Political News

United States Senate(WASHINGTON) -- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul knocks President Obama in this week's Republican address, saying the president is "missing in action" and that Americans "deserve better."

Many of the nation's problems could have been resolved if President Obama would work with congressional Republicans, Sen. Paul says.

"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," Paul says in the address.  "But I've received no answer.  The president is missing in action."

Sen. Paul, who is the son of 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, charges that America is floundering while the president is out campaigning.  Furthermore, Paul joins his party cohorts in criticizing the President Obama for his remarks in June about the importance of continued government investments in public services and infrastructure that many U.S. businesses rely on to function.

Speaking in Roanoke, Va., Obama said, "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help … Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Now in this week's address, Sen. Paul takes his turn at condemning the president's statements.

"A country with such a rich heritage deserves a leader who values the work ethic and understands that you did build that. That you did earn that," he says.

But the real problem for Americans, Sen. Paul says, is the out of control spending and disregard for the Constitution.

" … I've met the enemy and the enemy is us," he says.

"The enemy is not Barack Obama or the Democrats. And though the media may not like this, the enemy is not gridlock.  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 its devaluation of our currency. The enemy is our lack of being bound by the restraints of the Constitution," he continues.

Still, Paul says the "thousand page bills that no one has read" and the lack of a federal budget comes down to a lack of leadership in Washington.

"As we defy out constitutional bearings and seek to punish job creators, we ignore the wonderful history of where we came from and who we are. We imperil our future and squander our children's birthright," he says. "The president has failed to lead."

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