Runaway debt and government waste are booming in Washington – something that needs to change, Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul told a Council Bluffs audience Thursday.

The Kentucky senator cited reports from Afghanistan of a $43 million gas station and a $500,000 effort to televise cricket matches as proof government spending is out of control.

Such spending, Paul told a crowd of about 80 at the Council Bluffs Public Library, has contributed to a national debt nearing $20 trillion, which he considers the country’s top problem.

Though he supports a strong military, it can’t come through unlimited spending, said Paul, who criticized past efforts in Iraq.

“We spent $1 trillion to topple Saddam Hussein and lost more than 5,000 American lives,” he said. “What was the result? Iraq became best friends with Iran and later with Russia.”

Military spending should come out of Washington, but so much of the federal budget could move to the states, Paul said.

“Make it small,” he said of the federal government.

That includes congressional legislation that sometimes numbers 2,000 pages with little time for study.