It’s no secret that President Barack Obama thinks that businesses should pay more in taxes. However in Roanoke, Va. he recently made some sorely misguided statements about business success when he said:
“If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, 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 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.”
It is true that most successful Americans would agree with the president that they have had help from some great teachers, coaches and mentors. It’s also a fact that we all benefit from our unique American system that ensures personal rights and freedoms, enforces contracts, protects private property rights, and yes, builds roads and bridges.
However, out here in the real world there are a lot of Democrats and Republicans alike, who are working to achieve success; and whether they are blue collar, white collar, or no collar, many actually have “worked harder than everybody else.” Most don’t pat themselves on the back for being any smarter, but they will probably admit to being more stubborn, more competitive and more willing to take risks than others.
We know that it is only because we live in America, where we are allowed to save and own and invest in private property, that this risk and hard work gives us such an opportunity to succeed.
I take offense when anyone talks down to successful taxpayers, telling us that we did not build the American system that we enjoy. Yes, in fact we did build it. It has been 26 years since my wife and I risked everything we owned, so that we could start making payments on a struggling new business called Northern Broadcasting. As that business has grown, it has generated decades of tax revenue … revenue that has helped pay for our current American system.
Don’t forget that those highways and bridges that we use are actually paid for by the users. The gas and diesel taxes that we pay when we haul products … that is what built those roads. They were not a past gift from some benevolent federal government.
This speech revealed that this administration doesn’t seem to understand much about what actually does create success in America, or at least the success that happens outside of political elections.
The root of American success isn’t our government support. It is the commitment of private businesses to work long hours, take risks, weather the storm, learn from their mistakes, serve their customers, reward their employees and embrace the opportunity to succeed or fail on their own.
The real success story of America is in the businesses that provide the amazing supply of goods and services we all use every day, and the customers, employees, owners and their families who keep those businesses moving forward.
We don’t claim to be smarter than our competitors, but I will say that we are proud of our success and the hard work that got us here. We’re grateful to those employees and customers who helped us succeed. From our first day in business we’ve contributed financially to support this American system. So in fact, Mr. President … we did build that.
Sen. Taylor Brown
Huntley