History lesson

So President Obama gave a bunch of Virginians a history lesson that has sparked a bit of a fire storm.  "If you are successful, you didn't get there on your own...  Somebody paid for roads and the Internet..."

Long story short, the President said that businesses are successful on the whims of the government.  Business owners don't work harder.  They aren't smarter.  The government just blessed them.

Oh really?  Here's a problem.  If you take credit for successes, you have to take credit for failures.  Statistically, 90% of all knew businesses fail.  I guess that means the government just didn't like those people.  Or else, the government really screws up a lot.  Hmm...

John Schnatter swept floors for a living until he could afford a small oven.  He converted a small closet in his dad's office into a pizzeria.  You may have heard of it.  It's called Papa Johns.  While his friends played sports and went to movies, he started one of the largest restaurant franchises in the country.  You telling me he could have succeeded without all that hard work?  Because the government predestined his success?

Bill Gates started Microsoft in his garage.  But he isn't smart.  Nope.  The government made him succeed too. 

John D. Rockefeller used to go down to his factory floor, where oil barrels were made.  He would sweep up the scraps, so that they could be melted down and not wasted.  But that's not him working hard.  Nope.  Must be government.

This president has not worked a real job a day in his life.  Neither did the last.  Neither do most politicians.  They're activists, lobbyists, and professors.  Most of them never built anything.  Those of us who have worked blue-collar jobs before learn something about what work is, not just theories.

This president has never started a small business.  Ever.  So what does he know about the work involved.

Well, let me teach you something about history.  People sold everything they had (including sometimes, themselves) for an opportunity to risk their short lives making a dangerous voyage in order to come to a land where they could have the opportunity to work freely.  Long before there was a United States, there were hard working people.  You know who made the roads?  Wasn't the government; it was pioneers.  Who started the businesses?  Wasn't the government; it was pioneers. 

Let me point out something else to you.  This country was founded because hard working people got tired of their money being taken for government-sponsored programs.  And some fat-cat ruler said, "You need to pay your fair share."  After all, the Brits just won a war against the French, and now needed that money to pay for their programs. 

Seems to me, you need to learn some history, Mr. President, instead of trying to make it up as you go along to suit your agenda.