look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.
 

Google it and let the comments roll.

Did Obama steal that from Elizabeth Warren?

Those comments made me think back to logging all the East Coast forests and all the immigrants that worked the mills, ran cattle, built railroads.....built an entire country.

Entrepreneurs....Ideas....Dreams....Reality

I know what he's trying to say, but he delivered it stupidly. If I were a self-made business leader, I would be, at the very least, insulted by those remarks. Modern infrastructure is a given today. Everyone expects running water, electricity, web access, roads, and cell phones. The statement that businesses are more indebted to these things than anyone else who uses them, without citing all the positives that businesses provide is a big campaign mistake.

"There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others.
Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success."

George Burton Adams

Its a statement that has just barely enough truth to avoid being called a lie, but it demeans all those who are successful. It panders to all those who think they are smart, or ambitious, or hard-working yet haven't had that high a degree of success. It builds into that victim mentality that this administration wants its base to believe.
Conversely, the most liberating concept is that " I am where I am in my life exactly because of the choices I have made, and that by making better choices, I can make a better life."
All that "help" that Obama says came from others----most of it was funded by taxes that came from the people themselves--even the businesses that use the roads--ask any trucker what he pays to use those "public" roads.

It was VERY telling about his philosophies as if we didn't already know them. It's just more clear evidence that he thinks government is the ONLY answer to all problems.

It was pretty insulting.

The worst part is that he is attempting to "dumb down America" with such comments. Making success a bad thing, removes motivation for many people. Why work when ol' B.O.'s gonna give me a check for doing nothing?

This is exactly what he wants. It plays right into his hands while he is trying to "fundamentally change America."

Jay Leno said last night that B.O. is running on the same strategy as last time, Hope. After four years B.O. STILL has us hoping.

Dear government:

Give me this day my daily FREE bread so that I don't have to get off my dead lazy a** and lift one finger. Thanks to your entitlement programs, I'm a moocher, not a producer.

Here's to sucking the system dry
and being your slave forever,

Moocher man

It's not often he makes his points this poorly. He handed this one to you righties. Continue with your tizzy.

Yeah, when his REAL thoughts slip out I'm sure it's tough on you guys.

You think our "tizzy" is unwarranted?

I think you're grabbing straws. His point that most successful people owe their success at least in part to others and sometimes even to a government leg-up is hardly revolutionary. Sure, you can read some scary socialist agenda into it if you'd like. Be my guest.
We all like to imagine we're the Lone Cowboy, never takin' nuthin' from nobody and doin' it all on our lonesome our own way, facin' down the badguys with nothin' but our Colt with only one shot left.
It's hardly ever really like that.

A more realistic analogy is when you have a group of people who receive the same environmental inputs, education, and benefits of living in a modern society. A few, the leaders, will rise up and leverage those assets in new and interesting ways, while the rest sit around and talk about it.

Just because they did more with the same materials doesn't mean they are now more indebted than those who didn't take action.

VERY well put!:)

I wish I had said that.
Excellent!!