As if that would be easy. The only way to avoid raising the debt limit is to have a balanced budget. If he wants to propose that, let him specify precisely where to cut. Just mindlessly parroting word salad about cutting waste doesn’t cut it.
But Carson knows exactly where all the fat that needs to be cut from the federal government is, because he was surgeon general. Or he worked in the executive branch. Or maybe he just took the White House tour or something.
Or he stayed in a Holiday Inn Express.
Yes, but his solution is to tell people to stop messing around.
[QUOTE=Dr. Trump]
No, I would provide the kind of leadership that says, “Get on the stick guys, and stop messing around, and cut where you need to cut, because we’re not raising any spending limits, period.”
[/QUOTE]
That’s not a plan. It’s a platitude. Anyway, the debt ceiling isn’t a “spending limit.”
I keep thinking that surely this time the GOP has finally hit Peak Moron, but they keep proving me wrong…
What’s amazing to me is that he thinks a wholesale cut of 3-4% of the budget (which he would likely exempt defense due to his other priorities, but whatever) would come close to balancing the budget.
The budget deficit is at least 2-5% of GDP.
Hell, scheduled increases in mandatory spending are likely to swamp any discretionary 4% “cutting the fat”. He’s just completely full of shit, and Ryssdal’s response was perfect - just dumbfounded silence. Of course Carson’s supporters likely take that silence as “Wow, Ben really shut him up!”.
What he’s missing (among much else) is that even if the budget was balanced we would *still *need to extent the debt ceiling because the money in question has already been spent. You would have to balance the budget at least a year prior to a debt ceiling issue.
What no Republican seems to grasp is that to stop raising the debt you must balance the budget, and going from a $500 B deficit to zero instantaneously would have disastrous effect on the economy. Not one person would get a job because of a balanced budget, indeed many thousands would lose them.
It sounds like Carson thinks that if he didn’t okay a budget increase, he can’t have a debt limit problem. As if he thinks he isn’t responsible for the bills someone else ran up.
That sort of political naivete is cute in a 4 year old.
I get the feeling from some politicians and pundits that they think somehow the problems other people run into are trivially avoidable.
“What about when X happens?”
“X won’t happen, because I am good and responsible.”
“X always happens.”
“It won’t happen to me, because I am good and responsible.”
Like a Dunning-Kreuger Just World.
[QUOTE=Ben Carson]
I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye’s organization" in Baltimore, the retired neurosurgeon told Karen Hunter on Sirius XM Radio, referring to the fried chicken fast-food chain.
Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs. And I just said, 'I believe that you want the guy behind the counter.
Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say, 'Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me but he can’t get us all.
[/QUOTE]
From an article on CNN. I’m not sure I’m following how “I’ll tell everyone to attack him” means tell “I’ll the gunman to go after the guy behind the counter.”
Ben Carson is on CNN right now, and Wolf Blitzer, with reference to Rupert Murdoch’s tweet that Carson would be “a real black President”, asked Carson is President Obama was a real black President. Carson refused to answer, demurring on what he called “semantics”. “He is the President; and he is black.” But he could not say the words, “Obama is a real black president.”
Yeah, he’s asking if he would sign an increase to the debt limit, and Carson says he wouldn’t sign an increase to spending. Pretty cagey of Dr Carson to answer a question about the debts already incurred with an answer about spending, which has little to do with the question. Well played!
Carson is still looking like he’s in way over his head.
[QUOTE=Ben Carson]
[Obama] is the President; and he is black.
[/QUOTE]
I knew I could find something he said that I agree with.
Trevor Noah is doing a good job replacing Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. His take on Carson: "Guns don’t kill people. People shot by guns who don’t rush the guy shooting them, kill people.”
They sent him to less friendly(ie, non-Fox) venues before he was ready. He should have gone with the Clinton strategy of refusing to talk to the media for as long as possible.
I have to agree that the less he says, the better off he is, but it’s quite a stretch to compare his public record with Hillary’s.
Not trying to. Only comparing her media strategy to his. Clinton knows that while she never says anything stupid, she doesn’t say anything helpful to herself either and doesn’t do well when challenged. So she gains nothing from doing interviews. Carson initially shied away from anyone but Fox, and even there he had trouble, and lately they’ve been sending him everywhere, even to the View, and he’s been completely and utterly exposed.
This is just the break the Rubio campaign has been waiting for.
Carson said that gun rights would have stopped the Holocaust. IMNAAHO that is the second most anti-Semitic thing to come out of a major candidate’s mouth in recent years, only behind Half-Governor Palin’s “Blood Libel” offense. Gee, Doc, there’s just one Abrahamic religion you haven’t offended yet by parroting thoughtless and ahistorical right-wing memes. Will you insult all Christians as well, or are you going for the Zoroastrians next? There are almost 72 hours until Monday, you’ve got plenty of time. :headdesk:
Carson is like a sleepwalking Trump, without the savvy.
The only good thing about the GOP primary is that I’ve started watching Trevor Noah clips. The Daily Show is going to be alright. The country - I’m not so sure.
He was repeating this stupid crap to Andrea Martin on MSNBC this morning. He is astoundingly dumb. Proof that brain surgery requires technical skills and not intelligence.
I swear he sounds like he’s strung out on Vicodin or some other pain killer.