Ben Carson to CPAC: We need new direction

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Ben Carson kicked off this year's Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday with an attack on big government liberalism, saying it cannot solve problems ranging from health care to the federal debt.

"We need to move in a very different direction," Carson said.

In a critique that stretched back to the Great Society programs of the 1960s, Carson said that government programs are about "redistribution and control," while debt and radical Islam are threatening to "destroy" the United States.

Carson, a neurosurgeon, has not formally announced his candidacy. But he is backed by a group of supporters who have organized in early primary and caucus states, including every county in Iowa.

The government should have a "safety net" for people in need, Carson said during a question-and-answer session, but eliminate programs that create "dependency " for too many people.

"What I want is for people to have real freedom," Carson said.