Romney's Obama attack gets sidetracked

Employees Middlesex Truck and Coach look on as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney makes a statement on jobs during a campaign on Thursday, July 19, 2012 in Roxbury, Mass. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

/ Evan Vucci

(ROXBURY, Mass.) - After two consecutive days of strong attacks on President Obama for his comments touting government's role in fostering new businesses, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's message was decidedly more muddled on Thursday when a local television station here reported that one of the local entrepreneurs selected to illustrate Romney's point got help from local government.

On a campaign stop, Romney sought to rebut Obama by highlighting the success of an auto repair shop started by a local entrepreneur. "This is not the result of government," Romney told reporters, referring to Middlesex Truck & Coach after he toured the shop. "This is the result of people who take risk, who have dreams, who build for themselves and for their families."

Company owner Brian Maloney, 69, agreed with Romney's assessment. "I take umbrage at the suggestion that people don't start and build businesses," Maloney said. "I started out with 500 bucks and worked with my hands to afford grad school at night. My wife supported me. Started a little body shop and was able to bring together people, one at a time."

He added: "We don't need any more of government's help. We haven't had any. We've only had pain. It's overbearing. It's top-heavy."

But in an interview with Boston-based reporter Jon Keller of WBZ-TV, Maloney acknowledged that his business received some government help. "The only way I was able to come here, because I had no money, was with an industrial revenue bond," Maloney said in the interview. Industrial revenue bonds are typically issued by local and state governments to attract new business to an area. They create low-interest loans for new development and startups.

Romney went aggressively on the offensive against the president this week, attacking him for saying that people who started their own businesses "didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

The presumptive GOP nominee said Thursday, "Now I know there are some people who think what the president said was just a gaffe. It wasn't a gaffe. It was instead his ideology. The president does in fact believe that people who build enterprises like this really aren't responsible for it, but in fact a collective success of the whole society that somehow builds enterprises like this."

In a statement, Obama campaign spokesman Lis Smith argued that the point the president was making on Friday is similar to statements Romney himself has made. "As President Obama said, 'When we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together' - a remark Mitt Romney himself says he agrees with on the campaign trail." Romney took Obama's words out of context, she said, to try to "turn it into a political attack."

[LEAVA12]

Third, it appears that Mr. Romney misunderstood Obama's comments "I don't think the president, by his comments, understands what makes this country great," , "It wasn't a gaffe; it was, instead, his ideology" and "This was not the result of government. This is the result of people who take risk.".

Fourth, the political slogan accusing "Obama of tearing down small businesses" is just political speculation. Corporations and consumers are the building blocks of economic theory. The two following websites may illustrate how much Obama knows regarding his economic agenda towards small businesses and private corporations.
http://www.barackobama.com/record/economy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/startup-america-fact-sheet

Indeed political ads, political misinterpretation and political speculation mislead voters.

[LEAVA12]

Second, Jack Gilchrist took Obama's statement "If you've got a business. you didn't build that..." out of context. Consequently, it appears the ad is misleading to voters. Perhaps if voters had a chance to listen to Obama's entire speech, then they would not be fooled by the ad.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/did-obama-say-if-youve-got-a-business-you-didnt-build-that/
The main theme of Obama's speed is that no business "is an island". That is, every business is part of a greater free enterprise system where many aspects such as consumers, communication systems, and transportation systems contribute to success of the business. Indeed, government can help businesses succeed by developing these aspects of the free market system. Admittedly, the bulk of success can be attributed to the business owner; nevertheless, it would be foolish to downplay other factors. For example, no business could survive without customers. The business owner must be clever enough to produce a quality product or service as well as convince a customer to buy that product or service. However, it is ultimately the customer who decides which business to interact with. Thus, customers are partially responsible for the success or failure of a business. The government really does help build businesses as Obama pointed out in his speech.

"So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together. That's how we funded the GI Bill. That's how we created the middle class. That's how we built the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hoover Dam. That's how we invented the Internet. That's how we sent a man to the moon. We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and that's the reason I'm running for president - because I still believe in that idea. You're not on your own, we're in this together."

[LEAVA12]

First, I will give some comments on the statement: "Why are you demonizing us for it? It's time we had somebody who believes in us, someone who believes that achievement should be rewarded, not punished", from the Romney campaign's latest television ad, released this morning, 07-20-2012.
Yes, monetary achievement may bring fame, political power, .... but it may be discredited.
The criteria to evaluate human monetary achievement is: Does individual achievement reflect the individual dignity and the individual patriotism?
If one has his or her monetary achievement at the expense of much human suffering or at the expense of the nation, then it is discredited. On the other hand, if the monetary achievement contributed to the welfare of other Americans and to the benefit of the country, then it is rewarded and saluted.
Patriotism is only an abstract word; everybody can claim to be patriotic but only real action can prove or disprove the claim. Millions of Americans who never take advantage of tax loopholes to lower their own income tax bracket to an unreasonable level are indeed patriotic. They have contributed to the welfare of Americans and to the benefit of the nation. On the other hand, when the most important public figures try to hide their tax returns or their business record, it makes their patriotism and dignity seem questionable.
Nobody can demonize any other one who has nothing to hide. A political campaign should not complain or beg voters to believe in nonsensical slogans. Voters have the right to know the true nature of the political candidate before they decide their votes.

[LEAVA12]

Political ad and political speculation

"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." , Obama's statement . Then "Romney's visit to a Granite State business coincides with the release of its own web video, which similarly accused Obama of tearing down small businesses.The ad features Jack Gilchrist, the owner of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Company in Hudson, N.H., blasting Obama. 'President Obama, you're killing us out here," Gilchrist says in the ad. 'Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?' "
http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/07/19/mitt-romney-returns-boston-headquarters-launches-attack-president-obama-you-didn-build-that-comment/zDeX604DnY69iXtCxSELnN/story.html

[RobertYam]

Did Mitt Romney take the 2009 Swiss Bank Account Amnesty for tax evaders in order to avoid criminal prosecution? If he did not disclose the account, it would not show up on his earlier returns. Is that what he's hiding? Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/17/1111016/-Did-Mitt-Romney-Take-the-2009-Swiss-Bank-Account-Amnesty

[jdubhub]

@Smokey 75--You are quite capable of regurgitating debunked talking points. I'll give you that.

[RobertYam]

Aww... c'mon, Mitt, tell us about your Magic IRA. How does an IRA, with such strict contribution limitations, grow to $21 million? Or is it $102 million? We all want to know so we can do the same with our IRA's. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-15/the-secret-behind-romney-s-magical-ira.html

[WhttevrrWorks]

Oops... Who woke up the Romney Troll?

Did anyone see the article "Mitt Romney's Top Strategist Calls President Obama a Bully"

WOW! This is the guy who while in prep school had his friends hold down a suspected gay teen and then Wimp Romney grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off the kids hair. Can you imagine what it would feel like to be held down and have someone come at you with scissors?

So, it's ok for Wimp Romney to terrorize his classmates because he 'thinks' he might be gay. But don't ask him for taxes or why he profited by offshoring American Jobs because 'that', THAT is bullying?

Is today opposite day?

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

The speech was given to Obama's followers just like Romney gives his speech to his "illiterate" handout driven republican base.

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

Well, here is the entire speech.

"Look, 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. 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.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don't do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires."
Now you can decide what Obama meant by his speech.

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

Mitty, if YOUR people cannot get the information correct when YOU are running for a political office, what makes us believe YOUR people will be able to get the information correct if YOU are elected?