"Somebody Made That Happen"
Rob Long ·
July 15, 2012 at 3:18pm
Here's all you need to know about what, exactly, Barack Obama thinks about business -- the small kind, the large kind, the family kind, the any kind:
It's almost too perfect, isn't it? And I especially love that turn of phrase -- "somebody made that happen."
It's always somebody for the left, isn't it? Somebody will pay. Somebody will do it.
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Comments:
Feb '12
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
Philly
Agreed, more of the segment would help. Based on exactly what he does say:
You didn't build it. So someone else did. And if it succeeded, it was probably though some form of exploitation, not at will employment. And if there are exploited folks out there, why there are victims. And NOBODY takes care of victims.
So reelect me. I protect victims from failure, dirty air, unfair lending practices, discrimination, union busting, women's health suppression, and greedy capitalists.
Further, I will promise to protect the American people from pipelines that add jobs, motivating success through market rewards, insurance choices and the lower premiums that go with them, capitalism, freedom... wait a minute, scratch that last bit.
May '11
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
There's a transcript here of a longer segment of the speech - basically the same claptrap that Elizabeth Warren came out with a while back.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/jul/15/picketvideo-obama-if-youve-got-business-you-didnt-/
I know that's how lefties think, or rather "think", but it's still quite disconcerting to hear them say it so blatantly.
Mar '12
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
The proper response is probably simply to say that it's sad that the President has such a poor understanding of the market economy.
Jul '11
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
If the rich didn't build successful businesses themselves, and it's all due to the magical powers of gov't spending and intervention, why isn't the country awash (and sinking under the oceans' rise) in millions of new start-ups that are just going gangbusters right now? If the gov't is the true path to prosperity, we have the largest-sized gov't in terms of spending and regulation in the history of mankind - yet our economy sucks, and roughly 10-15% of people who want a job can't find one.
Answer: We're not spending enough in gov't. And we're too stupid to understand that.
If this is Obama's case, he truly does think we're all idiots, or he himself is the Stupidest Man on the Planet. I'm actually thinking it's the 2nd one, not the first. He's the perfect example of the incompetent who's only safe home is in a college somewhere, so he can't hurt himself by questioning his beliefs too hard.
May '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
That sentence is a Gordian Knot of ignorance.
Jan '11
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
He must have missed Econ-101, theory of public goods.
Besides, corporate taxes are already the highest in the world. Seems like we've already paid for what "others" have done.
But beyond that, it's completely disingenuous. It's on par with saying that unless we raise taxes, the firemen get whacked. What he's trying to do is soften the ground to raise taxes, by arguing that taxes are needed to rebuild the infrastructure.
But the taxes he wants to raise aren't going to go to the infrastructure. They already had money to rebuild the infrastructure - that's what the original Obama stimulus was about. The projects weren't there. The money accomplished nothing.
If you give Obama more money, the best we can hope for is that he'll use it to pay down some debt. But that's a pipe dream; we all know what he really intends to do with it: i.e., political grease. He wants to give it away (under various disguises) to Democrat Party supporters.
Oct '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
Their assumption seems to be that if the government didn't build the roads, there would be no roads. Or if the government didn't provide public schools, that people would not be educated. And so on.
I could easily imagine a world where roads were built and people were educated without the force of government. And my guess is that those roads and schools would probably be better.
Their inability to examine the both the seen and unseen is quite stunning.
Edited on July 15, 2012 at 8:15pmOct '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
And this could easily be turned right back against them.
"You want to provide free MRI's and free vaccines and free health care? Where do they think these things came from? Somebody made that happen!"
Apr '12
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
This great that this view is being discussed and seen. How many business owners are there and they vote Republican anyway so is this such a bad political speech for most voters? How do you take this and turn it around so that the voter gets annoyed by this Marxist philosophy which is the killer of the American dream. Yes, the US now has the highest corporate tax in the G20 and Canada has one of the lowest. I have a request a day from US funds and Europeans and Chinese investors looking for companies to buy. They tell me they are avoiding the US. Our Government is funding sales trips to China, Europe, for business owners to stop America from being our top trade partner. This message of anti business is heard in other countries and the capital flows away from this Socialist attitude.
Jun '12
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
[redacted for CoC]
Edited on July 15, 2012 at 9:33pmDec '11
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
Todd: And this could easily be turned right back against them.
"You want to provide free MRI's and free vaccines and free health care? Where do they think these things came from? Somebody made that happen!" · 49 minutes ago
"If UBL was killed, I didn't do that. Somebody else made that happen."
Apr '11
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
It does violate the CoC.
It might not seem important, but the distinctive Ricochet culture of politeness is maintained, in part, by a broken windows policy. The concept of acceptable breaches undermines the bright line rule, and it's an important line to maintain.
Edited on July 15, 2012 at 9:34pmDec '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
Yeah, well, "somebody" can kiss my muscular buttocks.
Dec '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
George Savage: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that; somebody else made that happen."
Okay. Anyone care to guess what happens to my business if I stay home next week and wait for "somebody else" to turn up to build it for me?
Multiply the above times many millions and gaze forth on our present economic doldrums with wide-eyed understanding. · 4 hours ago
Who is John Galt?
Dec '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
James Of England
It does violate the CoC.
It might not seem important, but the distinctive Ricochet culture of politeness is maintained, in part, by a broken windows policy. The concept of acceptable breaches undermines the bright line rule, and it's an important line to maintain. · 21 minutes ago
Stop quoting the rules, it makes you look like an [expletive].
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
It is too long to post here, but The Washington Times has the complete quote. In my opinion, greater length doesn't do more than reinforce the Castro-in-English feel.
Oct '10
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
George Savage
It is too long to post here, but The Washington Times has the complete quote. In my opinion, greater length doesn't do more than reinforce the Castro-in-English feel. · 4 minutes ago
It's one straw man argument after another. He is basically saying that no one can succeed completely on their own, an idea that no one would dispute.
But the debate isn't about extreme individualism vs. people doing things together. To me, it's about what is the best way to coordinate people - through top down centralized planning or through a decentralized "market" process. As smart as Obama claims to be, I honestly don't think he understands this.
He simply can't fathom the notion that people will work together and coordinate their activities without a central authority in command of it all.
And he certainly won't accept the possibility that a decentralized market process will produce better outcomes.
Edited on July 16, 2012 at 12:28amJun '12
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
Ben, I like where you're going here- but in this case, someone else DID make that happen! :) Nice work SEAL Team 6 !!
Edited on July 15, 2012 at 11:47pmRe: "Somebody Made That Happen"
CoolHand
Stop quoting the rules, it makes you look like an [expletive]. · 2 hours ago
No, it doesn't. It helps keep the environment of Ricochet civil. We all need to redouble our efforts, time to time, to keep the spirit and letter of the CoC.
Re: "Somebody Made That Happen"
But if "somebody else" made the business "happen," why is it the business owner who gets stuck with the taxes?