We're all familiar with Il Douche's famous speech, but I'll provide the text as a reference:
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. (AEI)Then his sneering attack became totally unhinged, worthy of a Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez tirade:
If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. (AEI)That's right. In his world, government gave it to you, and left unsaid, as a hanging implicit threat, government can take it all away, so don't get too cocky.
He’s a smirking smartass
Look at the derision on his face and in his tone of voice at the 00:57 point when he says "You didn't get there on your own." Keep watching as see how he says “so smart.”
Why the demeaning tone?
Because he resents the success of others, especially if they made it on their own and not through the corrupt cronyism of government payoffs or academic ass-kissing. Obama is one of those clueless ignoramuses who thinks he’s the smartest person in any room he walks in to, and that’s a dangerous person to have in the White House, especially when his staff is equally clueless and incompetent.
Why the attitude?
Because in his egotistical mind, nobody is as smart as he is, which is why he mocks all those stupid business owners. After all, he’s president and they’re not. That proves it! How many of those big business owners have ever been president? Huh? Huh? Thought so…
This from a man whose only accomplishment was ingesting radical leftist propaganda and crapping BS, and doing it so well that he fooled enough sheeple into voting for him.
John Sunnunu said it best:
He said that Obama’s comments show three related things:
1) The President doesn’t understand how America and business work. No wonder his administration has failed to create jobs.
2) Obama’s crony capitalism: he thinks the way to create jobs is for the government to pick winners and losers, and slide money to Obama’s bundlers and allies.
3) Obama’s attitude toward small business also reflects where he comes from, the “murky political world” of Chicago where politicians and felons are interchangeable. (Powerline)
It’s clear Obama and his statist minions hold us all in contempt
I’ve upset some fellow Right Blogistanis by dismissing their conspiracy theories about Obama purposefully destroying this country, but I’m rethinking my skepticism. Nobody can be that dumb and that incompetent. Could this really be a calculated strategy to tear us down and build us back up in their own statist image?
Either way, as long as this bumbling fool is in the White House and being advised by political manipulators and academic eggheads who’ve never held a real job, we are in real danger.
James Pethokoukis
Business Leaders Strike Back
Either way, as long as this bumbling fool is in the White House and being advised by political manipulators and academic eggheads who’ve never held a real job, we are in real danger.
James Pethokoukis
Business Leaders Strike Back
"If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."
ReplyDeleteI think this is an accidental misquote: the "that" refers to "roads and bridges" of the previous sentence, doesn't it?
"Why the demeaning tone?"
I guess he is betraying a bit of snobbery against people who deny the existence/importance of the public good. Such people do exist, but he's guilty of picking on an easy target with that.
Here's his real point:
"We succeed because of our individual initiative but also because we do things together".
He is correct to emphasise the public good because that is what is undervalued in America. I say that as one who does not undervalue individual initiative.
I guess he is betraying a bit of snobbery against people who deny the existence/importance of the public good. Such people do exist, but he's guilty of picking on an easy target with that.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any rational individual denies the existence of the common good and I am certain that any business owner has footed the bill for a whole lot more of the common good than I have.
Well, you can parse the intention of his speech if you like, but the tone is/was condescending in the extreme.
I would love to hear or read a detailed exposition on his extensive business experience, or for that matter, his long legal career.
Oh, wait....
No. Re-reading the quote (quoted in numerous articles) is:
ReplyDeleteSeparate sentence- "If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that."
Roads and bridges are in the previous sentence. I think the meaning is quite clear.
I'm willing to concede that Obama meant the larger public infrastructure, though it strikes me odd that a seemingly [or purportedly] smart guy would take such a demeaning tone and poor sentence/paragrapgh structure in a speech such as this.
ReplyDeleteSo much ink being spilled over dependence on the public infrastructure, when such scant attention is placed on the regulatory obstacles to success...and the notion that not only do the successful pay into that infrastructure [overwhelmingly so], but that those on the opposite end of the success scale are more likely to be in receipt of those service; I have no problem admitting being energized over this issue.
It may take a village to be successful.....but it's when the villagers work in harmony through individual efforts, not when directed by the village elders.
but it's when the villagers work in harmony through individual efforts, not when directed by the village elders.
ReplyDeleteThis.
I’ve upset some fellow Right Blogistanis by dismissing their conspiracy theories about Obama purposefully destroying this country, but I’m rethinking my skepticism. Nobody can be that dumb and that incompetent.
He's not dumb, but he has a very pedestrian intellect. He spouts things he heard in college (maybe), jerking things together with Marxist paste.
Could this really be a calculated strategy to tear us down and build us back up in their own statist image?
It goes back to his "fundamental transformation" rhetorical gobblety-gook and yes, I think the damage is intentional; in that he believes (as do many others) that it will bring about the "change" they desire.
but that those on the opposite end of the success scale are more likely to be in receipt of those service
ReplyDelete....and pay little or nothing for the service. I would call that a free market success, in spite of crushing government meddling.
"Could this really be a calculated strategy to tear us down and build us back up in their own statist image?"
ReplyDeleteOh gawd yes! You're on to something BIG! No! Not just BIG, but "THE TRUTH!"
And don't forget that Drudge Report that confirms Obummer's birth certificate is a real fake, and that the state of Hawaii, including its one-time Republican governor, has lied, lied, lied! to everyone about it. And what about those scary brown Muslims infiltrating the gummit, just what we'd expect from a Commie/Fascist/Marxist/smug, corrupt sewer dwelling rat son of a revolutionary BLACK colonialist hater!
You've hit the proverbial nail on the head, dude!
But what you've failed to bring to your readers' attention is the fact that not only is Obummer turning this nation into a Commie Day Care Center, but he's taking away all our guns and he's got those FEMA indoctrination camp trailers set up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, ready to turn our babies into little Che Gueveras and Bella Abzugs!... but worse! I forgot he has a plan to retroactively kill all our babies and kittens and puppy dogs. And he hates! America! And is a fraud! And doesn't know anything about anything, and he's secretly Bill Ayers' boy toy!
And did I mention that he hates America, and he's MEAN to that nice rich guy who wants his job, and...and..he's now after our precious bodily fluids...and...and...
And what about the strawberries!?
ReplyDeleteVery well said, I could NOT have said it better myself. .
ReplyDeleteDemagogue in Chief indeed, when he (Obama) loses by a landslide these minorities and progressive moonbats will be shouting voter fraud and incessant lies and smears about Romney as they did about Bush (And still do by the way) .
Obama’s supporters are his special interest groups, his entitlement gimme grabbers from the government, the blacks, now some Hispanics, the liberal/progressives/ communist/socialist/fascist's who are on board with his radical Ideology, and lets not forget the women who think with their emotions and not their brains. Not surprising...
Upon visiting their blogs this morning I see that they are STILL blaming Bush. .
Wake up you fools and Morons, Bush is out, Obama is in.
Shaw: Illustrating the intellectual rigor of a playground cat fight.
ReplyDeleteYou ought to work for the Doh-bama campaign.
Nice.
Shaw: To steal from William F Buckley, you are a pyromaniac in a field of strawmen.
ReplyDeleteHe has a sneering disregard for business owners and it shows in this speech.
If you want to talk about that other stuff, go to a blog where they discuss it.
So, back to the subject at hand, what do you thing of the speech? What explains his strident, mocking tone?
@sahw -- And what about the strawberries!?
ReplyDelete------
Sustained laughter.
I assume you're referring to Sununu.
If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. (AEI)
ReplyDelete-----
That's an interesting quote. Let's take an example like Microsoft.
Most assume Gates was a great visionary and used his vision to build the personal computer industry.
Heck, we all remember his vision in his book The Way Forward which chronicled the future of computing and left out the Internet.
No Gates did very little. The word processor was developed elsewhere. Visicalc was available free for spread sheet users.
Gates merely took an existing OS and slapped it on an IBM PC.
Now look. Microsoft has to compete and can't do it. They haven't had a breakthrough in two decades and they're dead money.
Take the Facebook guy, what's his name. Did he develop the idea (for better or worse)? Hardly, but he did sell your private information.
Or maybe they all went into their individual labs at Galt's Gulch?
Your vision is flawed, Silverfiddle.
... although I'll tell you Silverfiddle, when he declares sharia and sends the U.N. blue helmets to confiscate our beer there may be a voice of protest.
ReplyDeleteDucky,
ReplyDeleteYour example is sort of like saying the McDonald's brothers didn't really create McDonald's simply because they didn't invent the hamburger.
Silver,
Your play on Il Duce made me legit LOL. =)
Ducky's here said...
ReplyDelete"No Gates did very little"
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Spoken like a true Progressive Moron!
I suppose that YOUR hero is OJ Simpson!
HOW PATHETIC CAN THE LEFT GET!
These liberal's have one thing in common , that aer all hateful morons.
Thanks Jack: A little vulgar for me, but I couldn't resist.
ReplyDeleteDucky: You didn't snap those pictures! The camera maker did it! You took a public road there right?
It's tendentious and pedantic.
Yeah, it's like assuming that the pharma industry would be where they are without Crick and Watson who didn't bother to profit from the discovery.
ReplyDeleteSalk is another example. One often used by the John Galt crowd who assume he went into his lab and suddenly came out with a cure for polio. Hardly, but the superman story is good copy.
OBAMA: 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.
Can you argue with that? Or should we just be mindless butt nuggets who read the Faux News edited version and get out the pitchforks and torches demanding he produce his birth certificate?
"Roads and bridges are in the previous sentence."
ReplyDeleteI'm unaware of any grammatical rules confining the demonstrative pronoun to refer to clauses within its own sentence. If we're in the business of communication, that would be ridiculous.
Now, what did I just say? Was it that your "that" rule is ridiculous, or that it is ridiculous to be in the business of communication?
It is ambiguous, but it isn't really confusing. You wouldn't normally have trouble understanding this. The confusion arises when the listener is motivated to import a meaning onto Obama's speech that wasn't intended. To people who already believe Obama to be anti-individual achievement, the ambiguity is convenient and therefore it has been seized upon.
@Jez - "The confusion arises when the listener is motivated to import a meaning onto Obama's speech that wasn't intended. To people who already believe Obama to be anti-individual achievement, the ambiguity is convenient and therefore it has been seized upon."
ReplyDeleteSince it's ambiguous, would you not concur that a defense would likewise be seized upon by people who already believe Obama to be pro-individual achievement?
Ducky: What is it with you and urine and excrement references?
ReplyDeleteOf course, to a marxist-statist such as yourself, this speech from your strongman hero is music to your ears.
Of course no one "makes it on their own," in the ridiculous sense he is speaking of. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs didn't generate their own electricity, and we all stand upon the shoulders of giants and build upon the knowledge and work of those who came before us.
No, he gave this speech to get the little state-worshipers like to you salivate, wag your tails and get up on your hind legs and roar against those mean, greedy bastards who got rich on our infrastructure, our government! How dare they!
Pitchforks and torches? What the hell do you think that speech was about? Listen to the crowd reaction.
I have left this same comment wherever this subjet is discussed:
ReplyDeleteJim: A question if I may Mr. President. Who paid for those roads and bridges and the police and fire protection?
B.O.: Well, all those hard working American taxpayers. That’s who.
Jim: You mean those 50% who actually pay income tax and the 10% that pay 60% of the income taxes??
B.O.: Well, yes. Those that can must take care of those that can’t. It’s only fair.
Jim: Right. And where, Mr. President, did those taxpayers get the income on which they paid taxes?
B.O.: Huh…huh..
Jim: They got got it from the jobs provided by the producers, didn’t they Mr. President?
B.O.: Huh…huh…
Jim: You are really stupid, aren’t you, Mr. President?
B.O.: Huh…huh…
And since Comandante Zero was talking about who built the roads and bridges, and Chief Spouting Bull From the Harvard Tribe talked about police support to protect those businesses...
ReplyDeleteLet's look at who pays taxes in this country. If anything, the rich should be rising up and demanding the takers and people in the worthless political class like Obama pay tolls, since it's the rich who pay the overwhelming preponderance of taxes that fund the infrastructure.
So yeah, let's go down that road and tote up who's paid what.
The way he says "because I was just so smart" is so tough to watch. He really seems so disdainful. "because I worked harder than everybody else."....
ReplyDeleteWell, whether the roads were there, paid for by the government (by the way, which IS STILL US paying for the road, I presume$$$?) or not, that business owner DID work hard and he WAS "so smart" to get a business going.
Yes, Mr. Obama, we DID build our businesses...and WE paid for those roads with our tax dollars.
"strawberries" from Shaw? I assumed that was a Queeg reference.
it works. But it's wrong here.
Super post, SF.
And sure, Obama COULD have just tripped up grammatically...but the meaning is still clear and we still ARE smart and DO work hard and he needs to respect that.
CI: Not in the symmetrical way you desire. It is technically ambiguous, but in practice it wouldn't trip you up unless you wanted it to. Keep the structure but replace the clauses with things that don't excite you so much (like I did with clauses about grammar) and see what I mean.
ReplyDelete"Bill Gates and Steve Jobs didn't generate their own electricity"
ReplyDeleteno, but they paid electricity bills so this isn't an example of what Obama's really talking about.
It doesn't seem like your readers are capable of giving Obama a charitable hearing. I wonder your deafness is worse than liberals' deafness to W. Bush?
Z: Agreed. The kindest explanation is that is was a Freudian slip.
ReplyDeleteFor once I agree with Obama. I didn't build my business, the people I surrounded myself with did. We were doing fine until the government came in to help with registration fees, permits, paying fees so we could pay taxes(seems ironic).
ReplyDeleteThe Obamaites had two years to correct the tax codes and did squat. Now they complain about the "rich" not paying their fair share.
Oh, the problem simply is we are way too stupid to understand our story teller.
ReplyDeleteBusiness's, be them Large or Small are the lifeblood of America's economy. But President Obama's comments last week show that he just doesn't understand who the real job creators are. How can he help small businesses when he doesn't even recognize their value?
ReplyDeleteCertainly someone could love America, yet, through miscalculation and the power of office institute policies that would hurt, or destroy America.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what Republican fiscal policies have done, marched us to bankruptcy.
And it's a second grade mistake, any second grader could tell you that cutting taxes but not spending (spending more than you take in) will cause debt.
I don't doubt misguided Republicans love America.
I guess I could say Republicans hate America, otherwise why would they try and bankrupt America.
What President Obama said didn’t surprise me, nor is it any big revelation. It’s who he is and every now and then he lets the mask slip.
ReplyDeleteI expect this, especially when you keep in it context as to where he was speaking and who he was speaking to.
I’m more amused by the apologists since he said these things. And they all fall into three camps:
Either he didn’t make those comments or they were taken out of context or even if they are in context they don’t matter because we should be reading between the lines.
And jez makes the point for the latter when ”jez said: It doesn't seem like your readers are capable of giving Obama a charitable hearing. I wonder your deafness is worse than liberals' deafness to W. Bush?”
He does recognize their value and it is not in his favor. Most small businesses are non-union, most cannot afford to offer full healthcare so the employees(who are middle class) will pay additional obamacare taxes. Most small business owners do not have the money for slick accounting maneuvers to avoid paying taxes. To him small businesses are the perfect target, doubt if they will vote for Obama and perfect targets to pay additional taxes.
ReplyDeleteI'm not talking about reading between the lines. I'm talking about interpreting language consistently, even when you are predisposed to disagree with what you're hearing.
ReplyDeleteThe selective abuse of ambiguity (every sentence has some) is a natural facet of psychology, I appreciate that it is difficult to avoid.
Jez,
ReplyDeleteLook at his face, listen to his tone, and listen to the crowd reaction.
This was a rich business owner bash, plain and simple. Red meat for resentful.
I would have given Obama more credit if he said thanks to businesses who fund the government and supply the products that build the roads.
ReplyDeleteI love how the greatest orator of a president we have in history always needs others to explain what he meant.
Either way he is condescending and not a voice of unity rather one like nails on a blackboard.
"And don't forget that Drudge Report that confirms Obummer's birth certificate is a real fake"
Shaw the Drudge report only provides links to stories. I guess you don't like him because he doesn't provide the links you would like to see.
But what's the problem anyway? Think Progress,Media Matters and Moveon doesn't fill you up enough?
Steve "And it's a second grade mistake, any second grader could tell you that cutting taxes but not spending (spending more than you take in) will cause debt."
ReplyDeleteReally? And you think the Democrats aren't the ones who've always wanted to stop spending cuts? To EVERYTHING? More welfare? SURE! Gut the military? SURE! MORE education money? SURE! More to the arts? "You can't cut THAT!!"
should I go on?
You keep harping on Republicans not wanting to cut spending and, if anybody does, they DO, particularly in hard times such as these.
But Progressives have trained AMericans that they NEED GOV'T (remember Obama's JULIE? from cradle to grave?) and they NEED FREEBIES and even Republicans don't want to lose elections by telling Americans to stand tall and be as self sufficient as possible....not with the Americans our schools have most recently created. A whole new breed with their hands out.
I hear him bashing people who lack the awareness & humility to acknowledge the common good, not against rich business owners. It's actually pretty clear, if it wasn't for the false consensus effect & its inverse.
ReplyDeleteI harp on Republicans not cutting spending, because they are the ones who claim the position of being spending cutters, but have not done it in the 30 years when they had the power to do so. Hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteYou could cut spending today, and Republicans would still refuse to raise taxes to pay the debt not cleared by simply cutting spending.
That debt must be cleared in order not to bankrupt future America.
I don't believe in more for everything.I have said so, and even listed where I would cut. I can lengthen that list, if you would like.
It's not my fault that you, SF, and the rest of the conservatives on this blog, falsely tag me some kind of liberal, Obama lover. I didn't even vote for the guy.
That's your "group think" mistake. Just one of the problems with group think, and I would advise you get away from it.
It does seem that we hold those who commodify a product above all others.
ReplyDeleteIf it weren't for McDonald's we wouldn't have hamburgers? Or we wouldn't have people super sizing on the crap?
Without Microsoft, a company that is absolutely crippled when it comes to innovation, we wouldn't have desktop computing? Well, it's true, we'd be stuck with Apple's margins but they do innovate.
I have had a lot of hope that the explosion of electronics and the Internet would lead to a lot more people creating their own art and finding a voice. Well, so far it's action films, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and a lot of crap. Not that that hasn't been the case in the past but as we can see, the "free market"(LMFAO) is still in control.
Alienation, poor wealth distribution, it's still there and growing all the time. The great fortunes need a culture to exploit. That's what Obama should have said.
Not that he isn't a facilitator but wait till you catch Romney's act. The culture is going to be so vanilla and dumbed down you really are going to be looking for the exits if you aren't already.
Despite what you Republicans call Obama (Socialist, Marxist, etc.) he is the most conservative Democratic President America has ever had.
ReplyDeleteIn these tough economic times LBJ would have tripled welfare and social spending.
Did Obama go the route of an FDR who would have put millions on the government payroll? No.
What other Democratic president would have extended the Bush tax cuts?
He offered to cut 4 trillion and the Republicans balked at it.
He negotiated himself into a position where 1.5 trillion has to be cut, and he did not exempt social programs from that process.
He is as big a corporatist as any Republican. His campaign donations show that.
I doubt Carter would have used tax money to save GM, or the banks.
I could go on.
Just a different view for you to ponder, besides Obama is the biggest liberal president ever, and is destroying America because he is such a liberal Socialist.
Steve, I really appreciate your point of view. YOu sound frustrated and I surely don't blame you , and I have enjoyed your staying fair and rational and kind in your debate.
ReplyDeleteQuestion:
How do Republicans get around the fact that Americans are so brainwashed by all the liberal "you need gov't" stuff that they're afraid to clamp down on spending lest they don't get elected? Which they will not.
Or do you disagree?
If the message is presented well, I STILL think we'd not get elected.
A note that contributes to the earlier grammatical discussion, from James Taranto:
ReplyDeleteThe Team then explains: "The President's full remarks show that the 'that' in 'you didn't build that' clearly refers to roads and bridges--public infrastructure we count on the government to build and maintain."
That's bunk, and not only because "business" is more proximate to the pronoun "that" and therefore its more likely antecedent. The Truth Team's interpretation is ungrammatical. "Roads and bridges" is plural; "that" is singular. If the Team is right about Obama's meaning, he should have said, "You didn't build those."
Barack Obama is supposed to be the World's Greatest Orator, the smartest man in the world. Yet his campaign asks us to believe he is not even competent to construct a sentence.
Who the bleep is James Taranto? Another voice on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteWheat from the chaff. It's becoming so difficult.
James Taranto is a writer for the Wall Street Journal Opinion Section.
ReplyDeleteAnd on all cable and some network shows from time to time.
I emailed him one day in Paris years ago and he responded from NY, we had quite a long back/forth......nice guy. And sharp.
Look at the derision on his face and in his tone of voice at the 00:57 point when he says "You didn't get there on your own." Keep watching as see how he says “so smart.”
ReplyDeleteHe's really taken with himself, isn't he?
Perhaps he needs to be reminded that he didn't get to where he is without some help.
I can't much stand to watch him speak. He's all ramped up -- and disgusting, too.
He says'we created a lot of millionaires'?? WHO DID?
ReplyDeleteAOW, you're right..it's tough to watch.
But he's so smoooooooooooth..he knows exactly what to say to the crowd "let me tell ya somethin', there are a lot of hard workin' people out there". BIG CHEER!
Yup....
"You didn't build that, somebody else made that happen"....no, WE made that bridge and road happen, with our taxes.
OK, here comes my liberal side,
ReplyDeleteToday's Americans forget how bad conditions were in America before the government started to help. The cry for that help came from the people, not the government.
As today, wages were not enough to cover basic living expenses, not to mention American dreams of higher education, or owing a home.
Medical and food programs have shown (statistically) they did relieve the suffering, improved health, cut hunger, raised life expectancy, and maybe most importantly - helped stabilize our society.
So it's not all just brainwashing, meaning those programs did no good, or actually hurt America.
As long as Americans were willing to pay for it, and they did by raising taxes on themselves.
Big surprise! The bureaucracy got out of control.
But private enterprise was not solving those problems. If they won't/don't/can't, then the government should. I prefer private enterprise do the job, but again today, they are not.
How about telling Americans the hard truth.
We are broke.
It's our greedy fault, not some mess passed onto us.
There will be no more tax cuts. Spending will be cut AND taxes will be raised.
The rich were not the only ones who benefited from tax cuts, and will not be the only ones who have their taxes raised.
Subsidies of all kinds will be eliminated.
Government will be cut, whole departments and then across the board cuts.
Infrastructure must be maintained, or built.
We will cease laying off police, fire, teachers, and those who are needed for a stable society.
I would cut spending by 30%, and raise taxes by 20%
I would earmark 10% of income to pay off the national debt.
It's growth that matters, not the tax levels, as proven by the growth in America between 195-1970 when we taxed ourselves at twice our current rate, yet had outstanding growth.
Steve,
ReplyDeleteMost of the economic ills of the country can be attributed to the fact that we have tolerated our corrupt politicians trying to protect their jobs for life with our money. You seem to overlook that the Bush tax cuts were for everyone not just the rich, something King Obama fails to mention.
I would favor a tax increase if it included everyone and everyone should pay something, because we all benefit, and that entire increase was used to pay down the debt. The current hatred toward the rich is a campaign tool used by an unsuccessful president to divert attention from his failures, it's easy to hate and envy the rich. The rich not only pay their "fair share" but far above it. The top 5% pay 70% of all taxes while earning 13% of all income, I would say that is more than fair.
We can no longer be everything to everyone. Pay grants for the study of the mosquito sex life and build a new bridge to no where.
We need to encourage and reward success not demonize it as is currently the case. As a country we should support those who cannot support themselves but not those who just don't want to work. The fact that the administration has overturned a successful government initiative like welfare reform so they can put more people in their "paid for" column is disgusting.
SF,
ReplyDeleteYou might want to check out this image. Note the sneer.
"The rich were not the only ones who benefited from tax cuts, and will not be the only ones who have their taxes raised."
ReplyDeleteSteve, I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteDo you think our society would elect someone who said that, your 'hard truth'.
thanks for the thoughtful response, good suggestions there.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would have not been successful if it hadn't been for the government investing billions in computer technology in NASA programs.
ReplyDeleteWe still be using abacuses.
But I have my own method of by passing the government in my business, I build my own roads, yeah, really! I build my own bridges too! And if I have to ship something, I use the trains...which I also built!
And I ask you, "Where would HALITOSIS, be if it weren't for the promotional efforts and marketing genius of Joseph P. Lister?"
ReplyDeleteEverybody has a laughing place
A laughing place to go ho ho.
Take that frown turn it upside down,
And you'll find yours I know ho ho!
Thanks, Uncle Walt. Those of us who can remember still love you.
~ FreeThinke
Ms. Shaw wrote:
ReplyDelete" ... You're on to something BIG! No! Not just BIG, but "THE TRUTH!"
And don't forget that the Drudge Report confirms that Obummer's birth certificate is a real fake, and that the state of Hawaii, including its one-time Republican governor, has lied, lied, lied! to everyone about it. And what about those scary brown Muslims infiltrating the gummit, just what we'd expect from a Commie/Fascist/Marxist/smug, corrupt sewer dwelling rat son of a revolutionary BLACK colonialist hater!
"You've hit the proverbial nail on the head, dude!
"But what you've failed to bring to your readers' attention is the fact that not only is Obummer turning this nation into a Commie Day Care Center, but he's taking away all our guns and he's got those FEMA indoctrination camp trailers set up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, ready to turn our babies into little Che Gueveras and Bella Abzugs!... but worse! I forgot he has a plan to retroactively kill all our babies and kittens and puppy dogs. And he hates! America! And is a fraud! And doesn't know anything about anything, and he's secretly Bill Ayers' boy toy!
And did I mention that he hates America, and he's MEAN to that nice rich guy who wants his job, and...and..he's now after our precious bodily fluids...and...and..."
WOWEEEE!!! Ms. Shaw, I'm thunderstruck. Your beautifully-phrased testimony brings tears to my old eyes. This is the very first time in living memory I have ever heard a liberal tell the TRUTH.
CONGRATULATIONS on your splendid display candor, humility and magnanimity.
Your awestruck, humbly grateful friend and admirer,
FreeThinke
If we had a leader that would make the debt a priority, maybe.
ReplyDeleteIf we dumped the "brainwashed" idea that raising taxes, is ONLY bad, maybe.
If Americans cared about, or understood the damage this debt will do, maybe.
If Americans raised their civic involvement and responsibility, maybe
In this political climate. no.
Americans personal debt was highest just before the crash. National financial discipline has to start with personal financial discipline.
We are the capitalist kings of the world. But don't practice the ideas of, "You have to spend money to make money" or "money is what greases the wheels of invention, production, and investing in needs of society."
Obama is doing nothing, stagnation.
Corporations are sitting on their cash, afraid to invest in America.
A LITTLE "Buy American" wouldn't hurt, but we produce little to buy.
We must boost our production.
During the boom of the 1950's American products were not cheap for foreign buyers, but demand was high. Price is not the only consideration. What we have to sell is a big consideration.
What are we selling these days? Arms. And the military equipment we sell is usually bottom price, or free because we want them on our side.
Capitalists have a responsibility to the community they do business in, which goes beyond just making money.
If capitalism cannot serve all the people, keep the economy going, and create jobs, it is a failure.
Seems these days capitalism is just keeping up with market share. And how long will that last, as market share dwindles because their market share (people who can afford their products) shrinks?
Can a company survive if it only sells to 10%-20%-30% of the population?
Take a lesson from Mr. Ford, pay workers enough to be able to afford the products they produce, and you will make ten times as much money.
A job is not the best self help program, unless it pays enough to live in the economy of the time.
If Obama didn't intend his words to be taken a certain way, the way most common sense individuals are understanding the words of his speech (unlike those progressive Kool-Aid drinkers who twist Obama's negativity to mean something positive because he just couldn't have meant what he actually said) why hasn't either Obama or his campaign clarified his comments? Why wouldn't Obama & Co want to assuage the business community's fears and concerns?
ReplyDeleteSteve, another excellent comment...I really agree with you on most of it..
ReplyDeleteThis worries me because I consider this often "Take a lesson from Mr. Ford, pay workers enough to be able to afford the products they produce, and you will make ten times as much money.
A job is not the best self help program, unless it pays enough to live in the economy of the time"
How do we compete with dreadfully cheap things overseas? We're overpriced on products BECAUSE people need enough income to live on, you're right! We don't have sweat shops, thank God.
And I have written blog posts about how capitalism doesn't work without GOODNESS...treating employees well, fairly, safely, etc.
I feel that profit sharing is an excellent way to promote confidence in employees and give them income enough to produce things they can afford to buy; and the impetus to buy them!
@If we dumped the "brainwashed" idea that raising taxes, is ONLY bad, maybe.
ReplyDeleteRaising taxes is bad if you don't, can't, or won't control spending. The problem is, we've all been down that road before with our government, which has shown that it cannot consistently control spending.
I have said before, the only way I can support tax increases is in conjunction with a balanced budget amendment. If the government is not forced to live within its means, it won't. You may get a tax increase in conjunction with a administration that attempts to control spending, but the next administration or the next congress will go right back to voting themselves largesse, spending will increase, and we will be right back where we started.
A balanced budget amendment with provisions for bypass by only a super-super majority, say 75% would be a good place to start.
Until spending is under control you can stuff your tax increases.
I am forced to acknowledge and thank Jex for Obama's new title:
ReplyDeleteThe Ambiguous Communicator
Just who you want in the oval office.
Cheers!
Finntann..speaking of communicators, I remember Reagan was optimistic, very pro America(n)...and this president sends a very different message.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any president should sugar coat any situation, but do you think that coming from a more optimistic viewpoint would help business, Americans, etc...?
I guess, as bad as things are right now, it's hard to think of what an optimistic pres. could say, but ...what do you think? I think you get what I'm trying to say...?
FT, I'm happy that my sarcasm gave you a thrill up your leg.
ReplyDeleteZ: Optimism would help lots, so would leadership at which he has failed miserably.
ReplyDeleteLeadership unites men, it doesn't divide them.
Obama fails because he cannot convince others to follow him without bribery or threats.
He is nothing but a political hack, and that this speech fails, is illustrated by the conversation we are now having.
Leaders are not ambiguous.
We conservatives and libertarians dislike and disagree his policies, but in all honesty it should be you liberals that should be seriously pissed off, given all the smoke he blew up your asses during the election.
If anything, I can appreciate the number of campaign promises he didn't keep.
Finntann..of course, you don't mean ME in 'you liberals', right? :-)
ReplyDeleteFrom what Dems and Reps say, Obama hasn't done the calls, hasn't reached out to ANY of either party, apparently......I guess most Presidents spend time talking to senators on both sides, shmoozing, getting to know them, plumb them a bit for their feelings on different issues.
I guess when a president isn't doing that (even Chris Matthews who said he's PERFECT IN EVERY WAY either yesterday or today has said he felt it sad that the word on the Hill is this president doesn't talk), how can we expect honesty with us or caring what all of America feels instead of just liberal or entitlement-expecting Americans?
thanks.
in an email from a friend just now, Krauthammer said "Everyone drives the roads, goes to school, uses the mails. So did Steve Jobs. Yet only he created the Mac and the iPad."
ReplyDeletethe best argument against Obama's nonsensical statement yet, and I've heard a LOT of good arguments here and elsewhere.
On this very topic:
ReplyDeleteYou've got to watch this Obama Ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-z-U57BaSc
The ad starts with "Mitt Romney is Launching a false attack"
From 0:11 to 0:21, Romney quotes Obama
"If you've got a business, you didn't build that, someone else made that happen".
Followed by the text:
The only problem...
That's not what he said.
Then from 0:38 - 0:43 Obama says
"If you've got a business - you didn't build that, someone else made that happen."
Had me rolling on the floor.
Those of you who don't live in a battleground state don't know how lucky you are.
Cheers!
FINNTANN!! that's exactly what he said! Has your local media talked about that? That is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteHe didn't say that...look, he said it, but he didn't say that!
HA!!
"'that' is singular"
ReplyDeleteasinine. Firstly, he's not speaking formally here, eg many of his sentences are incomplete, so this is not conclusive.
Secondly "that" could refer to "this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive".
But look to his larger point. The context is clear: he's talking about infrastructure. Look at all the sentences surrounding this quote. You believe that he just dropped in this non-sequitor about business initiative and then went straight back to talking about publicly built & owned infrastructure?
Imagine that Obama's not an idiot, then listen to it again. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes.
Anyway, I'm not saying this is a brilliant speech or anything, I'm not a fan of either the content or the syntax, but he didn't intend what you're wasting all this bandwidth complaining about. I don't think there's any point pouncing on an uncharitable reading, even if you don't like the speech anyway.
Any President, speaking in public, is speaking 'formally'. It's an unavoidable consequence of his position. The problem I have with this is that he's espousing the belief that American society, economic and otherwise, was created BY the government rather than the other way round. We are to blame for creating Leviathan, and he's denying our right to undo the damage.
ReplyDelete"Any President, speaking in public, is speaking 'formally'."
ReplyDeleteClearly not so in recent history. consider Bush.
Free Thinker, You hit the Bigtime when you get slapped down by a recycled Progressive.
ReplyDeleteYou have to give these Progressive's credit for electing an African-American to the presidency . They have finally embraced affirmative action by pitting an incompetent nincompoop into the highest office in the world. Yes they betrayed America by doing so, but this is what Lefties do.
Lets hope that we see this nightmare end in November, and Obama is out of a job... There's always room for him to join the “View”
Jez: Yes, go for the context. He was preaching class resentment to people who were egging him on.
ReplyDeleteHis contempt is palpable.
And two more point that smart conservative pundits have made:
As mentioned earlier in the thread. We all use infrastructure, but only Steve Jobs created the iPhone and Apple computers.
The other good point is North Korea and Cuba have infrastructure... roads, bridges and schools. What's the difference between them and us?
I stand by everything I have written. The man is a populist demagogue.
Silver, you already know my thoughts on this debacle of a speech.
ReplyDeleteHe had lots of help and it is unfathomable that anyone can do something on their own.
He must have use of his teleprompters otherwise he makes a complete ass of himself.
I still can't believe people applaud this clown.
[quote]
ReplyDeleteI’ve upset some fellow Right Blogistanis by dismissing their conspiracy theories about Obama purposefully destroying this country, but I’m rethinking my skepticism. Nobody can be that dumb and that incompetent. Could this really be a calculated strategy to tear us down and build us back up in their own statist image?[/quote]
I didn't want to believe this at first, either, but there is truly no other explanation. It's no accident that his "fundamental transformation" of America, so far, has included much that his horror show wife said MUST happen: we must rewrite our culture, our traditions, and our history. Yes, how else can you establish what they have in mind for this great country? Why by doing every little thing he's done from the seemingly innocuous (to some, his taking the power to decide which Americans can be killed at his command, here in America or not) to the downright unConstitutional (the military's new "power" to "detain" civilians in America with no due process and holding them indefinitely, and the contraception mandate which clearly tramples on freedom of religious expression) and illegal (gun running to Mexico, i.e. Fast and Furious--even Darrell Issa thinks it may have had something to do with curtailing the Second Amendment, and he's not foaming-at-the-mouth conspiracy nutter).
I think you do yourself a disservice... yes, people can be that dumb and stupid.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think this bumpkin is the mastermind behind some vast conspiracy?
Or better yet, if you were behind some vast conspiracy... would you choose him as your figurehead?
" if you were behind some vast conspiracy... would you choose him as your figurehead?"
ReplyDeleteWho wouldn't? Nebulous background, FANTASTIC liar, FANTASTIC charisma, half black, half white...articulate on teleprompter, wife on the side of the conspiracy people. Very little history known and what is known is so small it couldn't really hurt him. And even THEN, in the little we DO know, Wright, Ayers, etc., he lied and got away with it. This guy's the PERFECT choice for a conspiracy group.
Sounds like the perfect pick to me.
Finn: It doesn't have to be a classic conspiracy. Simply letting us slide until enough people cry for whatever government can give them will be enough to usher in European-style socialism where unelected bureaucrats call all the shots
ReplyDeleteand yes, SF, it doesn't have to be the classic conspiracy type of thing....this guy's perfect, obviously; look at the rotten situations he's ushered in and people love him.
ReplyDeleteI think you give him too much credit, he's an inept bumbling populist who'll espouse whatever he thinks will get him the most money and votes.
ReplyDeleteObooboo a tool of the Oligarchs all right, but then so is Romney, so is McCain, so is John Kerry, so is Bill Clinton and dear old Dubya and his aged papa.
ReplyDeleteRonald Reagan, I think, was probably a fluke -- the Exception that Proves the Rule.
The Oligarchs have had it rigged so that THEY can never lose.
The joke is ALWAYS on us, but it ain't funny.
If this be not true, what OTHER explanation can you conjure up that would explain why NOTHING EVER CHANGES no matter WHO gets elected?
Then ask yourself, WHY do REPUBLICAN presidents keep picking Supreme Court Justices who turn out be LIBERALS, despite initial appearances to the contrary?
And yes I know all about Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito from Trenton, NJ.
[NEW JERSEY NOTES: Trenton in case you don't know is one Armpit of the Garden State. Elizabeth is the other, and Secaucus is the Anus.]
~ FreeThinke
"We all use infrastructure, but only Steve Jobs created the iPhone and Apple computers.
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea and Cuba have infrastructure... roads, bridges and schools. What's the difference between them and us?"
As far as I can tell, neither of these points offer any meaningful commentary on anything Obama actually said.
You're hearing things. You think he's saying that entrepreneurs deserve no credit of profit for their effort. You think he's saying that enterprise is an automatic result of decent infrastructure. Help me out: is there a longer clip out there where he really says that?
Jez: We are now in the realm of campaign rhetoric.
ReplyDelete