SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Addressing topics ranging from space travel to the national debt, Ben Carson, currently a frontrunner in media polls for the Republican presidential nomination, spoke to an audience of about 500 convenience-store retailers and suppliers at CSP’s annual Outlook Leadership conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Nov. 14.
Carson emphasized the values of education, free enterprise and free speech as components of his presidential platform.
“Our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, emphasized the importance of an informed and educated populace,” Carson said. “If not, the people would be gullible, easy to manipulate.”
Raised by a single, working mother in an economically disadvantaged area of Boston, Carson praised her for refusing to go on welfare like many in their neighborhood did.
“She didn’t like to be dependent,” he said. “She saw that most people who got on welfare didn’t get off.”
Claiming that the media has misquoted him in the past as being against the country’s welfare system, Carson said, “I have no desire to remove safety nets for people who need them, but I prefer to give people ladders to move from dependence to realizing the American dream.”
Carson touched on other topics as well:
- Unemployment. While the current rate is down, he said the bigger picture is how job participation is at a 38-year low.
- National debt. Saying the debt has doubled in the past 10 years to $18.5 trillion, Carson called passing that burden to the next generation “immoral.”
- Government regulation. He said regulation on business costs money, which ultimately lays the burden on the poor and middle class.
- Space travel. Saying that important scientific discoveries have come from the nation’s past endeavors in space, Carson called for renewed attention to those programs.
- National security. Many parts of the world, according to Carson, are experiencing a “Jihad moment,” where Western countries are increasingly the target of terrorist activity. “We have to fortify, anticipate and resist these forces,” he said.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.