Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson released Monday a plan to tackle the more than $19 trillion national debt by slashing federal spending and reforming welfare, health care and entitlement programs.
Mr. Carson, who briefly was a front-runner but slid to the back of the GOP field and now struggles for traction, said his plan would “re-instill fiscal responsibility” and save about $600 billion per year.
The spending-cuts plan called for the following:
• Streamline the federal government;
• Scale back or eliminate inefficiencies and redundancies;
• Consolidate overlapping means-tested welfare initiatives;
• Reform health care and entitlement programs, including adjusting the program to more closely match up with longer life expectancy;
• Generate revenue by divesting federal assets that can be better managed by the private sector; and
• Achieve a balanced budget and pursue a constitutional amendment for long-term fiscal stability.
“Generations of career politicians have left our country with more debt and less financial accountability,” said the retired neurosurgeon. “We cannot carry on this same path, sacrificing our children’s futures for the benefit of the political class. As president, I will balance our budget and instill a culture of fiscal responsibility. ’We the People’ deserve a government that is a good steward of our money, and I will demand it.”
The Carson campaign said that that a key reason Mr. Carson got into the presidential race was to institute fiscal discipline in Washington and restore a bright future for America’s children and grandchildren.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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