turbines all over the place. my guess is that ethanol would be reductions -- would have reductions. my tax plan eliminates depletion i trust people sitting in a garage somewhere, probably a kid, hopefully living in miami because the health effects of these things are pretty extraordinary, someone is going to figure out how to have a sustainable, renewable source of energy that is going to change the world. my bet is that it will be an american and my bet is that it will happen in the freest possible kind of environment and one where you have a venture capitalist arm inside of the government. here is the other point i can make. i as the governor of the state of florida which has a very

fragile environment, it is important to balance the state in the country with the environment. the question to me is that we need to be stewards of the environment. it is not just a political statement, it is a religious statement. i think we can achieve this. this is an extraordinary country. we should find the next disruptive technologies. i have a friend here from florida who was born in iowa who served in the florida senate and who was also the premier environmentalist in the public sector when i was serving and, kurt kaiser, do you have something to say? we moved to tallahassee, and that is where we wanted to

live, was florida, so i got years inegislature, 10 the statehouse and 10 years in the state senate, and i have watched all of the political leadership from the 1960's to cancurrent day, and if you compare marco rubio to jab, that is a joke. joke., that is a the things that jeb bush was talking about, he is not exaggerating one hit on what he it on what he is talking about. we have had republican speakers marco was onend of those speakers. every single one of those republican speakers except rubio have all endorsed jeb bush. he is the only one in the whole

group. if you look at the number of legislators in the office today, about two thirds of all republican legislators have endorsed jeb bush over marco. that is because they have seen firsthand jeb bush's record. [applause] mr. bush: yes, sir. i thought you were going to talk about environmental policy, but that is ok, too. [laughter] mr. bush: we are learning this in the debates. [laughter] >> i am a newlywed. mr. bush:4 congratulations -- mr. bush: congratulations. just got out of school, college, that is, and right now we are struggling to be able to pay back, obviously, the school loans and the american dream to own a house. if you get elected, when you get elected, what will you do to

help in my situation, you know, to pay off the student loan and to be able to afford the house? mr. bush: how big is the student loans? combine, near $80,000, $90,000 with interest. 9%? mr. bush: this is one of the tragedies, this is part of the legacy of obamacare, the nationalization of the student happened with obamacare. it has doubled in size. $1.2 trillion in debt. $1.2 trillion. this is debt that has to be paid off before you can make your car loans or anything else or pay off your credit card and it is a burden on young people in particular because it is extraordinary. a week ago, i outlined a student loan program to move forward because i don't think it is a proper place for the government to act.

if it is the private market, that is fine. that ended the student loan program and replacing it with an income or payment plan for everybody who graduate from college could get a $50,000 line of credit and if they borrow it fora degree but also certificates, you could get a certification that you are, you know, that you can work on and you immediately get a job as an information technologist. if you want a certificate to become a welder, i guarantee you , you will get a job like that. below,re jobs that are you know, they can't get a job. a psychology degree is a fine degree, but there aren't any openings for psychologists. most of the time you have to get , indenting yourself

more. so these other options where there are apprenticeships and other things are empowering people and you pay it back 1% per $10,000 of money borrowed. it is not alone. , the sickly, the government is investigating -- investing in your future. perwould pay it back 1% $10,000 borrowed right out of your tax return. any of thoset crazy forms, no complex bureaucracy. this would force universities to lower their prices rather than to raise their prices. -- they faring and seen are financing those higher costs on you. who said that was a great idea. -- great idea? 7%, 8% inows at 6%, most states, and inflation is

growing at 2%. their lack ofng accountability on the backs of people who were trying to get an education. total there should be transparency on the degree that you are pursuing before you start. to open ups need classrooms more and professors need to teach more. a four-year degree ought to be completed in a years, for crying out loud. call it a six-year degree and be honest or call it a four year degree and be real. that is the third and final part of it. there ought to be skin in the game. if you can't get a job for the degree that you were expecting, and it cost you $67,000 as a couple, some of that money ought to be held back, universities ought to pay it back to the students who pay this money. they should have skin in the game. that would lower the tuition costs. you know how i know this?

in florida, the students with the lowest in-state tuition was florida. you could go to florida at fsu and not pay tuition at all as we thought that was a value of importance. our lottery money goes to what we call the bright future scholarship program. people invest over the long haul to give their children and their grandchildren a chance to go to college. now we have accountability in our higher education. they have to compete for the dollars that the state provides. if they don't can there completion rates up, they don't get the money. guess what? degree completion rates go up. that's how life works, right? this has to be at the first .riority i get that question in every orn hall meeting about two three times and it is a disgrace

that we have allowed our government to run just wild on this at the expense of students. anybody back there? excuse me. yes, you are back there, that works. how would you say you are most similar to your father and mother who many of us voted for? how are you similar to them and how are you most different from them? well, i am much better looking than my brother. [laughter] mr. bush: i mean, come on. note? -- no? my dad, i will tell you what, comparing, when i was in my mid-20's, i married my wife when i was 17 in mexico and it was love at first sight in my life andbe divided between bc ac, before columba and after

columba, i was much better after columba. she is my is ration. the other inspiration in my life has been my dad. he is 91. he is near perfect in my mind. how do i compare myself to the person i consider my hero and the greatest man alive? i mean, i am going to get emotional about this. that is not possible. [applause] mean,sh: thankfully, i how do i compare myself to a guy who joined the navy and was the youngest navy pilot in world war ii history? he was shot down in the pacific and barely escaped being picked garrison in the pacific islands and had he been picked up, he would have been in a work camp where the commander of that camp was executed for war crimes for cannibalism. with prisoners.

experiences are so full, so rich, so big. when i was in my 20's, normally you have a father that you just idolize with all of the successes and he never cursed or never raised a hand to me and i just thought, normally just try to be like your father, you know? if i could just be like him, i figured, if i could just be like half of him. was a perfect decision in my part because that lower expectation a lead me to live my life. my life is different. i married a girl from mexico. i moved to florida away from texas. we started having children when we were young. i lived in venezuela. life, a very different different than my brother or my life experiences. i am not say they're better, but they are different. more --re disciplined

disciplined, more focused, i would probably say i'm a little bit more cerebral. neither be on that, but i love policies, i love ideas. i look like my mother, he looks like his dad. i don't know what else. george's fortitude and the fact that he went against popular will to create a surge along with an extraordinary group of men and women in uniform that left iraq. made alongmistakes the way but they left iraq in a secure place, fragile yet secure and that was because of his dogged determination to finish what was started and i admire that as well. like having a front row seat by watching them work. the final thing i would say is that 2017 is going to be a lot different than 1989. adam talked about the age of

reagan and i was thinking about you adam, you are one -- were one. [laughter] mr. bush: speaking about that, the context is always different, but we can always learn from the lessons of history and we can always learn from those successes. my best lessons for me have been where i didn't have it work, where i didn't succeed, or i had to dust myself off, isn't that how life works for you all? if you have lived a life where you work through trial and dean, being active and engaged, there are a lot of times where you can challenge yourself along the way, and i think you want a president who has a little adversity in their life as well. a fuller and deeper understanding of how people are challenged today. i think i am your guy in that regard. i don't know if it is different --i amsame, but i am jeb

point bush!ion [laughter] [applause] >> what makes you best prepared anotherplish having bush in the white house? mr. bush: say again? >> what makes you best equipped a couple is having another bush in the white house? i believe in having someone who is thoroughly vetted. circumstance, i can promise you everything that i have done has been vetted. everything. state,overnor of a big but back to the bush thing, you know, a lot of things that you would try to hurt my dad is to

expose something i have done. i have been thoroughly vetted. i have been entirely open. i have given out 30,000 e-mails in my time from governor about my work. mails.com and jebe you can see them all there. i wrote a book called "reply all." that is all about my e-mails are in my governor years. think about hillary clinton. you have to get a subpoena to find her e-mails. whatever you find, you'll find. i have a tax rate out there. i think it is at 10 or something, i don't know. i have a thorough record of accomplishment, and campaigning with hopeful, optimistic messages with your arms wide open. we are never going to win as conservatives if we are the reactionary party. firmve a message that is

and resolute and also encourages people to join our team. last night at the debate, it was interesting, there was the view to full girl on youtube, i don't know if you saw it at the debate, they showed it on youtube, and they have all of these business makers, and this woman served in the military and she is now a fashion designer i think. on youtube. it is an extraordinary business. she was basically saying, "can i join you?" basically saying it to the woman who was muslim. --ically saying, mi wanted? wanted? and i said, yeah, you are wanted. all of god's children to be honor team. we are not going to exclude anybody. of hope andis one

optimism and i think that is how you win. talk about early childhood education and how it is important and she has the endorsement of the teachers union and they will be trotted out and basically she will want to expand government run four-year-old programs. i have done something different. in florida, 80% of all four-year-olds are in literacy programs, 90% of which are in churches and synagogues and private settings and we benchmark it at half a day rather than a full day. it is effective and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. our learning gains are the highest in four-year-olds or fourth-graders in the country, a state with 57% of our students, four-year-old, who qualify for free or reduced lunch. basically they are at the poverty level -- lunch. thecally they are at poverty level. i won't lecture hillary or

anybody on the left regarding mobility or that they need to be dependent on government. i can take it to her because i 4.4%a proven record of income growth each and every year i was governor. they will talk about it and they will do it but i have done it. and by the way -- [applause] if you think that the back-and-forth in this primary campaign is tough, huh! first of all, i have been around a lot of campaigns and it is beanbags so far. the clinton hit machine, once they get going, i hope you get someone who is thoroughly vetted and thoroughly scrutinized because we cannot afford to lose this election.

whoever our nominee is, they will come after them with a vengeance. there is no hope and optimism in the clinton message, i can promise you that. in their debate, she said the nra and the drug companies, the standard thing, but she said, "you know what? the real enemy i have are republicans." this isn't mourning in america here, this is going to be her , bam,ng back, bam, bam and it will get ugly really quick. >> [indiscernible] mr. bush: the what? illegals? >> [indiscernible] mr. bush: well, if you are talking about the refugees, i don't think we should allow the refugees in until the fbi

director can make a clean assertion that the vetting process would reflect the new reality of these new refugee who areions going to europe are professing jihad against america. they should not he allowed to come in. now having said that, the main way to deal with this threat is to take out isis in the caliphate. we can't play defense and we can't close down our country. ultimately, for also for this to need tossful, we destroy isis in this caliphate the size of indiana. their existence is a victory for them because it allows them to recruit. in the last year, in 17 countries, there have been 70 attacks outside of the caliphate. these were either isis-inspired or isis-controlled. europe, it will grow in africa, it will grow in

asia, and it will grow here, as we saw in san bernardino. other forces with more sophisticated equipment and to reestablish the partnership with the sunni tribal leaders that will ultimately create the stability once isis is gone. fighters get the war and the lawyers off of the war fighters backs. refugees will be able to stay there so we can build this army financed by the arab world and partnered with europe. this is to take out isis at its core. this is how you take this problem and deal with it and be serious about it. yes, sir? >> [indiscernible] no i don't., if you want to guess, the best part of the strategy is what i can describe. the muslims who will be the strongest allies, sorry, we want you to fight this fight, but you

can't come to our country to talk about it, or the indonesians, the largest muslims areof not in the middle east, it is in indonesia. you are sending a signal that the united states is retreating in the world. it is not muslims who are the problem, it is the radical jihadists who are the problem. we have to distinct between the two or we are going to create more jihadists. we are going to push muslims away when we need them to be a part of this. the united states cannot be isolationist in the world. in fact, we can lead it, but we need to have muslims fighting this fight in syria and in iraq. we can't do this in a extension -- can't do this in absentia. that means we have to defend the homeland better and all of the things that we need to do that are important, that we need to

engage in the world. we can't just pull back and hope that that will work. big cough,- i have a and it is really hard in my voice, so i've been speaking louder than i need to. that should be better. yes? >> [indiscernible] so the gridlock in washington, it is interesting, we are 240 years old as a country, and we have had gridlock in the past, but we have also had duals. sometimes they take it more seriously than they do now. why is now so different? well, i think now we have a president whose first impulse is to push down anybody who doesn't agree with them and make them look bad and to create a straw man and to demonize them because his nuanced, sophisticated view hasn't been adhered to. if you disagree with them, you are somehow a bad person and your motivations are wrong.

it with the idea that the person who disagrees with me might just be wrong. not that they have bad motives or that they are bad people. they might be liberal or they might have a bad view of things. you can start with the premise that people can rebuild trust and the next president had better start to do that. this whole idea of pushing someone down to make yourself look better, i don't know, back to the bush family, barbara bush, when she saw a kid in our family act like that, you know what happened? they didn't have a hotline for child abuse. [laughter] get back we've got to to grown-up world here where you don't assume people are bad, you forge consensus, you know something about them, you build trust, and when we agree, you start, you go to yes, right? right now, mental health is a big challenge in our country

today, and we are underfunding mental health and we need to figure out that are ways to deal with the challenges of gun violence when people are just deranged and they end up killing innocent people. it is not law-abiding people, it is some mental health challenges and identifying those people, people on the right and the left impulse is toirst use and authority that the person doesn't have. that, ae a president will not blame my predecessor -- i don't know, the first three or four years, it was hard to watch won't blame my predecessor, i will be held accountable, and i won't assume people are bad because they disagree with me. that is how you weave through a degree to move forward. who came up with that idea? and who came up with the idea that it is a sign of strength when you get nothing done.

i mean, think about this. alice in this wonderland logic right now that is totally bizarre. we have attacks code where businesses are being bought by other countries. we are losing the taxes and we are losing the jobs and everyone says it is a problem, but nobody has a solution. fix it. moved to the territorial tax code like every other country has. allow one-time moneys to come back into the country instead of letting them sit overseas. turn this on its back and turn in versions into re-inversions with our own country. there are so many solutions with this problem but you are not the end-all and be-all and you are .ot the big dog on stage governors know how to do this. we have to. yes, sir? >> would you be willing to make a commitment to what you just

said to whoever your future opponent might be when it comes to the general election that you will as a matter of fact, be the best of intentions and not just the punchline of a joke? it is tougher with hillary clinton because there is a trust issue. i give her respect for being intelligent, of being knowledgeable, policy oriented, she has a set of detailed plans that are very different than mine, but she is, you know, she is sincere in that regard. she believes in what she believes. i can't give her credit for honesty and trustworthiness. -- whenwhen you go to you tell family members who lost their loved ones that it was a videographer that was the motivation for the attack on benghazi, which she said, and then you are under a rose and you say -- under oath and you

say that your e-mails were subpoenaed by the fbi, and then it turns out that she was e-mailed by her daughter on her private server about classified information and to the prime minister of each of that this was motivated by jihad. undergrowth she says that to the families, and to the families she said something different. that is just not trustworthy. i can't at meyer. i can admire her intelligence and her focus and her command of policies. i concerned we do that. but i hope you give me a little break here as it relates to trustworthiness and honesty. she's got a long way to go. who cares what i think about this in this regard, she would have a hard time in the democratic primary and she would have a hard time with the american people with her revisionist history. yes? >> can you talk about the

military and the air force and the planes and stuff? how is it all going to be funded with the veterans and their care and stuff? how is it all going to be funded? mr. bush: great question. let me pull out my prop here. for all oflueprint the ideas we have laid out. -- can go to jeb2016/.com jeb2016.com and check this out. we are going to create a new system that will be viable for the next generation or the reforms of medicaid and medicare and we have everything in here, including defense, and we have priced it out. i'm trying to be intellectually honest. but i have proposed is a $20 billion increase in defense spending per year. it is a sizable commitment but if you are going to rebuild the navy, rebuild the air force,

modernize and train and have a readiness factor that everybody expects we have but we don't, it is going to cost more money, and that is the amount of money that would be spent. in kay's anybody is asking where else we should be spending money, that would be in my mind spending money on basic research whether it is the nih or the energy or then of space program, these long-term projects for america, i think we should be spending money on. where should we be spending less? spending less and reform medicaid alone. medicaid this year alone is going to increase by 18%. 80%. -- 18%. this year alone. save $130 billion in a 10 year. . medicare would be some been based on the proposal that we have laid out.

entitlements are where you are going to see savings not because you are taking benefits away but because we are modernizing it and taking it into the 21st century and allowing those savings to accrue. all compounding takes out of the other spending that is necessary and the long-term things are being hurt because of it. i believe it is finance a bull by higher growth and by reforming entitlements and by challenging the career civil service system that creates lifetime employment for federal workers that no private sector workers get, they get 40% more pay for lifetime work of the public sector and if you reform , you could save a tremendous amount of money. one more and then we've got to go. >> what are you going to do about the social security cuts coming in 2017? mr. bush: the big cuts are going to be in about 10 years when they completely run out of money

and they go completely bankrupt and it is about a 30% reduction. i think you are talking about freezing the benefits rather than having it go up? i don't think there is a cut in 2017. >> yeah! there is! it is a 50% cut from our income! mr. bush: i think that is 10 years out, but i will have to check. for most of us there will be no cuts and it exist as is. 2022, you would raise the retirement age in one year. you would get up to 70 for retirement and early retirement would be 65. you would back load the benefits. right now, the better deal is to -- retire early rather than retire late. you are not cutting benefits but you are blending the benefits differently so that late retirement has a battered deal

in terms of your beginning payment and early retirement. you would provide a minimum benefit for everybody of 120% of the poverty level. today on average, that is about 80% of the poverty level. average. poverty out 80% of the level. social security was designed to be a supplemental insurance savings plan. it's now a principle source of savings for most seniors. so having a floor that is higher than what exists now is appropriate. and we would lower the benefits of people with higher income. do you all those things together and a few other things, and you make it solvent. it's reality-based. t's an approach that both left and right hopefully would agree on. for those that are working, that re retirement age and work because they want to or because they have to or both, we would to pay would not have the employee portion of the -- of your payroll tax, which goes into social security.

so why would someone 67, 68 years old, who's retired already, why would they have -- they shouldn't have are to continue to pay into the system. they should be able to keep that their savings, as part of their retierm. that's the plan that we've laid out. based on the actuaries that have looked at this, that would save ocial security for another 50 years and, you know, we better get on with it. the idea that the left always worry, it dea, don't will work. it's like anybody remember magazine? newman, mad let me worry. danile is a river in africa. it won't be fixed for anybody under the age of 50. we 's what will happen if don't move forward. when it started, we had about 30 retiree.rking for one then it went down to 10 and then down to five. now it's close to three. if nothing changes, it could iterally get to 2 to 1, 50-60

years from now. that's impossible. work.s not going to there are solutions that we face hat requires a leader that recognizes it that's reality-based, that has ideas, into re imbedded conservative principals that has the ability to stick with it, determination ed and that's why i'm running for president and why i hope you'll night. for me on monday thank you all very much. applause] [indistinct chatter]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

mr. bush: i admire pope francis. he has a very fresh approach, challenges our faith. for me that i was -- that is always a good thing. he did not like it, did he? he is a good guy. how are you doing? this is government class. what is the name of your teacher? >> mr. [indiscernible] thank you. >> i don't think -- we should be organizing. thanks for your help. good to be here. [indistinct conversations]

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[indiscernible] [jeb bush speaking spanish]

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[indiscernible] jeb bush: it is a better program , not for people that already ife it but going forward -- they have a university program, it should not grow at 10% a year. they should reduce costs. >> it will not help me now. move to theu could income payment. it might be a better deal.

>> i appreciate it. >> i wanted to say, i am a psychologist. i am a phd. you have to read what the american psychological association says about guns. jeb bush: mental health as well. [indiscernible]

this is about me veterans, not about the employees that work in the department. 340,000 employees. good luck to you. picture? thank you.

[indiscernible] jeb bush: you have the cyber

issues. it's all tied together now. >> i'm getting my bachelors. kaplan. forensics --, [indiscernible] jeb bush: can they help you get a job why you're doing it? i think universities should focus on these ideas that are great into practical results along the way so you are working while you do it. good luck. are you a yankee fan? how did that happen? >> i don't know, actually. this is from- my daughter.

it is good luck. jeb bush: god bless you. [indiscernible]

jeb bush: hey, how are you? nice to see you. >> how are you doing? jeb bush: i am doing well. thank you. [indiscernible] thank you. to be signed up for a copies eam? -- a caucus t can we get a picture?

[indiscernible] jeb bush: why are we so sensitive to a guy that presides

over the execution of three people a day for not being devoutly muslim. the largest number of juveniles being executed in the world are in iran. he has the honor of going to the vatican, and they put boxes over statues. i don't get it. they are beautiful. it is not disrespectful for us to embrace our heritage. does that make sense? clerks i feel like somebody walking to my house with muddy feet. -- >> i feel like somebody is walking through my house with muddy feet. jeb bush: i admire pope francis. [indiscernible]

this is government class? playing hooky? what is the name of your teacher? >> mr. [indiscernible] thank you.

[indiscernible] jeb bush: i got 60% of the hispanic vote. >> i came from taxes to support you -- texas to support you. jeb bush: thanks for your help. [indiscernible]

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the guy who had the bank there had four branches and told me, i will try to remember the exact number. not a single bad loan. they did not sell off any of their loans. they knew all their customers. announcer: the next washington journal, steffen schmidt previews the iowa caucuses on monday. former u.s. senator, tim hutchinson of arkansas discusses his support of marco rubio. and former senator tom harkin talks about his support for hillary clinton.

we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal, live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >>. iowa, simulcasting with c-span. >> god was the great state of just god bless the great state of iowa. >> here in iowa. >> i am so pleased to do this with one of all friends in iowa. >> if you would have told us one year ago we would have come in third in iowa, we would have given anything for that. ♪ >> is this an average caucus?

to say.rd this is the third when i have been to. they are all different. it is good to back in iowa. >> thank you for the great sendoff you're giving to us. >> i want to thank the people of iowa. >> iowa is the first. >> i love iowa. if i lose i will, i will never speak to you people again. ♪ chucksenator grassley joined dr. ben carson at a campaign event in iowa city. he has not endorsed ben carson or any other republican candidates.

this is just over an hour. candidates. iowa holds its first of the nation caucus in iowa on monday. this is just over an hour. >> thank you all very much. what a turnout. thank you, senator ryan for those kind remarks. my wife would say you always first.people that reminds me of another thank you. thanks to all of you for giving me the opportunity to serve you in the united states senate. renewed from be time to time. it's my privilege to be invited carson.duce dr. but before i actually give you an introduction of dr. carson first got u how i

acquainted with him, i think hat the enthusiasm that i see if it's ese rallies kept up between now and the election, we'll be able to have a republican president and not have a third term of an obama presidency. . pplause] sen. grassley: and for the government,f limited that's pretty important, because we have a president that said if a phone and if congress won't, i will. you concrete to the principle of limited government, and you know where that comes from, best expressed in the declaration of independence, that we're creator, with inalienable rights, the pursuit happiness.d

government can give and away, but can take when you have those rights from and then they're yours, you, we have a constitution, that gives government some but the principle of limited government is very, very important. and by a government of and for the people. it's not by and for the government. nd if you listen to what the democratic candidates for president, their answer is to every problem. it doesn't matter what problem is brought up. is more n problem taxes, more spending, and more regulation. very contrary to what has made this country great, the engenuity and hard work of the american people, not what comes from government.

and so this enthusiasm has to be to make n order for us sure that we don't have a third presidency.obama reason you have being here now, it can't end on february 1. continue through the following nine months. i hope that you will do that, know that i'm to going to work hard to make sure third term t have a of an obama presidency. now, i'll tell you a second time why i'm here, because i want to have the privilege, i want and have the rivilege of introducing dr. carson. can i tell you how i first learned about dr. carson? he was famous in the medical profession, and particularly in surgery and particularly in brain surgery, but that doesn't mean a farmer from iowa like would know who he

is. but i've been a regular attendee breakfast.l fair in fact, even before dr. carson spoke there maybe 10 years before it, i had the privilege , 48 aring mother teresa inches, having to stand on a box to speak to 4,000 people with resident clinton two seats away, and she said -- she told about the value of life and abortion, and ith he had to listen to it. there'sfew years later, a dr. carson that i didn't know knew about but i knew he existed. he was invited to speak to 4,000 people at the national prayer reakfast, and i had the privilege of hearing him say hat was wrong with obama care, with the president two or three seats away. he was not there to give a political speech.

he was there to give a spiritual speech. ut there's a certain amount of spirituality connected with and living by the that tution as well overnment is not the answer to everything. there's other things involved with life and belief in god is one of those. so the value of life is what our faith is all about. of life. and the constitution that backs that up. heard him say during that that were things wrong with obama care as one gave.e that he so i came away from that meeting guy has fact that this a lot of guts, even though he's a brain surgeon. a lot of guts. so i come to you with that

background about him, and would say that there's some principles brain surgeon has that you have to have in government as well. say that i like to think, you know, again, i don't know anything about medicine, but i assume you have to put together a good team. for the to have a plan operation you're going to have, and you have to make sure that a complicated operation is performed well. oesn't it sound similar to something that's missing in government, putting together a proper team, putting together the proper planning and carrying out an operation with success? very ms to me that that's important. now, you heard him say on television that he's the only one that is on the platform up there during the debate. i don't know whether he said him last night but i heard say it a lot of times. i'm the only one out here

without a political title. you don't have to have a olitical time-out -- title to run for president. you don't have to have a political title to perform as a president. you have to have a lot of common sense, and i think now that dr. carson is going to come out here to speak to you, i think you're going to see a person that has a lot of common sense in order to answer our problems and i want common sense is important, because washington is an island surrounded by reality. if you ever wonder why i ever weekend, this he is the real world. dr. carson is the real world. dr. carson, come here and tell them why you are a good candidate. . pplause] dr. carson: thank you, so much. grassley.nator i'm absolutely delighted to be

ere today, after the debate last night, in which i didn't but i did getime, a chance to say a lot and that's the important thing. a lot of times people say to me, throughally worth going all the things that you have to o through to run for president of the united states? people attacking you, attacking your character and your family, the tremendous grind. is it all the worth it? and the answer is, no. laughter] not if you're doing it for yourself. however, if you have a bigger purpose, it is definitely worth it. go., you know -- there we okay. nsa, you got to watch them. [laughter] but anyway, you know, i've spent career, professional

you know, looking after children, and trying to give chance and a third chance. hard work, ll that and you put them back into an not healthy.hat's and i couldn't stand the thought of retiring knowing that our children were going to into a bad environment. you know, this is the first do worsen predicted to than their parents in american history. marked change from everything that has characterized us in the past. a land of hope, a land of dreams. dream is an disappearing before our eyes. is, are we just going to continue down the same the same things,

with slight variations on them, and having people say, oh, it's this time. when it really isn't. going to make a major turn this thing around? you know, i am very dedicated to preserving the american dream. have you noticed there's no other country with a dream? we're the only ones with a dream. there's no canadian dream. dream.s no italian there's no nigerian dream. dream.s an american and yet there's so many people en grading our country saying we're the root of all evil, have created so many problems in the world. well, if we were all that bad, why are so many people trying to many people nd not trying to leave. i don't think we're bad at all.

hen you want to talk about an exceptional nation, this is the one you need to talk about. our n, we declared independence in 1776. less than a hundred years later, the number 1 economic power in the world. and 5,000 years before america scene, people did things the same way. within 200 years of america oming on the scene, men were walking on the moon. think about that. completely changed the man kind. of by far the most exceptional nation the world has ever known of the reasons that we should be in no hurry to give away all our values and principles for the sake of political correctness and let our nation be changed. you know, we made sure -- applause]

-- the pc police would have you believe that every other curling, every other lifestyle, incremental and therefore, we should welcome all those other things into our nation. i like i said last night, believe in the teddy roosevelt philosophy. as long as lcome, they accept our principles, our values and our laws. if not, stay where they are. [applause] i don't see anything wrong with that. i don't think that that's prejudicial in any way. it just says that we like where we are. you probably had somebody come into your house as guest and they would walk in and say, you know, i don't like room y your living furniture is. i'm going to pick that out and put some other stuff in here and

they open your refrigerator and say i don't like this stuff. get rid of all of that. had a roommate who was like that. it was so funny. of my w, another one roommates, his mom would bring and hese treats and stuff put them in the refrigerator and bob would come in and say, i don't like these. tell your mom not to bring them anymore. for asn't bringing them bob. but some people, that's the they have.at but certainly, the dreams for me as a youngster, i wanted to be a doctor. it was really the only thing that grabbed my fancy. write over ed policemen and firemen. wanted anything to do with medicine. i liked going to the doctor's office. shot.n't mind getting a i could smell the alcohol swabs.

i was on cloud 9 if i had those swabs. nd if i could have the stethoscope and listen to my own and if anybody volunteered, i'd listen to their heart. o was so much fun and going t the hospital was the best thing in the world. some people don't like going to the hospital. they had to wait for long periods of time. the longer i could wait, the better, because i could sit out in the hall way and listen to the pa system. jones, to the emergency room. dr. johnson. they sounded so important and thinking, one day, dr. carson, dr. carson. beepers now. but there's a reason that god abilitya brain with the to dream, because sometimes, the dream is the only thing that gets you through. sometimes the going gets very,

and you have to impossible dream and reach, when your arms are grasp it. and it certainly didn't look very likely for me as a youngster. i was a terrible student. in addition to growing up in terrible poverty, i was the worst student you could possibly have, and everybody called me dummy. that was my nickname. i admired the at smart kids. i would never tell them i admired them but i really did admire them. because imagine they're in the am.e grade as i how do they know all this stuff? it always reminds me of a lot of young people and unfortunately ld people that i encountered these days, who don't know very much. have you noticed that you run into a lot of people who don't know very much?

superficial knowledge. i said, go out on these on the street interviews and ask people stuff, like what's the significance of labor day? say, oh, that celebrates women having babies. i mean, they just have no idea about anything. and the sad thing is these people vote. you know, that's the really sad thing. [laughter] founders were ur adamant about education. massachusetts e bay colony, if you didn't have adequate education in your fined.ity, you were that's how it was. alexis curttail came to country in 1931 to study this country because he was fascinated, how could this

competingyears old be with europe on every level. he was going to figure out what was going on here. government.our he was impressed with the separation of powers. nd the efficiency of our government. now, this was a while ago. and then yeah, he said, let me look at their education system. and he was blown away. nybody finishing the second grade was completely literate. bear trapper, the guy could read are the newspaper. could tell him how government worked. ould have a sophisticated conversation. only the aristocracy in europe could do that. it was an amazing thing that was nation, and our that's one of the reasons i think that we developed so quickly, why we were able to ocean to another cean across a vast hostile and

rugged terrain. we had what's known as the can-do attitude. and it quickly propelled us to the pinnacle of the world. that can-do attitude is rapidly with the aced today what can you do for me attitude. quickly.nging very in fact, 30 years ago, somebody tried to describe to you today's america, you wouldn't have believed them. you would have said, that's ridiculous. those kind of things would never america. on in we are changing at break-neck speed. and interestingly enough, joseph america by riend of any stretch of the imagination, if you want to bring america down, you have to destroy her from the inside.

by attack iing fundamentals of america. her faith, her patriotism, and her morality. those, you can destroy you will destroy america. and you notice those are the exact things that are going on today. society stopping emies are crimp.olitical you don't talk about all this stuff. you just let it happen, and your society is changed. you have nothing to say about -- they've been doing it decades. and they are actually in the minority. the majority of americans

actually have common sense. the majority of americans actually have real values and principles. it's just that they've been shut intimidated. been they're afraid to speak out and actually believe. progressives, th they don't care whether you agree with them or not, as long as you sit down and shut your mouth, and that's what's going on. and it's really time for people open their and mouths widely and proclaim what because that is what is going to save america. must stop atives allowing themselves to be manipulated. you know, the progressives come along and say you conservatives because you ple, have such high principles, and vote for ot dare somebody with whom you have a

disagreement, because you're such good people. and then they go home and laugh at you. and the last presidential lection, 93 million people who could have voted did not vote. 30 million evangelicals did not vote. we cannot allow that to happen.

we need to recognize it is not just those who come behind us. it is all of us. that is why i quoted the preamble. blessings of liberty. prosperityur posterity. we have an obligation to those coming behind us. i'm going to come back in a minute. i love myself as a horrible student.

the thing that got me out of this, my mother. shuffled from one place to another. there was no place she could go. they moved to detroit. she discovered my father was a bigamist and had another family. she had to try to raise us on our own. she worked extraordinarily hard, ends meet.ake she refused to be a victim. with all the things that happened to her, she never felt sorry for herself. problem was, she never felt sorry for us either. there was never any excuse that was acceptable. she would say, do you have a

brain? it didn't matter what bob or anybody else said or did. that was probably the most important thing she did for us. if you are not looking for excuses, you are looking for solutions. what a difference in maine. and then she made us start reading books. i was not happy about this at all. in some of the homes, after praying for wisdom, i noticed therervous to she noticed were lots of books. -- she noticed there were lots of books. turn off the tv. back in those days, you had to do what you could. saying,l psychologist

let the kid express themselves. to add insult to injury, we had to read two books of peace and submit to her written book report. -- i\/\/ check could read anything i wanted. i started reading books about people of accomplishment. scientists, explorers. all kinds of people. i begin to understand something. who has the most to do with what happens to what happens in life is you. peopleed listening to

who were telling me i was a victim. i went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class. tohough students who used call me dummy. they were coming to me saying, how do you work this? i was perhaps a little obnoxious. it felt good to say that. basically, i had a revolution in my thinking. the exact same brain. same circumstances. but i had changed the way i perceived myself. and the way i perceived the world. that is such an important thing that we must the good about in america. ofmust change the mindset many americans. did you know that in more than

30 states? more fromceive accepting government benefits them from working a minimum wage job? , why of people conclude would i work a minimum wage job when i can sit here and collect? can actually do quite well. that is a mindset that has pervaded our society. the old mindset in america used to be, no. minimumg to take the wage job because i'm going to learn skills. i'm going to meet people. i am going to climb the ladder. i a relatively short time, will be much better off than that person receiving the benefits. that is the way we used to think. that is the way we must begin to think again. we only have 330 million people

in this country. sounds like a lot of people. 1.4 billion people in china. india, 1.1 billion people. they have a lot more people than we do. what that means is we have to develop all of our people. we can't have huge groups of people sitting around, vegetating and not really contribute in. we can't have 20% of people in high school not graduating. have 5% of the world population and 25% of the inmates in the world. none of these things make sense. let me tie you one thing that is disturbing. we have an all voluntary military. people applying to that military, between the ages

are not acceptable. they cannot get in. educationalntal, or issues. the biggest category, educational. people who cannot pass the most of basic test. we are in the process of dumbing down our society. that ourers said is basedand our system informedll formed -- populace. if we ever became anything other than that, the nature of the country would change. why? because the people would be easy to manipulate. all it would take was a slick

politician and a complicit media and off we go. following the shiny object. not paying attention to what is really going on. not really analyzing and recognizing what is going on. essential for those coming after us, that we understand this. thomas jefferson said it is immoral to pass debt onto the next generation. it we could bring him back today and he could see what was going on, he would have a stroke and died, immediately. $19 trillion? are you kidding me? can't anybody even fathom what the number means? we can say it that i don't think we can understand what that means.

pay it back at a rate of $10 million a day, that is a number we can kind of understand but still a lot. no vacations. it would take more than 5000 years. that is multiple generations down the road. pain and backwere now. we are continuing to increase it. presidente the next takes over, we will be to $20 trillion. that is the good news. is actually worse than that. -- most people have not heard of the fiscal gap. please look it up when you go home. important the american

people understand the concept of the fiscal gap. politicians will talk about it but i'm not a politician so i am going to talk about it. of unfundedount liability we oh. we call it infinite horizon accounting. versus what we have coming back. sources should be a big number. it is not. it is a negative number. owes more than $150 trillion in assets. owns more than $150 trillion in assets. you give a well-run company, just a return from a return, 2%,

on that kind of asset, you would have no national debt. but we don't run are sufficiently. our government owns many buildings. are underutilized. time, we are leasing office space. makes no sense. that is a one small example. goes on and on. officegressional budget billion worth of things that could be cut. think about that. $5.5 trillion.

who gets to pay for that? we do. get people to understand this. it is important they understand this. comesen when somebody along and says, free college for everybody, now they know. pied piper. i'm going to give you everything as we continue to destroy the financial foundation of the nation. we are destroying every aspect of the american dream. force ourthat government to do? for almost decade, with the near interest rate, people say, that is great.

that is destroying the american dream. it used to be that show the joe the butcher could put money into his savings account and watch it grow and retire and never have to worry about anything. that was part of the american dream. that is gone. because of the level of debt. the debt service on $18 trillion is $250 billion a year. let interest rates, it would be one dollars. we don't have one join dollars and therefore the he central bank has to keep it suppressed. dream,ing the american bit by bit. rather than being responsible and acting like you do in your own home.

it, you don't spend it. you take into account what the regulations are doing, they are destroying america. regulations, and circling everything we do. we the consumers are the ones who have to pay for it. people will come along and they will say, it is those evil rich people. if we can just take their money, we can solve all these problems. it is not the evil rich people. that the evil government is insinuating itself into every aspect of your life. wasting your money. that is our problem. we can solve the problem. we the people have the ability

to do this. we have the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. money thatot of should be brought back. boardaround a corporate table, talked about the billions of dollars over here, over here. butanted to bring them back we could not because of the high tax rate so we had to figure out what to do with it over there. propose, there is over $2.1 trillion. a huge amount of money. money, a sixt month hiatus. let it be repatriated. used int has to be enterprise zones and to create jobs. unemployed or underemployed.

au want to talk about stimulus, that would be a big stimulus and would cost nothing. that is the kind of thing that needs to be done to jumpstart our economy. it also gets corporate america thinking about something important, invest in their fellow men. their fellow human beings. what a difference it makes when you are able to invest. the only thing that brings people out of poverty. programs do not believe the government said in the 60's, there was a war on poverty. how did that work? people best 10re times more people on food stamps and welfare. crime, incarceration. it is much worse. not because the government is evil but because that is not what they are supposed to do.

that is the responsibility of the private sector. government can help facilitate that. they need to read the constitution. or maybe they did, the preamble. which i quoted. it says is tongs promote the general welfare. they probably thought that meant put everybody on general welfare. that is not what it means. to the to get back original intent. fix the tax code. i incurred you to go to my website and read about our plan. our plan to eliminate isis and revamp the economy. more policy out there than anybody else and it is good stuff. the kind of stuff, you don't get to talk about in a debate.

have, i don'tt we want to complain but it is a rigged system. it is absolutely rigged. media thinkt and they have control. in the past, they have had a lot of control. jefferson who put it the best. thisid, we would get to people would the not be paying attention. as a result, the government would do what all governments do. metastasize and infiltrate and dominate. he said something encouraging . said, just before we turn into another form of government, wouldople of the u.s.

awaken. they would recognize what was going on. they would rise up. take control of the government. ability to do something like that. we also have to recognize, when it comes to those, we have a responsibility for their safety. provide for the common defense. right now, the people in this country are frightened. they should be frightened. does noternment understand what is going on. anybody with common sense recognizes that isis and the radical islamic terrorists are in existential threat to our country. ago, president obama

said, they are not in existential threat. how naive. he thinks we are living back in the 40's and 50's with conventional armies and air forces and navies. we do not fight wars that way anymore. bombsu talk about dirty and cyber attacks. on our electrical grid. the kinds of things that, what is goingnge on in our country. particularly a coordinated attack. they are indeed in existential a threat. they have made it clear they want to destroy us. they want to destroy israel. our response?

two choices. sit around and act like we don't have to worry about them. use every resource to destroy them first. i think that is the better option. what i would suggest is everybody here, we got a weekend coming up. take a few hours. read up. read up on islam. read about mohammed. startbout how he got his in mecca. how he was seen by the people in mecca. not very favorably, by the way. uncle nevertheless was an influential guy. he had to flee. he went north to medina. that is where he put together his army.

anybody whosacring did not believe the same way they did. anybody who belonged to what christians and jews, wiping out the jews in the arabian peninsula. he had to have territory, called a caliphate. that is what gives them legitimacy. the caliphate. the --entually launched lost the last remnants of the caliphate when the ottoman empire went to down in 1924. they were without a elephant until recently when they acquired land. iraq, half of iraq and a third of syria. foothold established a in egypt and tunisia, a dangerous spot. they are working very hard to

subvert what is going on there. libya problem, quite frankly. it is a terrible thing to have done because if they can spread their caliphate to libya which is their next goal, there is oil there. a huge amount of land. into southern europe. chad, niger, sudan. you have a tremendous platform to spread your ideology. that is what they want. is engage ouro do goalary experts, say, the is to take their caliphate.

what do you need to accomplish that goal? that is what we have to give them. we have to give them our full support. we cannot tie their hands behind their bag. -- back. we can't have them wondering whether they are going to be prosecuted for some kind of crime. that does not work. that, they cannot have money. terroriste richest organization. silly rules. we can't bomb an oil tanker because there may be people in it and it may cause environmental damage. only this administration can cause something like that. if you don't want people to be killed, don't put them in it. that would make more sense.

shut down all of their avenues of money transfer. disaffectedr the people of the world. they can provide them with resources. that is what makes it tempting. that along with the caliphate. fromis why they have gone 10,000 to 40,000. the next president takes over, probably 60,000. attack your have to and control centers. don't let them sit comfortably wherever they are. we have to find them and put them on the run. the process of destroying everything may have. and then in this country, we must recognize, unfortunately, because of our negligence, there are plenty of cells already here. the border this

summer and was flabbergasted about all the people coming through. from northern africa and the middle east. very little to stop them. yes, there was a fence. fence that kind of would barely have slowed me down as a kid. in theas a big hole cut fence. you could drive a car through it. they have strong a couple of pieces of barb wire across. they wanted to film from the other side. they were not athletic. these people have no difficulty desk getting through and they are bringing in trucks. this is why we have a heroin epidemic destroying the populace. bringing in marijuana like crazy. say, marijuanale

is not so bad. we should legalize marijuana. .ecreational drug i'm going to tell you, as a narrow scientist, that is not true. there have been many things that demonstrated regular exposure to cannabis causes significant damage including drops in iq. we already have enough people with low iqs so we don't need to be cultivating that in our society. that is crazy. we can seal that border easily. yuma county, arizona, cut illegal traffic down by 97% by putting up a fence. putting in border guards. border guards at the border. and prosecuting first time offenders.

97%. you do that across all mine motion and add detectors, i bet you can get it close to 100%. some people say, that is useless. they will dig underneath us. no, they will not. we have radar equipment. it can demonstrate holes being dug underneath. we can deal with that. it is not that we don't have the ability. it is that we don't have the will. he want to hear some sad stories, you talk to those around who live along the border. in do or to theft, harassment, and a. some of the stories. you are crying. you cannot walk out of that room without crying. they are getting little or no support from our federal government.

we must close it and we can do it within a year. and then we must teach our people how to respond to terrorist. we cannot just say, it is no big deal. off, yousiren went knew where you were supposed to go. we need to start teaching people what to do if you are in a situation. san bernardino is not the end of this. the response certainly is not what the obama administration has advocated, taking guns from the citizens. just the opposite.

theseou ever notice that mass school shootings never occur in israel? why? teachers in israel, and you don't know which ones, they are highly trained. with access to weapons. they know that. country, have you noticed? when the mass shootings occur? they occur in gun free zones? a lot of those people are crazy but they are not that crazy. they are going to go someplace where they can carry out their carnage without getting killed. we could take some lessons from that. again, our political correctness will kill us. if we don't wake up. we'll tell you one of the reasons i hate pc so much. founders, theyur

gave everything they had including their lives so we could have freedom of speech. freedom of expression. they would roll over in their graves if they saw us capitulating. us, everything about who we are and what we can do. where we can live. how we can do it. forget about it. this is america. we have to stop allowing ourselves to be turned into something else. taxes, andes to our i'm going to let you guys ask some questions. the reasons i have proposed a flat tax is because i am interested in fairness. me.left likes to criticize

they say it i got my ideas from the bible. what is wrong with that? got is pretty fair. -- he said if you're crops fail, you don't own me anything. proportionality must be fair if god thinks it is fair. you make $10, you make one dollar. you get the same rights and privileges. how is that unfair? you have to get it of the duction -- deductions. shelters. the deductions. no capital gains tax or death tax. forbes, in reason many others, have praised us as the best tax plan. it will promote growth.

that is what we need. some people, they come along and say you can't have a program like that. the guy who paid $1 billion has left $9 billion. that's no fair. that is called socialism. that is not who we are. there are a lot of people who are trying to make us into a socialist country. but i will tell you something. they end up looking the same way. a small group of elites who control everything. a rapidly vanishing middle class. and a vastly expanded dependent class. if you have noticed, we are moving in that direction. have the ability to stop it. no one else can stop it except for us. we have to have the same determination and drive that the patriots had.

georgere tired of king three and his tyrannical ways. what did they do? they invited everybody, even the loyalists. they said what kind of america do you want to have? what are you willing to fight for? what are you willing to die for? they encouraged a ragtag bunch of militiamen to defeat the most powerful empire on earth. we need that some determination today. everyone here has a sphere of influence. you need to talk to the people in your sphere of influence. you need to get them to understand they must participate in this process. they must get registered. they must vote. must make their well-known.

the country is about us. it is about the people. i will tell you something. freedom is not free. you have to fight for it. the minute you relax, it starts to wane, we cannot allow that to happen. if we love our children, our grandchildren, we love the we love the, american dream. it is up to us. no one else can do it. thank you. [applause]

mr. carson: we have time for a few questions. beot of them will answered if you go to our website. we would appreciate your support, obviously. ok. [applause] [indiscernible] >> thank you for attending. i am an atheist voter. i am born and raised in iowa. i have a question about how your faith will play a role. some candidates have said, god's law trumps our country's law. do you agree? can you name a situation where that would be the case question mark secondly, mr. cruz said he is a christian first and american secondary does that hold true for you? mr. carson: first of all, everybody including atheists