5) An Exceptional Document:“The Path to Prosperity” is imbued This budget offers America a model of government guided by the timeless principles of the American Idea: free market democracy, open competition, a robust private sector bound by rules of honesty and fairness, a secure safety net, and equal opportunity for all under a limited constitutional government of popular consent.“Statement of Constitutional and Legal Authority”Ultimately, a budget is much more than a series of numbers. It also serves as an expression of Congress’s principles, vision and philosophy of governing.This Budget Resolution for FiscalYear 2012 intends to recommit the nation fully to the timeless principles of American government enshrined in the U.S. Constitution – liberty, limited government, and equality under the rule of law. It seeks to guide policies by those principles, freeing the nation from the crushing burden of debt that is now threatening its future.And a government that promotes dependency and undermines the institutions of faith and family will inevitably weaken the nation’s greatest strength: the exceptional character of its entrepreneurial, self-reliant, and hard-working citizens.This budget rejects a culture of complacency, offers reforms that promote initiative by rewarding effort, and aims to restore the dynamism that has defined America over the generations.In all the chapters of human history, there has never been anything quite like America.This budget’s goal is to keep it exceptional, and to preserve its promise for the next generation.“This budget is the new House majority’s answer to history’s call. It is now up to all of us to keep America exceptional.WSJ*Will this be remembered as the Congress that did nothing as the nation slouched 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 the path to prosperity?