On the recordMay 10, 2012
Madam President, I have been coming to the floor to discuss why free enterprise is morally superior to all other economic systems. I have explored how free enterprise promotes the pursuit of happiness properly understood, by emphasizing earned success, and how it lifts up the poor by raising living standards. Today, I want to look at another way free enterprise lifts up the poor--by promoting the moral principles that make people more charitable and more socially responsible. This perspective sharply contrasts with President Obama's campaign narrative about social responsibility. He and many of his supporters paint free enterprise as a system that inherently clashes with social responsibility. In his telling, free enterprise is a system that mainly promotes Gordon Gekko-style ``greed'' and riches for those who least deserve them--a system that must be reformed through higher taxes and larger government. Most of the policies he has supported during the last 3 years demonstrate this perspective. The size and scope of the Federal Government has increased dramatically during his presidency. As he campaigns to get reelected, his main theme is that the only way some Americans can do better is if the government makes others worse off. There is an important counterargument to this negative narrative.…





