[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 2 (Thursday, January 6, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H72]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE PROSPERITY CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my hope that 
historians will look back on the 112th Congress as the session that 
restored American prosperity and to express my strong agreement with 
the new leaders of this House who have declared that every action of 
this body must be measured against this goal.
  We speak of jobs, jobs, jobs, but jobs are merely a byproduct of 
prosperity. And prosperity is the product of freedom. Government does 
not create jobs or wealth. It merely redistributes them. Jobs and 
wealth can only be created through the free exchange of goods and 
services in a free market. Government's role is to create and protect 
the conditions which promote prosperity.
  If I give you a dollar for a cup of coffee, what's going on in that 
transaction? I'm telling you that your cup of coffee is worth more to 
me than my dollar. And at the same time, you're telling me that my 
dollar is worth more to you than your cup of coffee. We make that 
exchange and both of us go away with something of greater value than we 
took in. Each of us goes away richer. That's the freedom that creates 
prosperity. That simple exchange, whether it's for a cup of coffee or a 
multibillion-dollar acquisition, is what creates wealth.
  But now suppose some third party butts its nose into this 
transaction: Oh, no, the coffee has got to be between 110 and 130 
degrees and it has to include a swizzle stick; it has to be consumed 
more than 25 feet from the point of sale. And on and on and on. Every 
one of these restrictions reduces the value of that exchange for the 
one or the both of us.
  That's the fundamental problem that we face today. Our government has 
not only failed to protect the freedom that creates prosperity, but it 
has become destructive of that freedom. To create jobs, we must restore 
prosperity; and to restore prosperity, we must restore freedom. We must 
restore the freedom of choice that gives consumers the ultimate say 
over the output of our economy. In a free and prosperous society, 
consumers vote every day with their own dollars on what kind of light 
bulbs they prefer or on how they want to get to work or what foods they 
like or how much water they want to put in their toilets or what kind 
of cars they want or what kind of housing they desire. These consumer 
choices signal every day what things are actually worth and what our 
economy will actually produce.
  Government is destroying the elegant simplicity of this process, and 
Congress must reverse this destruction. We must restore the freedom of 
individuals to enjoy the fruits of their own labor so that they can 
make these decisions for themselves once again. That's why excessive 
government spending is so destructive to prosperity. It destroys the 
freedom of individuals to make their own decisions over what to spend 
and where to invest their own money. It robs them of both the ability 
and the incentives to create prosperity.
  Presidents like Coolidge, Truman, Reagan, and Clinton, who have 
reduced government spending relative to GDP, all produced dramatic 
increases in productivity and prosperity and the general welfare of our 
Nation. And Presidents like Hoover, Roosevelt, Bush, and Obama, who 
have increased government spending relative to GDP, all produced or 
prolonged or deepened periods of economic recession and hardship and 
malaise. Our government is now embarked upon the latter course, and 
this Congress must reverse this direction.
  Government has an important role to play in the marketplace. It's 
there to ensure that representations are accurate and that contracts 
are enforced. You have to tell the truth. You have to keep your 
promises. And government has an important role to play in ensuring 
that. Government exists to ensure that the currency is stable and 
reliable and that property rights are secure. When it fulfills this 
fundamental role, it maximizes the freedom that a buyer and seller have 
to assess their own needs and resources and to make those exchanges 
that allow both to go away better off than they were.
  Madam Speaker, let us together revive and restore the freedom and 
prosperity of this Nation and fulfill that sacred command inscribed on 
our Liberty Bell: ``To proclaim liberty throughout all the land, and 
unto all the inhabitants thereof.''

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