"When you're addicted to something, it's painful to get off it. Politicians don't want to be blamed for anything painful, so they don't cut anything," he said.

"If we don't start cutting, sooner or later we'll be dealing with the bankruptcy of the country."

He said there should be no Federal Reserve Bank, no Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. should get out of the United Nations.

"Restrictions that were put in the Constitution were to restrict government, not the people," he said.

"We bailed out the big people and it's the little people who are looking for work."

Paul said the best place for the U.S. to start tightening its belt is in our obligations overseas.

Blaming both Republicans and Democrats, he said, "We feel obligated to take part in preventive wars. That's called aggression.

"We're willing to be aggressive with countries on the basis of something they might build and, if they build it, might use it for destructive purposes.

"The founding fathers were clear: Mind your own business," he said.

Paul was in town to campaign for James Mills, Republican candidate for the District 7 Senate seat.