Ben Carson Draws Big Crowd at Iowa State Fair; Blames Both Dems and Repubs for Blowing Up the Budget (Video)

In a speech at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday afternoon, GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson blamed both Republicans and Democrats for the country’s runaway debt.

Carson, who drew a sizable crowd at the Des Moines Register’s Soapbox, began his speech by talking about his humble upbringing.

“The only time we could go to the state fair was when we got those special coupons that could get you in free, but we didn’t have any money to buy any rides, or buy any popcorn. I never tasted cotton candy until I was an adult and it wasn’t that good,” Carson said sadly. He added brightly, “Maybe they should have tried frying it.”

The former pediatric neurosurgeon said that after spending his professional career looking out for the welfare of children, he was looking forward to retirement, but couldn’t, knowing what was going to happen to their future if we continue down the same route. “It’s been both Democrats and Republicans who have been blowing up the budget and destroying the future for our young people,” Carson said.

He went on to say that as bad as the 18 trillion dollar debt is, “the real problem is the fiscal gap”

“That is the unfunded liabilities that the government has — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, all the governmental programs,” he explained. “All the stuff that we owe going forward verses the revenues we expect to collect through taxes and other sources. Those two numbers should be virtually identical if you’re responsible.”

“That number now sits at 211 trillion dollars,” Carson continued. “That is a staggering amount.”

“You never hear politicians talking about this,” he noted. “I’m not a politician so I can talk about it. They want to get re-elected so they can’t talk about it.”

Carson advocated using private-sector talent to improve the U.S. economy.

“We have to take advantage – we have so much talent,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are geniuses when it comes to running businesses.”

One of the biggest applause lines in his speech had to do with religious liberty.

“We need to stop listening to people who tell us we cannot talk about God, we cannot talk about our faith,” Carson declared. “Do they realize that our founding documents – our Declaration of Independence talks about certain unalienable rights given to us BY OUR CREATOR aka God? Do they know that our Pledge of Allegiance to our flag says that we are “one nation under God?”

“It’s in our founding documents, it’s in our pledge, it’s in our courts and it’s on our money, but we’re not supposed to talk about it. What in the world is that? In medicine we call it schizophrenia.”

He concluded, “It’s time for us to realize there’s nothing wrong with living by Godly principles, loving your fellow man, caring about your neighbor, developing your God-given talents to their utmost so you can become valuable to the people around you, having values and principles that govern your life – and if we do that, not only will we remain a pinnacle nation, but we will truly remain one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGQjmD3JQUc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdYCdy5yiGM