Republican hopeful Paul calls for military cuts

Paul vowed to cut $1 trillion from the budget the
first year if elected president
© AFP/Getty Images/File Scott Olson

ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (AFP) – Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul told voters in high-stakes New Hampshire that the US must transform its foreign policy to cut back on aid, military bases and combat missions.

“I am sick and tired of foreign welfare,” said Paul, 76, a medical doctor who has delivered more than 4,000 babies and who served as a flight surgeon in the US Air Force.

He added: “Stop these senseless wars so we can provide health care for people at home.”

Declaring government spending “is the problem,” Paul vowed to cut $1 trillion from the budget the first year if he were elected president.

Paul spoke at a packed town hall on Veterans Day, vowing to stop federal bailouts, allow more US energy development and encourage American businesses to “come back” from China and elsewhere through business-friendly tax policies.

“We chase our businesses away,” Paul said.

He also offered a full-throated defense for legalizing marijuana at the federal level.

“Drugs are dangerous, but the war on drugs is much more dangerous,” he said, adding that prescription drugs “are killing more people than the illegal drugs.”

In just over eight weeks, on January 10, New Hampshire Republicans will cast votes in the first primary contest in the multi-state march that will end with the picking of a Republican nominee to challenge President Barack Obama one year from now.

Iowa voters will gather one week earlier, on January 3, for a caucus contest, which tends to attract activists and conservatives rather than the broader swath of voters that emerge for the more traditional type of voting in primaries.