they called border guards if they're not on the border?And then when they capture people, ICE tells them to release them.
And a lot of those people are not from Honduras and Mexico. They're form Iraq and Somalia and Russia. And many of them are hardened criminals.
And it seems like our federal government is actually fighting against the sheriffs and the people who are down there. We need an administration that will back our people up and not the people who are trying to invade here from someplace else.
Source: 10th Annual Value Voters Summit - 2015
Sep 25, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Muslims can be President, if they subjugate their beliefs
I went back and forth with one commentator: "But you said that somebody who was of the Islamic faith and a Muslim could not be president of the US." I said, "will you go back and read the whole transcript? Before that I said anybody from any faith, who
comes to America, becomes an American citizen, embraces our American values and is willing to subjugate their beliefs to our Constitution is somebody I have no problem with." But he then says, "yeah, but what about a Muslim, in the context of maybe
somebody who didn't fit in that category?" Anybody who doesn't fit in that category, I don't care who they are--they can be a Christian--if they don't fit in that category, I'm not going to advocate that they be president. It's as simple as that.
[But that] in no way precludes them from running.You know, political correctness is ruining our country. The big problem with the media is they're always, you know, going off into these tangents because they don't want to talk about the real issues.
Source: 10th Annual Value Voters Summit - 2015
Sep 25, 2015
On Welfare & Poverty:
America provides opportunities for poor
I got to tell you something about America. You know, I've visited at least 57 different countries. And I am always so pleased when I get back here because America has been so good to me. You know, I was born in pretty dire circumstances, grew up very
poor, had a bad temper. I was a terrible student--and the things that probably would have precluded success in most other places. But here in America, the opportunities were there.Even if you didn't have a silver spoon in your mouth you could go
to the library and it didn't cost you anything to go there, unless you turned your book in late. Those are the kind of opportunities that I want to preserve for other people. And I really get irritated when people complain about America and they say
that we are a terrible place and we are the source of all evil in the world. If we were so bad, why is everybody trying to get in here and nobody's trying to escape? You know, that's craziness.
Source: 10th Annual Value Voters Summit - 2015
Sep 25, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 09, 2018