WASHINGTON, DC- Senator Rand Paul tonight issued the following response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. A clip and transcript can be found below.
 
SEN. RAND PAUL’S STATE OF THE UNION RESPONSE

TRANSCRIPT:
 
Good Evening. I wish I had better news for you but…
 
All is not well in America. America is adrift. Something is clearly wrong.
 
America needs many things, but what America desperately needs is new leadership.
 
I’ve only been in office a short time, but one thing I’ve discovered is that there is no monopoly on knowledge in Washington.
 
The best thing that could happen is for us-to once and for all-limit the terms of all politicians.  We already limit the President to two terms.
 
I think we should put limits on the terms of Congress and infuse our government with fresh ideas.
 
Before I ran for office, I practiced medicine for nearly 20 years in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Liberal elites fly over my small town, but they don’t understand us. They simply seek to impose their will upon us – from what insurance we can buy, to what light bulbs we can use, to how we generate electricity.
 
Most of us in fly-over country, and I suspect many who live in our big cities, think those in government take us for granted. Those of us who are actively pursuing the American Dream simply want government to get out of our way.
 
For those of us who feel separated and distant from the American Dream, we don’t want be perpetually talked down to, forgotten, and left in perpetual poverty.  Many are discouraged that the “gifts” offered by liberals have not generated wealth, but rather perpetuated poverty.
 
People want a way out-not fake concern and baubles.
 
The war on poverty is 50 years old and still black unemployment is twice that of white unemployment.  Income inequality has worsened under this Administration, and tonight President Obama offers more of the same policies-policies that have allowed the poor to get poorer, and the rich to get richer.
 
Pitting one American against another is not a pathway towards prosperity.
 
The President is intent on redistributing the pie but not growing it. He misunderstands that the bulk of America wants a bigger pie. They want to work and don’t want a handout – but a hand up.
 
Not only do we need new blood in Washington, we need a new way of thinking in Washington.
 
As a physician, I was taught first to do no harm:
 
To think before you act,
 
To analyze the unintended consequences of your actions.
 
I think America would be better off if all our politicians took that same approach:
“First, do no harm.”
 
Read the entire transcript HERE.