Thread: Presidential hopeful Ben Carson makes his case in O.C.

Feb. 20, 2015
Updated 3:37 p.m.
By MARTIN WISCKOL / STAFF WRITER

Ben Carson’s outsider approach to politics has made him a conservative champion for many – and he said during an Orange County visit Thursday that his eagerness to buck the status quo will hardly hurt if he decides to run for president.

“People with great political expertise have gotten us into this mess,” said Carson, whose political ascent dates to his ballyhooed speech at the February 2013 National Prayer Breakfast. “I think as time goes on and people have the opportunity to hear what I have to say – compared to the political experts – they’ll actually be able to think for themselves and recognize when they see solutions.”

Polls show Carson, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and best-selling author who’s never run for office, nipping at the heels of the best-known of possible Republican presidential contenders for 2016. RealClearPolitics.com’s averaging of recent major polls finds Carson in fourth place for the GOP nomination.

But while Carson has gained the support of many Fox News fans and Tea Party voters, some observers continue to give him long odds for winning the nomination.

Carson didn’t crack the GOP presidential top 10 in a recent analysis by prominent Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza. And Scott Spitzer, a Cal State Fullerton political scientist, shares the skepticism about Carson.

“I don’t think he’ll get close to getting the nomination,” said Spitzer, dismissing Carson’s poll numbers as a phenomenon of a GOP in search of its identity. “The polls say more about the fractured views within the Republican Party.”

Carson, 63, has long overcome the odds. Raised by a single-mother working as a housekeeper in Detroit’s inner city, Carson went on to attend Yale University, become the youngest director of a major division at Johns Hopkins University and led a team that performed the first successful separation of twins joined at the head.

Carson was in Orange County to introduce himself to the well-heeled GOP New Majority, which last month had similar meetings with potential Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. Carson also sat down with the Orange County Register at Newport Beach’s Island Hotel to discuss his views.

Carson is an advocate of a flat tax, believes marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman and prefers that states have the authority to outlaw abortion. He favors mandatory vaccinations for deadly diseases. He opposes nation-building efforts abroad but believes the Islamic State group should be addressed swiftly.

“ISIS has an intent of destroying us,” he said during a broad-ranging, 35-minute interview. “We can sit back and wait for them or we can destroy them now.”

Carson reiterated earlier statements comparing the United States to Nazi Germany in regard to his belief that the IRS singled out individuals – including himself – for political retribution.

“Most of the people in Nazi Germany didn’t believe in what Hitler was doing,” he said. “But they didn’t do anything. When people think the same thing can’t happen here, they’re wrong.”

Carson believes President Barack Obama overstepped his authority with an executive order shielding several million people in the United States illegally from being deported.

To address the problem of illegal immigration, Carson would first strengthen the border and remove incentives for coming to the United States, including criminal punishment for those who hire undocumented workers.

For the estimated 11 million in the country illegally, he would grant guest-worker status to those agreeing to pay back taxes for the wages they’ve earned here. Otherwise, they would have to leave the country on their own or be subject to deportation.

“We’re not trying to be cruel to anybody,” he said. “We’re just trying to be fair.”

A devout Christian, Carson didn’t dispute an aide’s characterization that his pursuit of the presidency was the result of divine guidance.

“I was not planning on running,” he said. “But I recognized something was going on. It started at the prayer breakfast. I said, ‘Lord, you’re up to something.’”

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/c...al-people.html

For the estimated 11 million in the country illegally, he would grant guest-worker status to those agreeing to pay back taxes for the wages they’ve earned here. Otherwise, they would have to leave the country on their own or be subject to deportation.

That is not acceptable, that is wrong, wrong, wrong. Pay their taxes? They don't owe any taxes. If they file tax returns, they'll receive tax refunds in the thousands of dollars. The law requires they be deported, not file tax returns to receive EITC and Child Care Tax Credits.

Anyone who wants to stand up for the "rule of law" has to also stand up for enforcing the law, which means deporting illegal aliens, because that is the law. It is the failure of this administration and others as well to enforce the law, which means deporting illegal aliens, that has resulted in 20 million or more illegal aliens being in the country, half of which are visa overstays, and very easy to deport, because you know who they are, where they are and what they're doing.

So come on, Ben. You're a neurosurgeon, you're smart enough to know better than this.

So forget, Ben, he has no more intention of enforcing US immigration law than any other failed President.