Thursday, August 2, 2012

You DIDN'T build that on your own- who you crappin'?

It's funny to see Republicans try to continue this myth of the "self-made man", and try to denigrate President Obama for daring to make the following statement.
There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
So the Republi-posers, desperate to get any attention away from the flailing Romney campaign, have tried to have a number of photo ops with tough-talking business owners claiming that Obama denigrated them, and that they did "build that themselves," and didn't need government help to do so.

Except for one problem- They DID need government help. Usually a lot of it.

In New Hampshire, the star of a Romney ad took $800,000 in tax-exempt government loans and got tens of thousands in government contracts, as well as a U.S. Small Business Association loan of more than $500,000 when got started "with his own bare hands" in the 1980s.

In Florida, a construction business manager appeared at a Romney event, but said the millions she pulls in from contracts from public schools and governments wasn't an example of government helping business.
"[Manager Rebecca Smith said] If the government needs to build a school, or a city hall or a public library, the government has a right to build it with their own forces. The government buys printing paper. Does that mean that a paper distributor that might have a purchase order from a government agency is any less of a business, because the government bought a piece of their services or products?

"Does that mean A.D. Morgan [Smith's firm] is any less of a contractor because we build jails and schools and city halls and libraries? Hell no. Government is people. There is no us and them.

"How can you try to detract from Rebecca Smith or A.D. Morgan by saying: 'You got it from the government?' The government is me."
The article goes on to mention that her father worked for NASA (being paid with taxpayer dollars) and that she attended public schools and got student loans to attend college. Sounds like Rebecca Smith is a shining example of who Obama was talking about, whose ambition was matched by a government investment, and it led to a great result for all involved. So why disavow it?

Here's another in Ohio, where Dennis Sollman showed up in a Romney ad saying the president was denigrating his successful electrical construction company by saying the government helped him. Of course, a quick look at Sollman's record shows millions in contracts from public schools and universities, and it makes you wonder how long Sollman would last if public schools had their construction budgets limited by Romney-style austerity.

Closer to home, Wisconsin TeaBag politicians consistently hit the hypocrisy meter on being "self-reliant" and not in need of government help. Senate candidate Eric (Hedge Fund) Hovde complains about the TARP bailouts of banks, but that didn't stop his company from investing in 33 bailed-out banks that took $188 billion in TARP money, nor did it stop him from being the director of a tech company that dealt with more than $2 million in contracts resulting from stimulus funds. Hovde replies by saying the tech company's CUSTOMERS only took the evil stimulus money, but somehow Mr. Business Savvy doesn't seem to understand that businesses tend to need customers to survive.

Hovde's primary opponent and fellow "entrepreneur" Mark Neumann took over $80,000 in stimulus energy incentives as part of his home-building business, and wrote letters to Congress asking for it to continue.

And we can't forget Mr. Free Enterprise himself, Sen. Ron Johnson, who got to the top of his company by marrying a billionaire's daughter, used taxpayer-funded prison labor to cut costs at PACUR, and had employees go onto BadgerCare to avoid having to pay health care costs; both moves increased his profits and chances of success. (Strangely, RoJo doesn't seem to understand that Obamacare is doing the same thing to make many other small businesses in the country more competitive by cutting benefit costs) RoJo also is a living example of how government infrastructure helps businesses, as he got the City of Oshkosh to give him a $75,000 grant 30 years ago to build a rail spur to allow his company to transport their product. Yet this guy seems to think he built his FIL's company all by himself without anyone else giving a helping hand. Pathetic self-deluded fool.

Look, I understand that the first rule of any GOP in the 21st Century is "What I say doesn't apply to me," but still, why BS about this? The poser from New Hampshire even admits he got a break.
“I’m not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government,” Gilchrest said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m getting some of my tax money back. I’m not stupid, I’m not going to say ‘no.’ Shame on me if I didn’t use what’s available.”
ABSOLUTELY, and there's nothing wrong with that. So why do you have a problem with admitting this, or giving other people the same chance you had to live out their dreams and have a better chance at success?

But I guess that would take away from this tough-guy image they crafted as some kind of American Dream example that they "did it all by themselves." These people are so limited and insecure in where they are that they have to go out of their way to create stories and prevent competition from others who just want the same chances they did, like somehow that'll knock them down a few pegs and reveal them to be not so special and extra hard-working.

There's a great radio segment on 670AM out of Chicago on Thursdays called "Who You Crappin'?", and it basically calls out people in sports and other places out for hypocrisy and absurd inconsistencies. And it's what I want to yell at these big-talking "small business" owners who had so many issues with Obama's statement. They can't admit they are living examples of what Barack's talking about, and they have no gratitude for what they have been given in added opportunities as a result of government programs.

And for those reasons alone, they deserve to get taxed more, because they don't appreciate what they have, and how they were able to get there.

No comments:

Post a Comment