Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) addressed a packed house of conservative students and supporters during last night’s Ronald Reagan Banquet, hosted by the Young America’s Foundation. The Senator from Kentucky had a very simple message for the audience, and it was one he could attest to having been a medical doctor: rarely does the government do anything well.

“Government doesn’t do anything very well,” said Sen. Paul. “They don’t get the right signals, they don’t have to meet a payroll, they don’t have to balance their books.“

Sen. Paul left a career in private practice as an ophthalmologist to come to Washington, and has been very critical of the unnecessary influence that the government has on medical doctors in the United States. He noted that the government failed to reimburse him for the six months that he accepted federal health insurance as a practicing doctor simply because his writing was touching the side of the box.

“It took us two years to appeal to get paid,” said Paul. “Can you imagine when the whole health economy is run that way?”

Because he is the son of current U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX), it was no surprise to hear Sen. Paul preaching a message of a smaller government that would promote a more business-friendly atmosphere.

“It’s not that government is inherently stupid (although that’s a debatable point), “ said Sen. Paul. “It’s that government just isn’t getting the same signals [as businesses].”