mugwhump Loc: San Diego CA

Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson unleashed his strongest attack yet on Obamacare on Friday, saying that President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement was "the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery."

"It is slavery, in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government," Carson, who retired in May from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said at a speech at the conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington. "It was never about healthcare. It was about control.



"That's why, when this administration took office, it didn't matter that the country was going off the cliff economically, all forces were directed toward getting this legislation passed," Carson added, with his comments drawing much applause from the event's 2,000 attendees.

"Why did they want to pass it so badly?" before answering with a comment from Vladimir Lenin. "He said that socialized medicine is the keystone to the establishment of a Socialist state. That's the problem."

The summit, which ends on Sunday, is sponsored by the Family Research Council, the Washington-based Christian right-leaning think tank that the Southern Poverty Center has labeled an anti-gay hate group.

Other sponsors include such nonprofit organizations as the Heritage Foundation, the American Family Association, American Values, and Liberty Counsel Action.

Among those speaking on Friday included Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Others included House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Former Arkansas Gov. and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint are also scheduled to speak at the summit.

Carson, who has been mentioned as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, continued his attacks on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and other policies of the president that began with his comments in February at the National Prayer Breakfast as Obama sat on the dias.

Many of his remarks on Friday drew sustained applause from the audience.

"It is the most valuable thing you have," Carson said, referring to one's health. "Everything else pales into insignificance, compared to your health. And that's the reason why your health should be controlled by you and not the government."

He segued into his Obamacare critique by saying, "It's really time for the people, we the people of America, to stop being afraid of the government and put it in its place.

"Government plays a very important role when, in fact, it believes in the Constitution. That's the problem. When they begin to neglect the Constitution, when they begin to impose their own will."

Hinting at President Obama's decision to delay portions of the healthcare law for big business, Carson continued: "When they look at laws of the land and they say, 'OK, I think I'll enforce this one. This one I won't.' When they begin to treat people differently.

"When they say that people in the Executive Branch and in the Legislative Branch don't have to participate in certain programs, but everybody else has to … .

"That's not America. That's Russia," Carson said. "How did we allow that to happen in this nation?"

After his speech, Carson told The Hill that he would consider a White House run.

"[Running for president] is not something I have any desire to do whatsoever," he said, though adding "but I certainly listen.

"If the circumstances were to evolve in such a way that that seemed to be what God was calling me to do, I would certainly do it," he told the Hill. "And I would never turn my back on my fellow citizens, if there was a hue and cry for such."



© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Robert Graybeal Loc: Myrtle Beach

I sure hope he does run!

Ambrose Loc: North America

So I guess the World Wars were just a glitch in the system. What a steaming sack of hyperbole.

1. I don't see how being a retired pediatric neurosurgeon qualifies anyone to run for any political office.
2. They didn't want it to pass so badly for "control". Maybe they wanted it to pass so badly because we need a new healthcare system (as you may recall - the current one is broken).
3. And it's coming from the Family Research Council - the same folks who :
- attacked President Bush for his "implicit endorsement of the homosexual political agenda"
- believe abstinence is the only allowable form of birth control.
Yeah, these guys have a firm grip on reality.
4. Nothing is being neglected in the constitution. Check with the Supreme Court if you're lost on that one.

Has anyone else noticed a rush of "potential presidential candidates" suddenly popping up and riding the wave of the affordable care act debacle? Read it again - not only is half of it nonsense, it's all been said before.

Just another political hot air bag.

Robert Graybeal Loc: Myrtle Beach

More qualified than a community agitator.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Isn't that what pretty much all politicians are? The target communities may differ, but the tactics are the same.

Black Bart Loc: Indiana

Right Obama never ran as much as a Lemonade stand before he started running the country.

sourdough58 Loc: Maine

And it shows :-D

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

:thumbup: I recommend you read his book"America the beautiful". Why someone would suggest that Dr Carson's qualifications don't make him eligible for a presidential run, as opposed to Obama's qualifications is just absurd.

SwedeUSA

[quote=mugwhump]:
...
"the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery."
...

I assume that you agree with what he said (to consider what he said look at where he said it!) otherwise you probably wouldn't have posted it.
Do YOU think that our brothers and sisters north of the border believe that they live in a country just a shade above
slavery???
Ridiculous and unbelievable!!!

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

As much as I like the way he thinks and his willingness to put his thoughts out into the public I would like to see Ben Carson get a little political experience under his belt. I'd like to see if he can run a state before I'd turn him loose on the country. We currently have a rookie running the show and look at the bang-up job he's doing. I question whether smarts, conservative views and an outstanding medical resum'e translate into an outstanding Presidency, but he's at least 2/3's of the way there. I hope he runs for something, but not the Presidency... not yet.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

I understand your point, but that's precisely why I like him so much. Politicians have ruined our gov't and it's fresh to see someone willing to contribute who has already achieved much success so he's not looking to get it from the gov't. IMHO Carson is genuine and intelligent enough to make the right magnanimous decisions just based upon what he has accomplished in his life so far. Read his latest book and I think you'll be very impressed.

hfb Loc: Northwestern Louisiana

You lost the election learn to live with it.

RDH

But he was a Professor at one of the nations leading law schools.

halgofish

What kind of actions would you expect from ultra right wing fanatics who are living in the past. How quickly they forget how their president G. Bush took a surplus in our economy and turned it into a deficit. How quicky they forget how many Americans gave their lives to "liberate" Iraq from Saddam Hussain and his supposed weapons of mass destruction. How quick they forget that during the great recession Roosevelt hired thousands of people for intra structure projects , WPA, etc:,which were helping bring the country out of the depression and the republicans carried on and he pulled back on stimulus and we went back into the depression until the second world war. Now they carry on again about stimulus spending and unemployment is still to high partially because of their insane political views. Don't they see they are on a sinking ship. The electorate is fed up with their shutting down the gov't. and their endless attacks on Obama and his affordable care act which is the law of the land. They are becoming a party of extremist losers hanging on to the past, chasing out the moderate republicans and obsessed with only their views of everything and at the same time destroying this country of ours.

wuzfuzzab Loc: Red Deer, Alberta

No he wasn't!! He was just a guest lecturer. That's called falsifying your resume. And it isn't his only falsification.