Western Conservative Summit 2015 – Dr. Ben Carson, Presidential Candidate

Of all the GOP candidates that spoke at the 2015 Western Conservative Summit (hereinafter referred to as, “Summit”), pediatric Neurosurgeon, Benjamin Solomon Carson, MD is the person we need to be the next President of the United States of America.  Regardless of what the other members of the political class say they may do, none of them has held the lives of children in their hands.  With our nation slipping closer into a terminal condition, we need an accomplished surgeon in charge.  He will surgically remove the progressive, malignant tumors metastasizing throughout the Federal government.  Dr. Carson has diagnosed America’s multiple illnesses and moral degeneration.  In his presentation at the Summit (linked here: #WCS15 Ben Carson’s speech), he outlined his prescription for curing the foreign and domestic diseases destroying our body politic.  No other candidate, especially those of the political class, can be God’s surgical public servant to heal our land.  As I wrote in my last post regarding Carly Fiorina, if the GOP had any sense – wasting time with the Donald Trump/John McCain distraction proves their lack – they would make Dr. Carson and Ms. Fiorina the 2016 presidential ticket and send the rest of the political class home.

The night of Saturday, June 27, 2015 the Summit shifted into high gear. Dr. Ben Carson addressed the packed BELLCO Theater.  Of all the candidates, the one I wanted to hear the most was Dr. Ben Carson.  He did not disappoint the more than 5,000 strong, fun-loving conservatives.  He handled Byron York’s tough questions with intelligent answers and his now well-known grace and civility.  I summarized the salient points of Dr. Carson’s presentation below:

• Opening Remarks:  Political pundits say Dr. Carson won’t become the GOP nominee or president because he’s a political novice.  Dr. Carson rebutted stating the pundits forgot about the people.  Since announcing his exploratory committee, his campaign has received over 200,000 new donors (exceeding all other candidates).  Therefore, he does not have to, “lick the boots of the established donors.”  Then, he shifted to his prepared comments.
• Most important issue facing our nation:  Our government disregards the Constitution.  The Federal government no longer listens to the people.  The best example; the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).  The people shouted opposition, but the government crammed if down our throats (exempting themselves from the law).  Our government needs to look like its Constitutional design, beginning with the separation of powers.  The Congress represents the people – the final authority in the USA – the SCOTUS does not represent the people.
• Experience: The experts say Dr. Carson can’t win because he is not an experienced politician.  He countered by stating life experience is just as valuable as political experience – if not more so.  He’s experienced every strata of economic status – a connection he can make with all Americans. He has lived his adult life solving critical, life-threatening problems.  How many politicians can claim they’ve held someone’s life in their hands? He’s worked with organizations that operate efficiently (completing projects on-time and within budgets).  Anyone can see the government does not.  Dr. Carson restated ordinary people have amazing life experiences, which they can bring to our political discourse.
• Manufactured divisiveness:  The political class – supported by the media – has couched the arguments in our nation as between: Democrats vs. Republicans, Liberals vs. Conservatives, rich vs. poor.  They clamor about a war on women and widespread racism – neither is true.  It’s as if they want us to fight each other when we need to unite to fight radical Islam and solve our multiple problems.  The real argument is between those who are anti-America and pro-America, those who want to eliminate the Constitution and those who want to preserve, protect, and demand that our government operate by it.
• National debt and fiscal gap:  The national debt is above $18 Trillion.  Our unfunded liabilities are over $120 Trillion.  Both continue to grow at a staggering rate.  We keep going because we have the exclusive privilege of printing money.  What happens when the world ceases to use the American dollar as its economic standard?  We can prevent this from happening if and only if we unleash our economic engine.  Dr. Carson listed several ideas to stimulate our economy including: a six-month hiatus on all corporate taxes along with a drastic reduction in the current 35% rate (highest in the world); require businesses to use 10% of their reduced tax dollars for job creation, training, and new job research; invest in our own people – low rate loans for entrepreneurs; get rid of unnecessary regulations; and reform taxation into a fair and flat system prohibiting the government from raising taxes at any time on anyone.
• Leadership: America must take a leadership – not spectator – role in the world.  If America refuses to lead, someone else will.  All other potential world leaders do not have goodwill intentions.  For example, ISIS asserts its will now throughout the Middle East.  Russia continues to recreate the former Soviet empire, and China expands its control in the South China Sea.  These bad actors do not fear reprisals from anyone mostly because the president has chosen to stand aside and watch events unfold rather than lead.

After his prepared remarks, Dr. Carson sat down with Byron York for a question and answer (Q&A) Session.  Byron York asked him the same four questions he asked of all presenting presidential candidates at the Summit.  The questions and answers are as follows:

1. SCOTUS Homosexual Marriage Decision: The decision will spark uncountable litigations against Christian churches, Christian schools, colleges and universities.  Dr. Carson stated he has nothing against gay people; however, they are not entitled to special or extra rights above other citizens and they do not get to change things for everyone else.  The SCOTUS is not the final answer.  Congress needs to stop being a spectator and pass legislation that overrules the court.  As president, Dr. Carson would use the, “Bully Pulpit,” to shine light on the entire issue – not just one side – to protect Christians from being bullied and harmed by the militants who want to suppress the free exercise of religious liberty.
2. Obamacare’s impact on the Economy: Because infrastructure has been put in place, we can’t go back to pre-2009 health care; however, we can reform the entire system using less money.  For example, Dr. Carson would push for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) for everyone, which will cause individuals to have more say in their health care decisions with their doctors and remove the bureaucrat middle man.
3. Immigration:  We should keep the same level of immigration so long as we get to choose who comes into our country.  Dr. Carson stated that he has a problem with illegal immigration.  America can seal the borders without building a fence.  We can use technology, drones, and deployed personnel, etcetera to have constant surveillance; but more importantly, we need to turn off the money attraction.
4. A touchy point from the candidates past record (never held elected office): Dr. Carson considers the fact that he never held a political office a positive.  He said, “We’ll let the people decide.”

During Sunday’s closing ceremony, it was announced Dr. Ben Carson won the Summit Presidential straw poll (2nd year in a row), followed by Carly Fiorina, and Scott Walker (WCS15 Straw Poll), which happened to be my picked order.

To know more about Dr. Carson’s views, I recommend reading his book, “One Nation.”  If you do not have time to read the entire work, please consider Chapter 6, “No Winners in Political Fighting,” where he offers a Biblical application regarding the benefits of unity.  To understand how he can win, I recommend reading, “Ben Carson, RX For America,” by John Philip Sousa, IV. Finally, to know this man’s character I recommend watching, “Gifted Hands,” a movie, which portrays Dr. Carson’s moral character and his rise to the world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon we know today.

I want to interject a final personal comment.  I have a well-defined Biblical worldview.  I’ve been a politics junky for most of my life, since my dad ran for the United States Congress when I was four years old.  I am considered an expert regarding world and American history, political science, and worldview ideologies.  I am sick of the political class and what they’ve done to this country.  The current occupier of the White House is moving faster than we can track to dismantle the constitution.  We learned on Monday, July 20, 2015 the bully-in-chief is going to remove our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms from Social Security benefit recipients who are declared unfit by the Federal government.  If he successfully takes weapons from one group of American citizens, he’ll do it to all.  Once he disarms us, I believe he will suspend the law of the land and destroy our nation.  I seriously doubt that he will allow the 2016 elections.  I pray that I’m wrong.  If we survive eight years of deliberate dithering, and unconstitutional executive orders, we will need leaders like Carly Fiorina and Dr. Ben Carson who are solutions and results oriented.  Together, they can fix, heal, and fight for our One Nation Under God, with liberty and justice for all.

Again, Dr. Carson’s complete presentation is linked here: #WCS15 Dr. Ben Carson Speech.

Thanks for reading.  Let the restoration of our Constitutional Republic begin.

For further entertaining and educational reading regarding a past Constitutional crisis, I linked my Christian, Historical Fiction, Civil War novels here: Destination Hope

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