Ben Carson unclear about his positions on debt ceiling, default
Ben Carson in an interview this week seemed unclear on the question of raising the nation's debt limit and whether he would allow the U.S. to default.
Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal asked Carson during a wide-ranging 26-minute interview if Congress and the president should not approve a debt ceiling hike and allow a default.
Carson responded with an answer about the federal budget.
"Let me put it this way: if I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget. Absolutely would not do it. They would have to find a place to cut," Carson said.
The budget is a document on future spending, however, and not on what Congress has already spent. Lawmakers have to deal with the debt limit by Nov. 5, when the Treasury Department has told lawmakers the nation's borrowing authority will run out.
Again, Ryssdal asked Carson if he would allow a default instead of raising the debt limit.
"No," said Carson, who then went on again to say he would not allow the spending limits to be raised.
And Ryssdal tried to get Carson to explain his position on the debt ceiling. Here's the rest of the exchange:
Ryssdal: I'm gonna try one more time, sir. This is debt that's already obligated. Would you not favor increasing the debt limit to pay the debts already incurred?
Carson: What I'm saying is what we have to do is restructure the way that we create debt. I mean if we continue along this, where does it stop? It never stops. You're always gonna ask the same question every year. And we're just gonna keep going down that pathway. That's one of the things I think that the people are tired of.
Ryssdal: I'm really trying not to be circular here, Dr. Carson, but if you're not gonna raise the debt limit and you're not gonna give specifics on what you're gonna cut, then how are we going to know what you are going to do as president of the United States?
Carson: OK, let me try to explain it in a different way. If, in fact, we have a number of different areas that are contributing to the increasing expenditures and the continued expenditures that are putting us further and further into the hole. You're familiar I'm sure with the concept of the fiscal gap.
Ryssdal: Why don't you explain that a little bit, though.
Carson: OK, well, the fiscal gap is all of the unfunded liabilities that the government owes. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, all the departmental programs, all the agency and sub-agency programs extending into the future, which is a lot of money, versus the amount of revenue that we expect to collect from taxes and other revenue sources. Now if we're being fiscally responsible, those numbers should be fairly close together. If we're not, a gap begins to occur. We bring that forward to modern day today's dollars, and that's the fiscal gap, which sits at over $200 trillion and is continuing to grow. Now the only reason that we can sustain that kind of debt is because of our artificial ability to print money, to create what we think is wealth, but it is not wealth, because it's based upon our faith and credit. You know, we decoupled it from the domestic gold standard in 1933, and from the international gold standard in 1971, and since that time, it's not based on anything. Why would we be continuing to do that?