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. [1]

Campaign Website

Tax Reform

Repeal the Entire Tax Code and Replace It With a True 14.9 Percent Flat Tax[2]

• "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." [3]
• 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."
• Eliminate Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
• Abolish the death tax

Jobs and Business Policy

• BCSB: https://www.bencarson.com/issues/issue/small-business
• BCEJ: https://www.bencarson.com/issues/issue/economy-and-jobs

"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. (BCSB)

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." (BCSB)

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." (BCEJ)
• "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."

Health Policy

Repeal and replace Affordable Care Act[4]

"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."

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

Veteran Healthcare [5]

• "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."

Vaccination proponent[6]

"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."

Pro-Life, in favor of abolishing Planned Parenthood[7]

• "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."
• "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."

Drug Policy

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 my top priorities as president would be to seal the border with Mexico to stop the flow of drugs and violence into the United States." [8]

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." [9]
• "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." [10]

Middle East

Carson's Seven Step Plan for a Safer America[11]

"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."

1. Calls on Congress to issue declaration of war against Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL)
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.
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.
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.
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.
6. Deploy the National Guard and military troops to patrol the U.S. southern border as well as designated spots along the northern border.
7. The Department of State should designate the Muslim Brotherhood and other organizations that propagate or support Islamic terrorism as terrorist organizations.

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

Investigate Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) [12]

• 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."
• "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."

Trade

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) [13]

• "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."
• "Ben Carson has said that Americans should have a say in trade deals through their representatives, but he’s not exactly running on economics."[14]

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]

Immigration

"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."

Birthright citizenship [15]

• 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

Illegal immigration [16]

• 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"
• 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.
• 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.
• Allow undocumented residents access to a national guest worker program if they leave the country first [17]

Environmental

The climate change debate is irrelevant [18]

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

Says the focus should be on eco-friendly ways of developing the nation's energy resources [19]

• "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."

In favor of Keystone Pipeline[20]

• 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"