How Dr. Carson can climb back in the race

Are you disappointed, like I am, that Dr. Ben Carson has fallen out of the top tier of Republican presidential candidates?

He was among my favorites – and still is.

I liked that I could be happy with any of the three or four top candidates.

That's not true anymore with Dr. Carson's fall in the polls.

He may have needed to shake up his campaign staff. I don't know. But, more importantly, he needed an issue he could call his own – a big issue.

TRENDING: Bombshell memo declassified by Trump: It looks like FBI slow-walked investigation into Hillary campaign

And I know what that issue is. I know he gets it, because he outlined it in WND last October.

But then he let it drop. He didn't bring it up in the debates. He didn't use it in his campaign stump speeches. He didn't mention it in interviews. It was here today, gone tomorrow.

I'm talking about what Dr. Carson himself called the No. 1 national security issue facing America – the spiral debt that will one day take the country down as sure as you are reading this column.

Talk about non-sustainability. There is nothing more unsustainable than a nation or an individual living off borrowed money. But that's what Washington is doing. And, believe it or not, there is no will to change that – not among Democrats or Republican politicians.

There are no more than two dozen House Republicans who would freeze borrowing in 2016. That won't get it done. But a president can freeze borrowing all by himself.

Let me explain the beauty of this position in a race like the 2016 campaign: You've got to make a lot of noise to be heard. I'm shocked Trump hasn't done this yet. But he hasn't. I'm certain that he would agree if he saw Dr. Carson do it and get traction for it. Then Dr. Carson could do one of two things – call Trump a "copycat" or just thank him for his support.

How would this propel a campaign currently in free-fall?

1. Polls show 80 percent of Republicans want to freeze the debt limit as a way of getting America's fiscal house in order. They show close to 60 percent of Democrats want to – though, many of them are not smart enough to vote for someone who makes this a major provision of his campaign.
2. This is the literally the only way to get Washington back to something resembling constitutionally limited government. The establishment is not going to do it. They are not going to slash spending any other way.
3. The president has clear authority, despite the protests of Congress and the media, to do this. He has authority to act alone. The president must ask for Congress to raise the debt limit. If he doesn't, Congress can't do it. The president must approve it.

Experience more of Joseph Farah's no-nonsense truth-telling in his books, audio and video products, featured in the WND Superstore

How do you sell it?

"Here's what I will do on Inauguration Day: I will make it very clear to Congress that I will not ask them to raise the debt limit, and I will not agree to do so. I will ask them to start making the cuts necessary for Washington to live within its means just like every family in America is expected to do. But I will not just stand by and wait for Congress to act. My own budget experts will prepare a spending plan utilizing only anticipated revenues and that requires no more borrowing. It will involve significant cuts in discretionary spending. It will involve eliminating programs and agencies that are ineffective and wasteful. And it will certainly mean cutting any program or agency that is unconstitutional in its very existence. If Congress doesn't come up with its own plan, we'll have one. If Congress comes up with a plan I can live with, I will sign the bill. But there will not be any additional borrowing in a Ben Carson administration unless there is a bona fide national emergency as I would define it."

If Dr. Carson does this, he's back in the race.

Someone needs to make this the cornerstone of a presidential campaign. In fact, our next president, whoever it is, needs to do this, or America will not be great again.

Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].