[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          IS GOVERNMENT REALLY THE SOURCE OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS?

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. You know, we've heard for many years now from the other 
side the notion that government is the source of all of our problems, 
government never does anything right, it ought to stop regulating and 
get out of the way of a very free and open society.
  Well, the authors of a new book called ``Gardens of Democracy'' have 
a compelling and undeniable point to make. They write: ``There is not a 
stable, prosperous society on Earth without activist government, 
extensive regulation, and high, progressive taxation. If less were 
always better, then the least regulated economies would be the most 
successful economies. The opposite is true. If minimalist government 
worked, Somalia would be rich, stable and secure, and Canada would be a 
hellhole; Afghanistan would be a coveted destination, and Denmark would 
be like a leper colony.''
  Now, to be fair, the authors say that our government is often too 
slow to react, it has all the answers, and it needs to be more flexible 
and more effective. We all agree with that. What we need to do is find 
a way to create a government that is efficient, that sets the right 
direction for our country, and then lets the innovative spirit of this 
country take hold and find the answers to our problems.

                          ____________________