Mitch Perry
Although Ben Carson speaks softly, his provocative comments regarding the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and life in America under President Barack Obama have spurred his unlikely journey toward a possible nominee as Republican Party presidential candidate.
Carson is scheduled to make his big announcement next Monday in Detroit, his hometown. The retired pediatric neurosurgeon, though, now lives in West Palm Beach. On Monday, he spoke to the Sarasota Republican Party, which picked him their “conservative of the year.”
With Medicaid expansion behind the Legislature’s failure to find a budget agreement this week, Carson was asked before his speech whether he agrees with House Republicans’ contention that Medicaid is an ineffective, inferior provider of health care services.
“First of all, recognize that the Medicaid budget for the nation is $400 billion,” he said, standing outside a hanger at Dolphin Aviation. “That’s a lot of money. And about a quarter of the people are involved in it. That’s 80 million people. Eighty million into 400 billion — that’s $5,000, $5,000 for each man, woman and child. If we used that kind of money or even part of that kind of money in an efficient way, we can provide much better care than we’re providing now. So it means we really need to sit down and take this out of the political realm, and do this in a practical way in the same way we do business.”
But should Florida expand Medicaid?
“I don’t think we need to add more money to it,” he said. “I think we need to do maybe design a different system whereby we take care of people with the same money, and provide them the opportunity not to be second class citizens. You know, with that kind of money, they don’t have to be second class citizens.”
How do we do that?
Health savings accounts, he said.
“You give them (the uninsured) a health savings account and … and they begin to have responsibility, guess what happens? Now that they’ve got a diabetic foot, do you think they’re going to go to the emergency room where it costs five more times to get it fixed? No. They’re going to go to the clinic,” he said. “They’re going to get the same treatment, but the emergency room sends you out, the clinic says ‘let’s get your diabetes under control so you’re not back here in three weeks with another problem.’ And that’s what happens when you start putting responsibilities into people’s hands. That’s what’s going to save this country. We have people who are actually innately intelligent, and we have to start taking advantage it.”
Perhaps Carson can be excused for not being on top of the issues of the Florida Legislature, since he said he’s been busy traveling across the country. But Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush are also flying across the country these days, and both seem well-versed on the subject.
It should be noted that although Carson is aspiring to lead the Republican Party in 2016, he only joined the party last fall. He said Monday that in order to run for president, one had to be aligned with one of the two major parties, as opposed to being an independent, “where you have no organization.” He said if there was a “Logical Party,” he would gladly join it.
To call him an unconventional, unorthodox candidate would be an understatement.
He’s also provocative.
A year ago, Carson said the United States is “very much like Nazi Germany.”
He was asked Monday whether he stands by that comment.
“Of course you have to see what the context was,” he said. “What I said was that most of the people in Nazi Germany did not believe in what Hitler was doing. But did they say anything? No, they did not. And that facilitated the rise of what is perhaps the greatest evil we have ever seen.”
Like all the other GOP presidential candidates (but unlike the majority of the country, according to polls), Carson isn’t supportive of same-sex marriages. And he told CNN last month that he “absolutely” believes being gay is a choice.
Carson didn’t want to go there in Sarasota, though.
“I believe that the constitution protects everyone, regardless of their race, what their sexual orientation, what their economic status is, and that’s what we need to concentrate on, and we don’t really need to delve into the details of how they got that way or what the implications of that are.”
That comment does keep coming back.
“I just think it comes back because people just want to create controversy,” he replied. “You know, if people really stopped and looked at what I was saying, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And I’ve made an open offer if someone in the homosexual community can tell me what position a person can take who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, but has nothing against gay people.”
“Please tell me what that position is,” he said. “Nobody’s been able to tell me anything. It’s just, my way or the highway. So I’m sure there must be some reasonable people in the community that could answer to that.”
But does he think it’s a choice?
“I don’t even want to talk about, because whether it’s a choice or not, doesn’t matter,” he said with resignation.
Is he ready to take on questions like those and more if he becomes a full-fledged candidate?
“Completely. Not a problem whatsoever.”
Does he still stand by his comment that running for president is nothing like performing an operation as a neurosurgeon?
“I do stand by that,” he said. “Being in a room, doing a complex tumor, getting a call from the next room, getting a call from the ICU that somebody’s pressure is up. Getting another call from the emergency room about somebody who’s coming in, juggling all that, that’s more pressure. This stuff? Not so much.”
With that, the soon-to-be candidate took off his lavalier microphone and wandered into the hangar, listening to the introductory speeches before taking the stage a little after 5:30 p.m.
