Paul exhorts GOP: Be bold against Obama

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul chats with Jim Knowles of Lebanon during a stop at the Pink Cadillac Diner in Rochester on Saturday. (Lebanon Voice/Harrison Thorp photos)

ROCHESTER - It was bacon and eggs with a side of roasted Obama at the Pink Cadillac diner in Rochester on Saturday.

Doing the honors was U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ken., who is expected to make a run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016.

Paul's first question from a crowded function room full of Strafford County Republicans was "What do you think President Obama is doing wrong?"

Paul, momentarily speechless, quipped, "Well I can make a list, but it'd be a long one."

Turning serious, Paul derided the president on his abuse of power on a number of fronts, including national defense, immigration and health care.

"The worst is he's assuming power on too many things, "Paul said. "I mean when we go to war, we (Congress) should have a vote on it."

Asked why Congress couldn't stop the president, he said it's hard to get a bill to his desk due to procedural hurdles, and when they do get to his desk, he just vetoes them and does what he wants through executive action, something sure to make Denise Rainey of Strafford fume.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul signs a copy of his book for a member of the audience prior to giving his speech to Strafford County Republicans.

Just prior to Paul's 15-minute speech, Rainey said she hadn't made up her mind whom she might be supporting next year, but said it would have to be someone who upheld the Constitution.

"I'm sick of it being trashed," she said, vowing that her choice would be whoever most gave guarantees our country's founding document would be followed to the letter.

Paul said he supports, among other things, a flat tax, eliminating the payroll tax, legalizing medical, but not recreational, marijuana; privatizing the VA to give our veterans better treatment and getting rid of the Department of Education, which drew the biggest applause of the day.

He also criticized the Obama administration for spending money it doesn't have.

"We need less government, less taxes, more money coming to New Hampshire, less going to D.C," he said.

He also gave a nudge to middle-of-the-road Republicans, saying, "What we have to do is be bold, to boldly go for what we believe in."

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul visits with Lenny Bernard, co-owner of the Pink Cadillac Diner.

On health care, Paul hinted that the likeliest way Obamacare may be stopped or at least reeled in somewhat is in the courts.

He poked fun at the numbing bureaucratic side of Obamacare by reciting some of the arcane codes required in documentation by health care providers. He said the government had just added hundreds to an already dizzying list.

"They have 11 codes for being injured by a macaw," chortled Paul, a physician, himself. "And they have two codes for injury by turtles, one if you're run into by one, and one if you're bitten."