Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) launched a broad attack on President Obama’s economic policies, saying there was a “war going on for the heart and soul of America.”
“As the president campaigns against those who succeeded, as the president vilifies those who employ millions of workers, he condemns the very system that made America great,” said Paul in the GOP weekly address on Saturday. “Today there is a war going on for the heart and soul of America, a war between those who believe in the American dream and those who cannot grasp what makes America great. “
Paul characterized the president as uncomfortable with the free market principles he said had built the nation’s economy.
“There’s a war going on between those who would apologize for America’s success and those who would bow down and apologize for capitalism and profit and America’s exceptional history, and those who would defend America as the greatest experiment in freedom and prosperity ever known,” Paul said.
“There’s a battle going on between those who would respect the constitution and those who would scrap it for the South African constitution,” he added.
Paul said the nation’s problems were larger than any one party or individual and that both Republicans and Democrats had ignored the constitution.
“The enemy is not Barack Obama or the Democrats. And though the media may not like this, the enemy is not gridlock,” he said. “The enemy is the looting of the Treasury and 20 years of deficit spending. The enemy is an out of control, unaccountable Federal Reserve and it's devaluation of our currency. The enemy is our lack of being bound by the restraints of the Constitution.”
Paul also urged Obama to work with Congressional Republicans to control government spending and reform entitlement programs, saying that the “President has failed to lead.”
“Together we could fix entitlements. Even in an election year, I've offered to work with the President. I've called and written. I've ridden with the President on Air Force One and offered to help him build bridges, to repair our nation's infrastructure. But I've received no answer,” Paul continued.
“The President is missing in action. While America flounders, the President campaigns. We deserve better,” he said.
Paul, a popular Tea Party senator, will be a headline speaker at next week’s GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.
His father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who ran against Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination and will be leaving Congress after this term will be honored at the convention with a short film on Tuesday.
