Business Owners Speak Out

[Will E Worm]

Colorado Business Owners Speak Out On Obama’s Business Comment

As Mitt Romney prepares to visit Colorado this week the campaigns have been arguing over a remark President Barack Obama made about small businesses.

The economy will likely be the topic when Romney visits this Thursday and the numbers aren’t good. But the president isn’t doing anyone any favors either when he makes remarks that some small business owners see as an insult.

Republicans have branded the president as big-government and anti-business, and lately he’s playing right into that.

“If you’re successful, you didn’t get there on your own,” Obama said. “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”

From ads to press conferences Republicans are having a field day with the president’s “you didn’t build it” blunder as Democrats move to do damage control.

“I did build my business, Mr. President, you didn’t,” Martin Mendez with Splash Publications said.

Article

Georgia lumberyard owner hammers Obama on 'You didn't build that'

President Obama's message to entrepreneurs that "you didn't build that" prompted one Georgia business owner to respond with a not-so-subtle retort.

"I built this business without gov't help. Obama can Kiss my ass," reads the sign outside Gaster Lumber & Hardware in Savannah, Ga. Owner Ray Gaster posted that and two similar ones at all three of his company's locations in response to Obama's comments during a speech to supporters in Virignia, which struck a nerve with small business owners around the nation.

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help," the president said at a campaign stop last month in Roanoke, Va.. "There was a great teacher somewhere in your life," he continued. "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.”

Since the comments created a firestorm, Obama's campaign has sought to put the comments in perspective, saying that Obama only meant that businesses rely on the community to flourish. Yet, his opponents have seized on the remarks, making them something of a small business rallying cry.

Gaster, a Vietnam veteran, told FoxNews.com he built his now 28-year-old business from the ground up.

"I started on my own," Gaster said. "The government wasn't there. We work long, hard hours and what he said is an insult to any businessman."

The sign has been criticized for its harsh language, but Gaster said that the rough words were necessary.

"When I heard what he said, I said 'I'm going to give him an answer in Chicago language--something he's used to,'" he told FoxNews.com. "If I would have said 'Dear Mr. President...' there wouldn't have been as strong of a response."

Gaster sent a photo of his sign to 45 of his friends and business acquaintances. He said he wants other businesses to post signs as well.

"We need to stand up to the criticism coming from our own government. If this economy is to get better, it will be driven by small and independent businesses. We are part of the solution, not the problem," Gaster said.

"I want to use this sign to urge other businesspeople to stand up and say 'Mr. President, you're wrong. I built my business,'" he told FoxNews.com. "I represent the majority of business owners in my belief."

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[xfire]

 

[Will E Worm]

Nice zero-substance comment from you liberal. :tongue:
Facepalming something you didn't even read.

 

[xfire]

:nono: Not at all.

 

[Will E Worm]

:nono: Not at all.

Always. :tongue:

 

[xfire]

Never.

 

[Fatfishblu]

I am a doctor and own 2 small businesses. The only thing the Government gave me was a loan to pay my education. It took me over 11 years to pay back that DAMN student loan PLUS interest (Gov't gotta get their share). Capital used to purchase my business and then expand to a second location came from private equity. I finished paying off that loan, plus the interest, back in April of this year. So, what is the difference between these situations? If the Government would have truly helped me, instead of acting like a bank, then I wouldn't have spent 11 years paying them back!

Let's look at my education of spending 1/3 of my life in academia: the Government didn't make me study, or not go to Christmas-in-July on Put-in-Bay, or stay up all night drinking before a final. I worked my ass off and EARNED my grades. Just like I earn an income from the Hospital and my side business that I built.

This statement from Obama is the nail in his coffin come November. Reports indicate Romney pulling ahead and the Obama team struggling for donations. Obama himself just donated to his own campaign. Unheard of!

RIP DNC, 11/12.

 

[Will E Worm]

Never.

Always. :tongue:

:tongue:

 

[Fatfishblu]

I'm sure you all have seen this pic somewhere on the internet.........

 

[StanScratch]

I am a doctor and own 2 small businesses. The only thing the Government gave me was a loan to pay my education. It took me over 11 years to pay back that DAMN student loan PLUS interest (Gov't gotta get their share). Capital used to purchase my business and then expand to a second location came from private equity. I finished paying off that loan, plus the interest, back in April of this year. So, what is the difference between these situations? If the Government would have truly helped me, instead of acting like a bank, then I wouldn't have spent 11 years paying them back!

Let's look at my education of spending 1/3 of my life in academia: the Government didn't make me study, or not go to Christmas-in-July on Put-in-Bay, or stay up all night drinking before a final. I worked my ass off and EARNED my grades. Just like I earn an income from the Hospital and my side business that I built.

This statement from Obama is the nail in his coffin come November. Reports indicate Romney pulling ahead and the Obama team struggling for donations. Obama himself just donated to his own campaign. Unheard of!

RIP DNC, 11/12.

Why didn't you pay for your business and college by yourself? I thought you guys were all about taking personal responsibility - it was your choice to rely on the government, so deal with it.

 

[Fatfishblu]

Why didn't you pay for your business and college by yourself? I thought you guys were all about taking personal responsibility - it was your choice to rely on the government, so deal with it.

*Sigh* I did pay for my business and college AND then some. I took the personal responsibility of paying back every penny that I borrowed. The government didn't help me at all, they just acted like a bank. Could have gotten that money from anywhere. Do you even know what private equity is? Looks like you're just saying things to make noise.

 

[xfire]

I don't understand why the far-righties hate America. We're only as strong as our government. Without strong leadership this country would be fifty states in a loose conglomeration that wouldn't be able to get any fucking thing accomplished. Win World War II? Forget about it. Interstate Highways? Wouldn't have happened. Put a man on the moon? You're kidding, right? The Internet? Pipe dream. These people just don't get it.

 

[StanScratch]

*Sigh* I did pay for my business and college AND then some. I took the personal responsibility of paying back every penny that I borrowed. The government didn't help me at all, they just acted like a bank. Could have gotten that money from anywhere. Do you even know what private equity is? Looks like you're just saying things to make noise.

I did not ask if you paid back the money. I asked why you did not take responsibility and have the money for a business instead of borrowing the money.
No one forced you to borrow the money - but you went ahead and did it anyhow. Now you are crying because the money you decided to borrow had to be paid off with interest. Why not borrow from a privatized institution, rather than the government?
Once again, it sounds to me like you are attempting to lay blame on someone else, rather than take responsibility for your own actions.

 

[Will E Worm]

*Sigh* I did pay for my business and college AND then some. I took the personal responsibility of paying back every penny that I borrowed. The government didn't help me at all, they just acted like a bank. Could have gotten that money from anywhere. Do you even know what private equity is? Looks like you're just saying things to make noise.

He did pay with interest. It's called usury. Zionist are bad. :tongue:

The federal government did not help. They took advantage.

I don't understand why the far-righties hate America. We're only as strong as our government. Without strong leadership this country would be fifty states in a loose conglomeration that wouldn't be able to get any fucking thing accomplished. Win World War II? Forget about it. Interstate Highways? Wouldn't have happened. Put a man on the moon? You're kidding, right? The Internet? Pipe dream. These people just don't get it.

"Far-right"

Liberals hate America.

We are only as strong as the poeple.

The moon? Not at all.

 

[xfire]

We are only as strong as the poeple.

The government is made up of the people. We elect them to represent our interests. Far-rightes like you want to cede control to the mega-corps.

The moon? Not at all.

Please tell me that means you don't believe Apollo 11 went to the moon.

 

[Will E Worm]

The government is made up of the people. We elect them to represent our interests. Far-rightes like you want to cede control to the mega-corps.

We do not want corporations to take control.

Please tell me that means you don't believe Apollo 11 went to the moon.

They didn't go.

 

[xfire]

We do not want corporations to take control.

Yes you do. Stop lying. :nono:

They didn't go.

(Oh, this is going to be good.)

Really? They didn't go to the moon? Wait, what, really? Please tell me all about this!

 

[Will E Worm]

Yes you do. Stop lying. :nono:

No I do not. :nono:

(Oh, this is going to be good.)

Really? They didn't go to the moon? Wait, what, really? Please tell me all about this!

There's a thread about this. Skyraider started it.

 

[xfire]

No I do not.

I'm really tired of your lying. :nono: Stop it or I'm sending you to Anders for a spanking.

There's a thread about this. Skyraider started it.

I want you to tell me.

 

[lurkingdirk]

Taking the quote out of context is an incredibly easy way to smear the president, and to feel smug. It isn't like many people are going to go back and read it for themselves.

To put it into context, the president mentioned that if you think that you did it all by yourself, you're delusional. You had good, inspiring teachers, perhaps, or parents that encouraged you. Friends, egging you on. Start up loans, tax deferment for new business.

To put it another way, there is no one alive who had no parents, or who never went to school but only taught themselves. There is no one who has not benefited from the work of others - be it the car you drive (did you build that, all by yourself, too?), the roads that made it possible for you to get where you need to go, the food you need to eat to get to you, medications, etc. etc., the internet and its vast sum of information, and on and on the list goes. Everyone who has a business can (if they think about it) cite things and people that helped them get where they are now.

Is that such a bad sentiment?