Sen. Rand Paul Responds to The State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul issued a formal response to President Obama's final State of the Union address. A clip and transcript of his response can be found below.
TRANSCRIPT:
Tonight, we heard the President tell us the state of the union, and what we saw was a leader with a record of failure in search of any meaningful, positive legacy.
The state of the union affirms one thing - we're ready for a new President. Here are some things you did not hear from the President tonight:
Under this president, our national debt has nearly doubled. The next president must be someone with a balanced budget plan, to end massive spending and deficits.
Under this President, we were promised an end to two wars that were past their time and mission... but instead, our soldiers continue to risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In fact, President Obama and Hillary Clinton took us to war in Libya and Syria without Constitutional authority.
The next President will have the daunting task of rebuilding an overextended military, while ensuring that we are capable and prepared to defend ourselves.
If we continue to engage in nation-building and policing the world, we won't have the resources to maintain our own national defense.
This President pledged to take over our healthcare system - and he did.
Costs are rising, doctors are leaving their practices, and insurance companies are leaving the exchanges. Obamacare has failed.
The next president will have to repeal Obamacare and make health insurance affordable again.
The current President pledged to raise taxes and add regulations to job creators. He's done that too. Some estimate that his policies cost our economy two trillion dollars every year in regulations.
Our next President must focus on restoring lost jobs through tax cuts, regulatory reforms, and more freedom in the market place.
It has also been too long since our Union saw a President who fought for the entire Bill of Rights.
The current President ran as a champion of civil liberties, railing against the constitutional violations of the previous administration. In this he has utterly failed.
He has continued and expanded the surveillance state, he has presided over a continued militarization of our police forces, and has signed laws including the indefinite detention of American citizens.
In the wake of terrorist attacks, Democrats cry out for more gun control, and some Republicans call for more people control.
As President, I will fight for the entire Bill of Rights.
These challenges and more await the next President. This is why I am running.
No other candidate running will address each of these problems with freedom-based solutions.
Others claim to be fiscal conservatives, but they don't have a balanced budget plan, and refuse to cut spending across the board.
Make no mistake, if we continue the unholy alliance between the left and right on spending, we will be bankrupt sooner rather than later.
The left wants more welfare....while the right wants more military spending. Both have gotten what they want for too long, leaving us less safe and more in debt.
The next President must also take on the power of Washington, something this President has failed to do.
The first reform needed is Term Limits. We have them for the President, but we should also have them for Congress. Being in Washington for 30 or 40 years should not be an option, or a goal.
Next, I would repeal the entire tax code, and replace it with a flat tax that empowers American workers and business owners to make the most out of their lives.
If we want to get money out of politics then we need to get politics out of the peoples' money. We should devalue politicians in Washington by stripping them of power and returning it to local government.
We also need to Audit the Fed and rein in the out-of-control money printing, manipulation, and bank bailouts.
Today we had the first-ever vote on Audit the Fed in the Senate, a bill I introduced. We don't have a President to sign it yet, but we must make sure that by the next State of the Union we do.
The next President must be serious about our national security, and that starts with defending our border.
Anyone who wishes to visit, study, or immigrate to the U.S. must be sufficiently vetted and scrutinized.
We also need a president who understands the Constitution and will appoint judges who will reverse years of bad decisions that have undermined our freedom.
Finally, we need someone who will work across the aisle on all issues. On criminal justice reform, I have reached out to the President to work on sentencing reform, ending mandatory minimums, and ending the War on Drugs.
On day one, our next President must be prepared to protect the Constitution, embrace the entire Bill of Rights and get the government out of the way so Americans can once again prosper.
I will be that president.
Thank you, and God Bless America.
