Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
I'm blessed to have Facebook friends that aren't too political. Sure, some of my friends post love letters to Obama and others make fun of liberals, but overall we stick to updates on our families.
So I was surprised to see so many of my Facebook friends outraged over President Obama's remarks on small businesses ("If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."). It really hit a nerve. Friend after friend has been posting stories about the businesses they started and how they put up all the capital and hard work and how the government, if they did anything, stood in the way of success.
Even Ayn Rand would have thought the statement too over-the-top for one of her villains to make. The Washington Examiner editorializes: "Only someone who has never signed the front of a paycheck could make such an ignorant comment."
Jim Pethokoukis spoke with Paul Ryan about the statement. We learn that when Ryan first heard the comment, he didn't believe it had actually come from the President. Pethoukis excerpted some of his favorite lines from his chat with Ryan:
– “The idea that these entrepreneurs owe all their success to some government bureaucrat or some centralized planner just defies reality.”
– “Every now and then, President Obama pierces the veil. He’s usually pretty coy about his ideology, but he lets the veil slip from time to time.”
– “We believe in free communities and this is a statist attack on free communities.”
– “He’s deluded himself into thinking that his so-called enemies are these crazy individualists who believe in some dog-eat-dog society when what he’s really doing is basically attacking people like entrepreneurs and stacking up a list of scapegoats to blame for his failures.”
– “As all of his big government spending programs fail to restore jobs and growth, he seems to be retreating into a statist vision of government direction and control of a free society that looks backward to the failed ideologies of the 20th century.”
– “Those of use who are conservative believe in government, we just believe government has limits. We want government to do what it does well and respect its limits so civil society and families can flourish on their own and do well and achieve their potential.”
But my favorite line from Ryan is here:
I think he believes America was on the right path until Reagan came along, and Reagan got us going in the wrong direction. And and he wants to be as transformational as Reagan by undoing the entire Reagan revolution. … I think he sees himself as bringing about the this wave of progressivism, and the only thing stopping him are these meddling conservatives who believe in these founding principles so he has to caricature them in the ugliest light possible to win the argument.
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Sep '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
“The idea that these entrepreneurs owe all their success to some government bureaucrat or some centralized planner just defies reality.”
Its like he was mentored by a communist. That's crazee talk!
Nov '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Mollie, same here. Folks that normally never post political stuff on Facebook were in a frenzy. My cousin posted something along with a link from FoxNews. And the thing that really got me was a friend of hers posted the URL for factcheck.org. She didn't fact check the story herself, she just assumed it wasn't true and no amount of conversation would convince her otherwise.
"Mola Ram will rule the world!"
Aug '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
The idea that the "wealthy" should pay more taxes because they depend more on government is a common theme on the left. By "depend more" my lefty associates mean that the wealthy use infrastructure more, depend on fire and police protection more, as well as the military to protect their ill-gotten riches.
When it is suggested that the poor depend far more on government through social services, all you get are blank looks.
Jun '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Glenn Beck, on his radio program, was using the example of the Wright Brothers this morning. In a photo of the first successful takeoff (December 17, 1903,) Orville is the pilot and Wilbur is running alongside. Beck noted that everything in the photo was designed, built, and transported to Kitty Hawk by the two brothers. No government officials, or government works, in sight. Tell the Wright Brothers that they had lots of help (from the government) getting off the ground, and they'd laugh.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 3:45pmNov '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Drew, you'd get more than a blank look if you pointed out that it's because of the poor that the wealthy depend on the police. I suppose that might be too much pot stirring...
Mar '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Ya think?
But it's good that Mr Obama is revealing himself for who he is. And I hope more people are noticing - it seems so.
Nov '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
David Williamson
Ya think?
But it's good that Mr Obama is revealing himself for who he is. And I hope more people are noticing - it seems so. · 2 minutes ago
Now if only we had a better candidate lying around somewhere....
Aug '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Nice takedown by Ryan. He ought to be Romney's VP pick. To those who say we would lose our most important budget hawk in the House, I say: As VP, he could be Romney's budget czar.
Sep '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
President Obama really needs to grab a Bane before he starts shooting off his mouth
David Williamson
Ya think?
But it's good that Mr Obama is revealing himself for who he is. And I hope more people are noticing - it seems so. · 3 minutes ago
Feb '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
I've noticed that a LOT of small retail businesses and restaurants are run by people with a vaguely hippie outlook, and the same is true of many craft-oriented businesses (which are really customer and small-lot manufacturers, although they're rarely thought of that way.) Quite a few of the latter category have already been hit very hard by the so-called "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act," and I know at least some have had their faith in the benignity of government challenged.
Mar '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
I wish I could believe Obama has thought it through this far. I'm pretty sure he believes the world began with Bush and being not-Bush is all that is called for.
Jul '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
No thank you, I want no CZARs be it ours, theirs or others. I be a free man and am trying to stay that way.
Sep '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
I think he believes America was on the right path until Reagan came along
That's putting the Carter before the Reagan horse.
Jun '12
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Mollie, aren't you glad that Algore used the government to create the internet so Ricochet could exist?
/sarc off
Aug '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Heh. No, that would probably fit in with the narrative. In their view, the government is the only thing keeping the poor from rising up against the wealthy, torches and pitchforks in hand, burning their mansions and hanging them from the lightposts. Welfare is like "protection money."
Dec '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
I don't think the issue is so much that he stated (correctly) no one made it on their own so much as it was the implication that, since the wealthy had help (from someone else, at some point, to varying degrees), Obama is entitled to a bite of their success.
Dec '11
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Mel Foil: Glenn Beck, on his radio program, was using the example of the Wright Brothers this morning. In a photo of the first successful takeoff (December 17, 1903,) Orville is the pilot and Wilbur is running alongside. Beck noted that everything in the photo was designed, built, and transported to Kitty Hawk by the two brothers. No government officials, or government works, in sight. Tell the Wright Brothers that they had lots of help (from the government) getting off the ground, and they'd laugh. · 30 minutes ago
Edited 27 minutes ago
Ah, but the reason they HAD that stuff was because the government stopped potential thieves from stealing it all.
Aug '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced this is the ultimate fastener in the cadaver box, and the stalk that fractured the dromedary's spine. With this unforced error, Obama has lost the election--if (and it's a big "if") the Romney campaign can do a good job of keeping this statement in the public consciousness. The president has offered you a softball, Romney campaign--now hit it out of the darned park!
Addendum: I want to add an anecdote that contributed to my feelings about the Obama gaffe. My not-terribly-political wife saw the statement on the news last night, and I have never seen her so fired up. She was outraged. Along with Mollie's anecdote about her Facebook friends, this shows that the statement has captured the attention and ire of people who don't usually get emotional about politics.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 4:33pmOct '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Have either Jim Pethokoukis or Paul Ryan signed the front of a paycheck? If so, was any of that money earned from paying customers rather than expropriated from taxpayers or donated by campaign backers?
What about the editorial board of the Washington Examiner? When Phil Anschutz signs their paychecks does he expect a financial return, or is he just playing politics, too?
(Of course, I've never owned (a substantial portion of) a business with multiple employees, either.)
I believe Mr Ryan is a fine public servant and an ornament to his profession. Mr Pethokoukis is a fine journalist. The point I'm making (this week) is that there seem to be a vanishing number of folks in the professional public square who actually have the life experience to most effectively respond to this Progressive know-nothingism. Which is sad, and perhaps dangerous.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 4:46pmAug '10
Re: Somebody Else Made This Post Happen
Mel Foil: Glenn Beck, on his radio program, was using the example of the Wright Brothers this morning. In a photo of the first successful takeoff (December 17, 1903,) Orville is the pilot and Wilbur is running alongside. Beck noted that everything in the photo was designed, built, and transported to Kitty Hawk by the two brothers. No government officials, or government works, in sight. Tell the Wright Brothers that they had lots of help (from the government) getting off the ground, and they'd laugh. · 40 minutes ago
Edited 36 minutes ago
One of my favorite parts of the Wrights' story is their correspondence with the weather service in order to find out (this was before Google, remember) the windiest place in the U.S. I've always thought this is an excellent example of the appropriate role of government--minimal yet helpful, and non-intrusive.