'You didn't build that' -- the gift that keeps on giving
E. Thomas McClanahanI was on vacation in late July and on the road I caught quite a bit of talk radio. Every summer, there’s a big theme for the talkers to chew on. Last year it was the debt-ceiling crisis. The year before it was the BP oil disaster.
This year it was “You didn’t build that” and it’s proved the richest vein of all, an unbelievable gift for Mitt Romney and the GOP. In its political effect, it recalls Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech, in which Carter moaned about the country’s mood and in the process revealed that he wasn’t up to the job.
With “You didn’t build that,” Obama revealed how alienated he is from the prime source of American wealth-creation and rising living standards over the decades. The man seems to hate rich people, except for his contributors, and is profoundly suspicious of business in general.
The theme is not only hurting Obama but other Democrats as well, as this post indicates:
“President Obama’s ‘you didn’t build that’ shot at business builders and entrepreneurs continues to resonate around the country. Local news outlets retell the story and give it a local context when the president travels …
“Ground zero of this disaster is the Massachusetts Senate campaign, where it is the focal point in showcasing the differences between the incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown and his Democratic opponent, professor Elizabeth Warren. Brown’s leftist opponent is Obama’s intellectual mentor on the disparagement of private business.”
Perhaps it won’t be long before we see “You didn’t build that” on T-shirts and bumper stickers. If Obama had any political Teflon, it’s gone. Those four words are stuck to him like superglue.
Phil Cardarella
9 months, 3 weeks agoInteresting how a bright guy like Mac can actually take pride in lifting a phrase out of context and making an untruthful argument around it.
Of course, if you really think that a person who wants to return Wall Street to the level of regulation that kept it from crashing the economy for 70 years is a “leftist”, I guess that means you are so ideologically committed that mere deceit is no great deal.
Kevin Sheely
9 months, 3 weeks ago‘You didn’t build that’ is devastating for Obama regardless of context. All it does is confirm suspicions we had all along that this ignorant arrogant narcissist has no idea what makes this country work. Not too long ago he said ‘The private sector is doing fine’, and ‘my economic policies have worked’.
1 in 7 Americans are on food stamps but Obama and the Democrats won’t be satisfied until every American is dependent on the Government for the basic necessities of life.
George Hunsucker
Northland
9 months, 3 weeks agoThe big 0 IS jimmy cater reincarnated! What a “leader”.
Bill Mccwiliams
9 months, 3 weeks ago“Democrats won’t be satisfied until every American is dependent on government for the basic necessities of life”
Wonder where the government will get the taxes that will provide the basic necessities of life to all Americans, if all Americans are dependent on the government, for the basic necessities of life!
HMMMMMMMMMMM…………………
George Hunsucker
Northland
9 months, 3 weeks agoI think we get it from those dirty filthly rich people and make them poor! Oops, who is left then?
As Thatcher used to say socialism works well until you run out of other people’s money. The big 0’s redistributionist policies aim to do just that.
Ron Vanlerberg
9 months, 3 weeks agoJust move the poor closer to bridges and roads, so they can build a business and be rich.
Kent Mueller
9 months, 3 weeks agoPhil, it’s not untruthful when Obama has repeatedly denigrated the private sector and financial success. The only businesses he has shown interest in are those that take the tax money he gives them.
If that quote really is taken out of context, then Obama is a very poor speaker. The line immediately prior to the money quote belies the context argument.
And Phil, regarding Wall Street. Very little of the finance reform law has to do Wall Street safety. Much of it is consumer law that couldn’t get passed any other way. Please answer this, Phil. If the Democrats were concerned about safety on Wall Street, why didn’t they use a few of the 2,000 pages of the finance reform law to reinstate Glass-Steagall? They had the votes in the House, a filibuster proof Senate and Obama in the WH. Why didn’t they reinstate Glass-Steagall?
Mark Hastert
9 months, 3 weeks agoAs with the “Jewish culture” line by Gov Romney everyone knows what was meant but the partisans on each side choose to ignore the truth for the sake of political hyperbole. The fact that this thread exists at all is ample proof of it. No one succeeds in a vacuum. David Brooks wrote a very good column in today’s NYT that I’d recommend to all parties.
Kent Mueller
9 months, 3 weeks agoOk, Mark, please tell us what Romney meant.
Phil Cardarella
9 months, 3 weeks agoChuckles:
“The entire “in context” statement is that the indidvidual cannot succede without the government as a collective force behind them…. which all rational people realize is poppycock.”
Gosh, when you drove to work today on those unpaved dirt roads and drew water from the well you dug, befor sending your message out by hand and messenger, did it occure to you you that the rest of us used the paved roads that society built collectively, and brushed our teeth with the water from our taps, before sending this message on the Internet?
“Poppycock?” From the beginning of this Republic, government-funded efforts have made the success of private businesses possible. Remember singing “Erie Canal” as a kid?
And, Kent? Not every thoughtful speech is a sound-bite. Of course, I do not believe the Congress went far enough on regulation. Heck, even the guy who paid the lobbyists to get rid of Glass-Steagal say it was a mistake and we should get it back. And, in the brief moments when the Dems did have 60 votes, that did not mean that all 60 votes could be relied upon. Unlike the GOP, Dems do not vote in lock-step.
Kent Mueller
9 months, 3 weeks agoPhil, your “vote in lock-step” comment is laughable. It means nothing, especially when there are many, many instances where the Democrats have been more “lock-step” than the Republicans.
Who do you think paid for the roads? It sure wasn’t the 53% who don’t pay income taxes. It has been disproportionately the small business owner who has paid for the schools and the roads. So, either way you interpret what Obama said, he is wrong. The government didn’t build anything. Tax money from taxpayers built the schools and roads.
Mark Hastert
9 months, 3 weeks ago“Ok, Mark, please tell us what Romney meant.”
I understood that Gov. Romney was talking about a business culture in isreal. I also understood that the President was saying that success doesn’t take place in a vacuum, that no man is an island.
The Koolaide drinkers on both side will jump to their preconceived conclusions. You strike me as a grape flavored man… Chuckie maybe… lime (there’s a sourness about him)
Kent Mueller
9 months, 2 weeks agoDon’t try to smear me, Mark. I won’t lower myself to that level.