A Political Outsider With A Brain.

muttly · Aug 31, 2015

GOP Presidential candidate and former brain surgeon Ben Carson has surged in the polls. A poll in Iowa has him in a dead heat with Donald Trump. Carson, an anti establishment candidate, began his campaign slowly with a few political missteps early on, but has plodded along and become a much better candidate as of late.
He now has a 81% favorable rating.The novice politician is learning. He has similar political views with Trump, but personality and style wise, he could not be more opposite. I wouldn't be against them being on a Presidential ticket together. Right now though Carson and Trump are providing an incrisingly formidable fire wall to the Republican establishment candidates that are destined to lose in a general election once again.

Carson Surging in Iowa, Tied with Trump at Top of New Poll

Pilgrim · Aug 31, 2015

Some pundits are predicting the GOP establishment will launch their attack on Trump in early Sept in an effort to promote their favored candidate - Jeb. However, this may backfire on them since the Republican base is fed up with these establishment moderates. However, it would seem to be a more difficult task for them to trash Carson like they did Herman Cain. The GOP primary will become much more interesting when the backbenchers are eliminated and the field is narrowed down the the top 4 or 5. Right now I'd bet that somebody on the GOP ticket in 2016 will not be a lifetime politician. Trump is not likely not settle for the VP spot - Carson probably would.

davekc · Aug 31, 2015

Carson is doing pretty good as of late. Not sure he can hold it. The anti establishment plays in his favor like Trump. He better brush up on his foreign policy knowledge as that appears as his greatest weakness.

muttly · Aug 31, 2015

Agree, Trump won't go for VP. Carson might though. Right now Trump has a 61% favorable rating and Carson, again is at 81%. No doubt the establishment will start with the attack ads on Trump. They probably feel that Carson is the less formidable of the two and also because he has less money to defend himself. Trump and Carson are friends and actually live close to each other. Trump won't personally attack Carson or Cruz and visa versa. Good politics all around for the three by not doing so because they've gone up in the polls, while the others have dropped.

RoadTime · Aug 31, 2015

muttly said:
Carson or Cruz

They are playing a very smart game not attacking Trump right now. Everyone so far that has, have been left with egg on their face and dropped in the polls. Trump will not think twice about calling you out and making you look like a fool. But if you play nice, he will leave you alone, until you are viewed as a threat to him. Then all bets are off.

The more people actually listen to him, they realize he is not the blow heart, reality personality, (fill in your own derogatory term you want to call him), he has shown to be very knowledgeable, and willing to do what it takes to make this county great again. Without bending over to any political regime.

RLENT · Aug 31, 2015

Good Lord ...

jelliott · Sep 1, 2015

I have listened to Ben Carson speak and met him last year. He is a very dynamic individual with a great American story of overcoming adversity and self determination. I like him a lot. Lack of economic and foreign policy make me a little nervous. I think he would be a great VP candidate. He could gather experience (without being a long term insider) and then look to go for the presidency.

LDB · Sep 1, 2015

I'd love to see him in either office compared to any of the other options. I'm not too concerned about his experience level. I believe he is intelligent enough, with enough experience weighing literal life and death situations, that combined with the assemblage of advisers in his Cabinet and elsewhere he would be up to any challenge. And wouldn't it be nice to have someone of his exceptional quality as our first black president?

davekc · Sep 1, 2015

I think I am going to be happy if they aren't a lawyer.

JohnWC · Sep 1, 2015

Rather see Carson up thar than trumpit

cheri1122 · Sep 2, 2015

jelliott said:
I have listened to Ben Carson speak and met him last year. He is a very dynamic individual with a great American story of overcoming adversity and self determination. I like him a lot. Lack of economic and foreign policy make me a little nervous. I think he would be a great VP candidate. He could gather experience (without being a long term insider) and then look to go for the presidency.

Ben Carson is a good man, and was a great doctor, no question. But his politics are based on the assumptions of those who have been very fortunate, financially. [You can say he worked hard for it, and that's true, but the assumptions remain the same.] The biggest wrong assumption being that money isn't a problem, when for a large percentage of people, it is. That percentage is steadily getting larger, and nothing Carson proposes would turn that around.
He advocates for a flat tax, which is unfair to those at the low end of the scale. 10% is negligible to one who has plenty, but it's a big hit for those who don't: proportion.
He advocates for Health Savings Accounts - great, if one has money to contribute, worthless if they don't.
He wants to increase the retirement age - [ironic, since he's already retired] but few people who actually work for a living agree with that. Particularly with the insecurity of the employment situation - older people don't find work when their jobs disappear. The jobs done by, say, truck drivers, are hard on the human body, and most won't last until they're 70 or more, ok?
He doesn't believe in evolution - how can one just reject science?
I've known and worked with a lot of doctors, and Ben Carson is classic neurosurgeon: arrogant. He doesn't appear to be, true, but his assumptions belie the soft spoken persona: he really thinks that because he was able to overcome his poor start and achieve greatness, everyone else who isn't able isn't really trying.
That attitude doesn't inspire confidence in people he would like to lead. What works well for a neurosurgeon doesn't work for the POTUS, IMO.
But he's still a nice guy!

LDB · Sep 3, 2015

Most flat tax proposals have deductions per person that mean nobody pays any tax until they earn above the threshold, $20k per adult and $7k per child in one proposal with varying rates depending on which proposal one reviews.

davekc · Sep 3, 2015

cheri1122 said:
Ben Carson is a good man, and was a great doctor, no question. But his politics are based on the assumptions of those who have been very fortunate, financially. [You can say he worked hard for it, and that's true, but the assumptions remain the same.] The biggest wrong assumption being that money isn't a problem, when for a large percentage of people, it is. That percentage is steadily getting larger, and nothing Carson proposes would turn that around.
He advocates for a flat tax, which is unfair to those at the low end of the scale. 10% is negligible to one who has plenty, but it's a big hit for those who don't: proportion.
He advocates for Health Savings Accounts - great, if one has money to contribute, worthless if they don't.
He wants to increase the retirement age - [ironic, since he's already retired] but few people who actually work for a living agree with that. Particularly with the insecurity of the employment situation - older people don't find work when their jobs disappear. The jobs done by, say, truck drivers, are hard on the human body, and most won't last until they're 70 or more, ok?
He doesn't believe in evolution - how can one just reject science?
I've known and worked with a lot of doctors, and Ben Carson is classic neurosurgeon: arrogant. He doesn't appear to be, true, but his assumptions belie the soft spoken persona: he really thinks that because he was able to overcome his poor start and achieve greatness, everyone else who isn't able isn't really trying.
That attitude doesn't inspire confidence in people he would like to lead. What works well for a neurosurgeon doesn't work for the POTUS, IMO.
But he's still a nice guy!

I don't know. It depends on what you are comparing him to. If compared to the democrats, he doesn't look bad. You either have career politicians or a crook if looking at democrats. At this point, you are looking at Hillary who is a sinking ship, Sanders, or Biden. My pick would be Biden because he is so funny. Sanders is a waste of time. Talks a good game but a career politician who has done nothing.
Heck, he doesn't even show up to vote at times.
From Jan 2007 to Aug 2015, Sanders missed 83 of 2,758 roll call votes, which is 3.0%. This is worse than the median of 1.6% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. And he wants to be president?
Bernard “Bernie” Sanders, U.S. Senator for Vermont - GovTrack.us
Most of what he discusses is soaking the rich to get free stuff for others to get elected. And again, you don't have enough billionaires to come close to pay for the stuff he wants.
It is like he pretends we have no debt. 19 trillion and counting. Just the typical give out free stuff for votes. Mind as well call it what it is.

cheri1122 · Sep 4, 2015

davekc said:
I don't know. It depends on what you are comparing him to. If compared to the democrats, he doesn't look bad. You either have career politicians or a crook if looking at democrats. At this point, you are looking at Hillary who is a sinking ship, Sanders, or Biden. My pick would be Biden because he is so funny. Sanders is a waste of time. Talks a good game but a career politician who has done nothing.
Heck, he doesn't even show up to vote at times.
From Jan 2007 to Aug 2015, Sanders missed 83 of 2,758 roll call votes, which is 3.0%. This is worse than the median of 1.6% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. And he wants to be president?
Bernard “Bernie” Sanders, U.S. Senator for Vermont - GovTrack.us
Most of what he discusses is soaking the rich to get free stuff for others to get elected. And again, you don't have enough billionaires to come close to pay for the stuff he wants.
It is like he pretends we have no debt. 19 trillion and counting. Just the typical give out free stuff for votes. Mind as well call it what it is.

That's pretty funny, having to resort to his "missed vote" score, which is 1-2 per year, until he decided to run for POTUS, which caused his score to skyrocket to 34 in Nov, 2014. [Wonder what Ted Cruz' score is?]
I have seen nothing about "soaking the rich" - unless you mean breaking up the megabanks to eliminate the "too big to fail" scenario from repeating itself. [And it will, because they're already doing the risky business things that caused it before again!] And what "free stuff"?
The man has been elected a brazillion times, without promising free stuff to anyone, he sure doesn't need to start now. And as for "done nothing", well, he hasn't written a book, or joined the 10K speakers' circuit, or peddled influence as a 'consultant', but he has voted the way I'd prefer on nearly every issue. He was one of the few to vote against the war in Iraq, and how much has been wasted on that little mistake?
Which reminds me: I read about the US military just throwing money around in Afghanistan to "win hearts and minds" and to fix some of the stuff they broke [deliberately] first - is that not an insane way to be "fiscally responsible"?
BTW: the deficit is decreasing. On the backs of the poor & working class & veterans, but it is decreasing.

cheri1122 · Sep 4, 2015

Another Ben Carson 'huh'?! statement: homosexuality is a choice, because men who go to prison become homosexuals.
According to that logic, no confession can ever be believed, because people lie when confessing under torture.

cheri1122 · Sep 4, 2015

LDB said:
Most flat tax proposals have deductions per person that mean nobody pays any tax until they earn above the threshold, $20k per adult and $7k per child in one proposal with varying rates depending on which proposal one reviews.

Mr Carson said nothing about any thresholds, just the simple "tithe, like the Bible says". And the Bible doesn't mention any thresholds either, so why should that be inferred?

davekc · Sep 4, 2015

cheri1122 said:
That's pretty funny, having to resort to his "missed vote" score, which is 1-2 per year, until he decided to run for POTUS, which caused his score to skyrocket to 34 in Nov, 2014. [Wonder what Ted Cruz' score is?]
I have seen nothing about "soaking the rich" - unless you mean breaking up the megabanks to eliminate the "too big to fail" scenario from repeating itself. [And it will, because they're already doing the risky business things that caused it before again!] And what "free stuff"?
The man has been elected a brazillion times, without promising free stuff to anyone, he sure doesn't need to start now. And as for "done nothing", well, he hasn't written a book, or joined the 10K speakers' circuit, or peddled influence as a 'consultant', but he has voted the way I'd prefer on nearly every issue. He was one of the few to vote against the war in Iraq, and how much has been wasted on that little mistake?
Which reminds me: I read about the US military just throwing money around in Afghanistan to "win hearts and minds" and to fix some of the stuff they broke [deliberately] first - is that not an insane way to be "fiscally responsible"?
BTW: the deficit is decreasing. On the backs of the poor & working class & veterans, but it is decreasing.

I believe he is wanting to offer free college tuition. That was recent. Of course no way to pay for it other than, yep, taxing someone else to pay for it. He is a socialist. That is what they do. The deficit is only shrinking to their annual out of wack budget for the year. The national debt is still climbing. Government Debt in the United States - Debt Clock
To be fair, Sanders draws some good crowds but I have to wonder if they are more "anybody but Hillary" Time will tell of course.

cheri1122 · Sep 5, 2015

Free college tuition [to qualified candidates, not just everyone] is not a bad idea, if you like investing in the future. I think it would pay better returns than the tax cuts to business that enrich their profits, then their stock price [buybacks, mergers, acquisitions], then the C suite pay.....Even some of the beneficiaries have begun saying we've let it go too far, [income inequality], and it needs to be scaled back. Productivity has steadily increased, but the wages that are supposed to be the rewards for working harder have been stuck for a very long time - it's not right, or fair, or defensible.
People have a weird reaction to that word 'socialist', like it's equivalent to communism, lol. There is socialism built into nearly every system we rely on, including insurance. We are a social people, and that's not a bad thing, because we get more accomplished when we act like we have some common goals. When we do that, we can accomplish some pretty exceptional things, like NASA.
A certain amount of selfishness is healthy, but beyond that, it's destructive.

JohnWC · Sep 6, 2015

Flat tax would be a good start get ride of all the deductible junk that alow the higher up and the lower from paying but my hopes is that he's the type to look and get the proper information before making decisions.