President Obama: ‘If You’ve Got a Business — You Didn’t Build That. Somebody Else Made That

Liberals will look for any and all justification to raise taxes, grow government.

Obama's statement was inane.

Listening to the speech it was obvious the theme was "everyone should pay their fair share". He was just talking about how some business leaders came to him and said that we all should pay a fair share to maintain our society in which our businesses can thrive. Given the current political environment in which certain corporate entities have gamed the system to the point they now pay an effective tax rate of ZERO and have bought off enough senators and congresspersons with their campaign bribes donations to keep the playing field heavily tilted in their favor, it's a hot topic.

Context is everything, and looking at the full sentence:

"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."

It's obvious he is referring to the system - the system we all helped build and maintain with our taxes - that allows businesses to be successful. Imagine trying to be the next Google or Amazon.com from a country like Somalia. No roads, no telephone network to speak of, no patent protection for your intellectual property, no mail, etc., etc., etc. Individual business or individual people didn't build the system, we ALL built it together. Now we have some of the wealthiest and elitist members of our society using their vast wealth and influence to game the system. They reached the top and are shutting the door so no one can follow them. This is the context of the president's speech.

Right-wing media will no doubt have a field day with the out-of-context sound bite, because they can safely rely on their viewers to blindly accept whatever right-wing media darlings spew at them, without bothering to check the context (or facts, for that matter).

reply to post by Blackmarketeer
If "everyone" should pay their fair share, then why is the flat tax so despised?

It would enable each and every person to pay.

reply to post by beezzer

Liberals will look for any and all justification to raise taxes, grow government.

Taxes and government have grown much more under Republicans than it has under Democrats. Clinton and Obama shrank the public sector and lowered taxes while Reagan and the Bushes greatly increased both. They only looked out for the wealthiest taxpayers, not the lower and middle classes.

to be able to specialize,

to be able to specialise in some thing, anything, say electronics,
you would need to spend a large amount of time in gathering food, water, and materials.
that means less time studying and playing around on that design of a new
thingamajig.

without others you would take years more to simply feed and cloth yourself, before you had the spare time to innovate and study and collect up materials to produce prototypes.

and when you did finally make that world changing thingamajig,
you can now profit by selling one at a time.

the ability to specialise comes at the expense of other things.

if we want to make a highly specialised innovation in a realistic time frame,
we have others do some of the work.

why make brass screws when the guy down the road does?
and at one tenth the price?

so part of society is actually to enable people to do different things so SOME can specialise.

at the point where they get successful enough to pay for everything they need,
food cloths shelter, they are no longer cooking sowing and building.

do you see where im going with this.

for ANY individual to specialise doctors, neuroscientist what ever,
we rely on the exchange of time for convenience to specialise.

this is one small part of the saying no man is an island,

can you do your own brain surgery, or do you rely on some one who has specialised?

its not brain surgery,
america got great because of specialisation bought about by the others in society,
not in spite of them

xploder

He is 100% right.

If you can't see this...then you are delusional, arrogant, and have way too high of an opinion of yourself.


Go Obama...this is what he should have been saying all along.

reply to post by beezzer

If "everyone" should pay their fair share, then why is the flat tax so despised?

It would enable each and every person to pay.

Can you imagine trying to live on $14,000 a year? Half your income would be taken in taxes. You'd starve to death and so would your dependents. A progressive tax adjusts so that everyone effectively pays the same percentage. When your living on minimum wage, even sales taxes can be a hardship. They system needs a reboot, whether or not a flat tax is the answer or not, we at least need to get everyone paying a fair share. As it is now, the wealthiest are not. Romney paid 13% last year and in 2009 he paid an effective rate of zero. Hell, let's all pay 0% in taxes, then we can kiss the American way goodbye as the system would collapse. While I'm sure many here would welcome that, I doubt the people with a vested interest in a business would.

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
reply to post by beezzer

 

Liberals will look for any and all justification to raise taxes, grow government.

Taxes and government have grown much more under Republicans than it has under Democrats. Clinton and Obama shrank the public sector and lowered taxes while Reagan and the Bushes greatly increased both. They only looked out for the wealthiest taxpayers, not the lower and middle classes.

Yet Obama wants to raise taxes on anyone making over 250,000. Which will raise the price of goods and services for the lower and middle classes.
The wealthy aren't going to take a hit in their wallet!

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Blackmarketeer

 

If "everyone" should pay their fair share, then why is the flat tax so despised?

It would enable each and every person to pay.

the largest boom time in america happened when the top tax rate was around 60%
the largest decline in america is after the drop under 50%

any direct correlation?

and at the same time massive tax breaks and loop holes for corporation,
and at the same time the massive increase in ceos pay.

you cant say a 70% top tax rate wont work or is socialist because an american president has already done that

and you know what
america boomed

while i believe america would jump start itself again in regulations were relaxed on small businesses,
it would require many more on large corporations and closing of tax loop hole closures.

show me graphed results that show a flat tax would generate small business revinue and ill take a look



xploder

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
reply to post by beezzer

 

If "everyone" should pay their fair share, then why is the flat tax so despised?

It would enable each and every person to pay.

Can you imagine trying to live on $14,000 a year? Half your income would be taken in taxes. You'd starve to death and so would your dependents. A progressive tax adjusts so that everyone effectively pays the same percentage. When your living on minimum wage, even sales taxes can be a hardship. They system needs a reboot, whether or not a flat tax is the answer or not, we at least need to get everyone paying a fair share. As it is now, the wealthiest are not. Romney paid 13% last year and in 2009 he paid an effective rate of zero. Hell, let's all pay 0% in taxes, then we can kiss the American way goodbye as the system would collapse. While I'm sure many here would welcome that, I doubt the people with a vested interest in a business would.

Hyperbole.

If everyone paid a flat tax of 12% then everyone would be paying into the system. No loopholes, no exceptions.
Simplify the tax code.

reply to post by beezzer

If everyone paid a flat tax of 12% then everyone would be paying into the system. No loopholes, no exceptions.
Simplify the tax code.

How is it that you don't see that this is a tax break for the rich and a huge increased burden for the poor???

And how in your mind do you think it is a good idea to make poor people, who can now hardly survive, pick up the extra burden caused by rich people being taxed less???

Unbelievable...and quite disgusting.

Originally posted by XPLodER

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Blackmarketeer

 

If "everyone" should pay their fair share, then why is the flat tax so despised?

It would enable each and every person to pay.

the largest boom time in america happened when the top tax rate was around 60%
the largest decline in america is after the drop under 50%

any direct correlation?

and at the same time massive tax breaks and loop holes for corporation,
and at the same time the massive increase in ceos pay.

you cant say a 70% top tax rate wont work or is socialist because an american president has already done that

and you know what
america boomed

while i believe america would jump start itself again in regulations were relaxed on small businesses,
it would require many more on large corporations and closing of tax loop hole closures.

show me graphed results that show a flat tax would generate small business revinue and ill take a look

xploder

All higher taxes do is grow government.

A fair tax, a flat tax, with no loopholes for anyone is the right way to go. It doesn't pubish the wealthy nor does it reward the lower income people.

As for what a flat tax would do for business?

I'll look into it.

The collectivist philosiphy is idealistic and utopian.
"What's the matter man? Don't you wanna help your fellow man?"
No, I don't. I want to work and be paid for my services, and I want you to do the same. I don't want to help anyone for any reason unless they want to help themselves. I don't want to give anyone anything they didn't earn. And I don't want to pay for your kids, and I don't care about them either, and I shouldn't have to, that's your job. Any time someone starts talking about the "common good" I always know I'm talking to an uncreative, lazy beggar. Hard working people don't try to convince you that we need to be concerned with all the poor, uneducated massses who just need our help, they're too busy working.

If you wanna spend your time and money feeding all the underpriveliged of this country, or better yet, the world, then do it with your money and your resources, not mine. I'm all for Bill and Melinda Gates using their money to do great things, that is their right and I both admire them and respect the hell out of what they're doing. I am not a multibillionaire. Until I have everything I want and then some, I do not approve of my government giving my money to anyone. I understand paying taxes for infrastructure, military, things like that. I do not want to feed any man or woman who isn't working.

Oh, and if you think that taking good business people for granted is the way, just look at Zimbabwe. They took farms from their owners and gave them to the indigenous people who had no idea how to run successful businesses. And that is how "the bread basket of Africa" became what it is today.
spectator.org...

Originally posted by MidnightTide
President Obama: ‘If You’ve Got a Business — You Didn’t Build That. Somebody Else Made That Happen’

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.
.

It is the people, their sweat, their tears and their blood that builds a nation. It seems that those in government, from both parties, have forgotten this. Without the people, the government is nothing.

BOTH YOU AND THE PRESIDENT JUST SAID THE SAME DAYEM THING. HE JUST SPEAKS MORE ELOQUENTLY THAN YOU DO. STOP LOOKING FOR SHET TO ATTACK SOMEBODY WITH. IT'S GETTING OLD AND LAME.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
reply to post by beezzer

 

If everyone paid a flat tax of 12% then everyone would be paying into the system. No loopholes, no exceptions.
Simplify the tax code.

How is it that you don't see that this is a tax break for the rich and a huge increased burden for the poor???

And how in your mind do you think it is a good idea to make poor people, who can now hardly survive, to pick up the extra burden caused by rich people being taxed less???

Unbelievable...and quite disgusting.

So everyone should pay their fair share, except for the 50% of the population that doesn't?

That's "fair"?

Punishing the wealthy is hardly "fair".

reply to post by MidnightTide


So....?
Show me a single person that built a successful business all alone.
Just one.

hahahahaha, the divide and conquer technique is working well i see.

don't know about y'all but i was around when many of these roads were laid, rails mapped and when the local FD consisted of a bucket brigade.

if this man doesn't update his writers, they are going to paint him as the only POTUS capable of re-defining the word schmuck.

not sure about other towns, but in the ones i've lived in, i have NEVER seen a government road crew, never have i seen anyone other than you, me, and our brothers/sisters doing the work. Government did't BUILD a damn thing or damn damn for that matter but the Army Corps of Engineers did and we paid for it, not the government.

the government is not some separate entity that ALLOWS us to live our lives/dreams and disasters. [well, it made itself such but it wasn't designed that way]
i do believe it's time to flip the script and get back to our roots.

about the only thing i've actually witnessed Obama excel at is embarrassing this country and its inhabitants, almost daily.

reply to post by beezzer

So everyone should pay their fair share, except for the 50% of the population that doesn't?

That's "fair"?

Punishing the wealthy is hardly "fair".

You need to contemplate what the definition of "fair" means.

Fair does not always mean equal...sorry...it just doesn't.

In fact, there are many instances where one is given an advantage for the sole purpose of making things fair.


Unbelievable that people can't comprehend this...selfishness seems to be at an all time high.

reply to post by beezzer

All higher taxes do is grow government.

A fair tax, a flat tax, with no loopholes for anyone is the right way to go. It doesn't pubish the wealthy nor does it reward the lower income people.

As for what a flat tax would do for business?

I'll look into it.

acually i can show you graphs that show, what grew was the middle class,
they became the largest most wealth consumer base the world has ever seen,

there ability to consume and spend is what fueled the american economic engine that allowed capitalism to beat communist business models.

put another way,
without an afluent consumer base how do you sell stuff and who to,
and with a declining consumer base, tax revinue drops

this contracts supply and demand, and taxes rise and profits fall
= fail.

xploder

Originally posted by tamusan
Is this for real? And to think that I was almost ready to concede and vote for him.

Nearly all of the business owners who I've met have broken their backs for success.

edit on 14-7-2012 by tamusan because: (no reason given)

And now you know another one. I built a business, and no one helped me except maybe my immediate family. Obama says that just because the internet was built by the government I did nothing to build my business? I have physical scars on my body from the sweat equity I put into my business - 18 months of it.

I wish I were at that speech - I would have yelled at his dumb ass and gotten into it.

I used to live in Virginia, too. It's too bad all the immigrants in NOVA are making it just like any other welfare-dependent blue state.