Ben Carson: Time For Americans to Turn Country Around

Saturday, 24 Jan 2015 02:20 PM

By Sandy Fitzgerald





It's time for American citizens to start using their brains and turn around the country's fortunes, especially when it comes to immigration, education and jobs, retired Maryland neurosurgeon and potential presidential candidate Ben Carson told the Iowa Freedom Foundation  Saturday.

"America, do you have a brain? Do you have the ability to think logically? Carson asked, referring to comments made by his mother while he was growing up. He noted that she was married young and had only a limited education, but stressed the importance of education to him and his brother.

And as she required he and his brother read books regularly, Carson said, he quit listening to naysayers and then started to succeed in school, leading to his later successes.

"If you look at all of the failed schools, in some of the same inner cities, you see the private and charter and home schools, and people are doing great," said Carson. "Why in the world aren't we trying to get people involved in the things that work and get rid of the things that don't?"

And there are many things that don't work right, said Carson, including the nation's immigration policies and Obamacare.

When it comes to immigration, said Carson, "we already have laws that demonstrate how a person becomes a citizen." And if further laws are needed, they should come from Congress and not the president or Supreme Court.

"There wouldn't be people coming here if there wasn't a magnet pulling them in," said Carson. "Get rid of all the things that are drawing them."

He said that whoever wins the presidential election in 2016 should make it a goal to seal the nation's border within a year.

Carson also called for an end to waste in government spending, especially when it comes to Obamacare.

"I don't believe in taking the most important thing a person has and putting it in the hands of the government," as before long, it takes everything a person has "and that fundamentally changes America," he continued.

Carson also called for the development of energy, even on government-owned land, as "the government has no business owning all this land."

Another key speaker on Saturday was real estate mogul Donald Trump, who reiterated that he is definitely interested in running for president and sounding like a candidate during his speech, even though he has not definitely announced his candidacy.

"Our country is in such trouble," said Trump, demanding to know what Republicans are doing to help solve problems. "If I run and if I win, I would totally succeed in creating jobs, defeating ISIS, reducing the budget deficit, securing the southern border, and I mean seriously securing."

Further, he called for stopping nuclear weapons in Iran and elsewhere, and said he would work to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid without cutting it down to the bone, and for repealing and replacing Obamacare.

"This plan is a basic disaster," said Trump, who also called for fixing our country's infrastructure, bridges, schools, highways, airports."

"On that, I can tell you nobody's close to Trump," he said, adding some of his signature self- promotion to his speech. "I know what needs to be done to make America great again. We can make this country great again. I am seriously thinking of running for president, because I can do the job."

Another key speaker Saturday was Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a freshman politician who is already making party waves and who gave the Republican response to the State of the Union address this past week.

Most of Ernst's speech focused on encouraging the approximately 1,300 people at the Des Moines event toward campaign activism.

"This energy is a tell-tale sign of great things to come," Ernst said. "This enthusiasm and this energy led to a tremendous victory in 2014."

She encouraged those there to continue their efforts toward 2016 not only for the upcoming presidential elections, when Sen. Chuck Grassley, who also spoke on Saturday, will seek re-election.

"I am asking all of you to continue with this wonderful effort that we had in 2014, focus your efforts ahead to 2016 and make sure that we hold this seat in the United States Senate," Ernst said. "We want Iowa to remain red. We have worked so hard to get here. We will not be a purple state, we will be a red state."

As many as eight possible candidates are to take part in the summit, a marathon day of back-to-back speeches organized by Iowa's conservative Republican Steve King, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Other speakers on Saturday's agenda include Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Tennessee Rep.. Marsha Blackburn, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and other key conservative voices.

Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush did not make the trip to Iowa, nor did Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2015 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/carson-iowa-freedom-forum/2015/01/24/id/620519