Choosing this ‘Path for Prosperity’

And what came out of that was really ugly legislation that we passed on a bipartisan basis, but that no one enjoyed. That crisis caught us by surprise. It was unpredictable. We didn’t see it coming.

Let me ask you this: What if your President and your member of Congress saw it coming? What if they knew why it was happening, when it was going to happen, and more importantly, they knew what to do to stop it, and they had time to stop it, but they didn’t – because of politics. What would you think of that person?

Mr. Chairman, that is where we are right now. This is the most predictable economic crisis we’ve ever had in the history of our country. And yet, we have a President who is unwilling to lead. We have too many politicians who are worried about the next election and not worried about the next generation. Every politician in this town knows we are headed for a debt crisis. They know we are in danger.

We cannot avoid this choice. To govern is to choose. We are making a choice, even if we don’t act. And that is the wrong choice. In the words of Abraham Lincoln: ‘We cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.’

Will this be remembered as the Congress that did nothing as the nation sped toward a preventable debt crisis and irreversible decline? Or will it instead be remembered as the Congress that did the hard work of preventing that crisis – the one that chose this path to prosperity?

This Path to Prosperity charts a different course. It gets us off this wrong track and achieves four objectives:

1. Grow the economy and get people back to work;

2. Fulfill the mission of health and retirement security – we don’t want to ration health care, we want to save Medicare;

3. We want to help people get back on their feet, so let’s reform welfare for people who need it; and 

4. Let’s do the work of lifting the crushing burden of debt from our children.

We must choose this path. We must not be the Congress that failed to fulfill the American legacy of leaving a better nation to our children.

We must not leave this nation in decline. We must not be the first generation in this country to leave the next generation worse off.

Decline is antithetical to the American Idea. America is a nation conceived in liberty, dedicated to equality, and defined by limitless opportunity. Equal opportunity, upward mobility, prosperity – this is what America is all about.

In all the chapters of human history, there has never been anything quite like America. This budget keeps America exceptional, and preserves its promise for the next generation.

Colleagues: This is our defining moment.  We must choose this Path to Prosperity.