Did the Prez make a faux pas about small businesses in a recent

[babylonsister]

campaign stump? Just talked to a friend who likes him, but thought Obama was clunky in saying that small businesses need the government. He said he heard it from Obama, repeated on cnn. I've been out of pocket, so wonder if anyone knows anything about this?
This friend had a business 20 years ago w/o help from the gov't. I suggested healthcare issues and loans nowadays might be more welcome from gov't.
Mitt apparently mentioned Gates, Jobs, etc.

Any ideas so I can have some ammo for my brilliant comeback?

[shraby]

1. I think part of what he was saying, is that they use the roads, etc. so they don't really do it

all by themselves.

[DURHAM D]

2. Really - no help from the government...

Who provided the roads to his business and educated the people who work for him. Where did he get an education? Public schools I assume. Did he have water and sewer to his place of business? Shall I go on?

[SickOfTheOnePct]

3. His phrasing left him open to be quoted out of context

This isn't the exact quote, but it was along the lines of "Someone invested in the roads and bridges to get to your business. If you have a business, you didn't build that".

Obviously, he meant that the business owner didn't build the roads and bridges alone, but the way he said it has made it possible for people to take it out of context and claim that he was saying that business owners didn't build their businesses.

[PoliticAverse]

19. "If you’ve got a business, you did not build that–somebody else made that happen."

Badly phrased easily taken out of context:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t — if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I am always struck by people who think, “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. If you are 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 did not build that–somebody else made that happen. The Internet did not get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off of the Internet. The point is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.

[2pooped2pop]

4. check out this du post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002965801

looks like he was saying it about the roads that lead to their business ;so people could get there and employees could get there, and suppliers could get there, and without them they would have no business, basically.

[progressivebydesign]

5. Your friend is misinformed. EVERY business gets help from the govt.

Did your friend take out any business loans? The Govt made sure that he didn't pay 40% on them. It's unreal how daft some people can be. I'm a small business owner and the govt has helped me a lot.

Do the people who work for him have disability coverage? Does he depend on any infrastructure at all? Does he have a slaughter house next to his office? well he can thank the Govt for that if he doesn't.

Oh, or maybe your friend can open his business in Haiti or Pakistan, and see how that looks with no Govt. help.

Jobs??? Mitt's "jobs" are overseas. His company (he IS Bain) bought out good American companies with American workers, and borrowed millions against them for the investors and Bain, then sold the companies to someone overseas.. so the jobs went to China or India, OR they were forced into bankruptcy. The "jobs" thing is total BS. You friend needs to see how many jobs were created under the last republican president, as opposed to Obama and Clinton.

[LiberalFighter]

14. Don't forget all the tax write-offs that businesses are able to use to reduce their expenses.

[pnwmom]

6. He was saying that government supports the infrastructure that every business

needs to succeed -- in these days, that means things like roads, bridges, the Internet, etc.

It's only a faux pas if you're a libertarian.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. He was echoing what Elizabeth Warren said a few weeks ago.

Just not as well, apparently.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

8. Exactly right n/t

[KurtNYC]

9. thread on it buried here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1022190

or see the source article here:

http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/07/16/525181/conservatives-selectively-edit-obamas-speech-to-claim-he-hates-small-businesses/

teachers, roads, etc.

[notadmblnd]

10. Faux News presented a clip of Obama's speech out of context

In actuality, he was praising small business.

[DCBob]

11. Obama's general point was that even if someone has been succesful in business..

they owe some of that success to others who have helped them along the way.. like a teacher, a parent, a colleague, or the Federal/State Government who created roads, bridges, the internet, etc.

Its absolutely correct but its easy for the Rethugs to misquote and misrepresent it.

[babylonsister]

12. Thank you everyone!!!!!!!!! You all ROCK!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

13. Ed Schultz actually did this yesterday

where he played the whole clip vs what CNN-Fauxlite chopped out of it.

[babylonsister]

15. I did ask whether he heard the whole thing or just edited stuff; he

claimed he heard the whole thing. Hmmm... thanks!

[SickOfTheOnePct]

16. Not to diss your friend

But I think that people are sometimes lazy about listening, and even though they hear the whole thing, they focus on the one thing that makes them go "WTF??". I admit, when I first heard it, my reaction was the same, and I heard the whole statement. But when I listened to it again, I realized it was just bad phrasing on the President's part.

[babylonsister]

22. Thanks. I figured as much, but since I didn't know what was said,

I had to ask.

[Ruby the Liberal]

17. A picture is worth 1,000 words:

[Dash87]

18. More government for small business = more encouragement to take risks

Which leads to more competition, lower barriers to entry, more diverse products, better service for the customer, and a better economy all around.

Having that safety net under you in case you fail will not only lead to the creation of more small businesses, but will help out those that are currently in operation.

[WillowTree]

20. He certainly could have chosen his words more carefully.

Left himself open to some most unfortunate sound bites. Yes, they're taken out of context, but let's be honest here, that's the name of the game these days. There are about 75 ways he could have made his point without saying "If you've got a business. you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." Any fool knows that's going to be beaten like a cheap mule in the ads from the right and lots and lots of small business owners are going to take much umbrage at such a statement.

Live and learn, I guess.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

21. Wish I could rec this post

Just for the phrase "beaten like a cheap mule".

[MatthewStLouis]

23. I think the President was echoing Teddy Roosevelt.

"The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us." No man is an island and we all share in the wealth of this nation to some degree.

Republicans have a fantasy that every successful business owner is successful only through the merits of his own work. They ignore the fact that most small businesses fail. They also ignore a whole host of factors involved in making a business work. Things are interconnected, whether we like to admit it or not.

That's my 2 cents of free-think.