Right Wingers Selectively Edit Obama’s Speech To Claim He Hates Small Businesses

[JohnR! 5,495]

You do realize businesses existed thousands of years ago - before there was anything we'd consider "infrastructure" by today's standards?

In your home country, the Schloss Johannisberg winery was founded in 1100 and has been making wine for over 900 years.

The Faversham Oyster Fishery in England was founded in 1147.

Businesses exist in spite of governments and taxes and other hindrances. Always have, always will.

Infrastructure has always existed. If nothing else, there would be no commerce without roads.

[james&olya 1,121]

Yes, I would have. Maybe not in a failed state like Somalia, but in any normal country - even China, Thailand, Greece or Russia - I would have.

And any 'normal country' would have had a right to expect you would pay taxes to cover the 'infrastructure'!

[mawilson 2,133]

This talk of government as it is some kind of entirely separate, single entity, from the people it represents is a fallacy. We have representational democracy. We have a Constitution that gives Congress the power to tax. We vote for members of Congress.

Most Americans don't vote or follow politics, which gives the government free reign to do whatever they please. Only about 82.5 million people voted in the 2010 Congressional elections.

You can gripe all you want about what kind of expenditures Congress taxes us for, but to suggest they've taken our money or using our money without any real authority to do so, is anti-American. There are lot of things that our tax money goes to that I disagree with, but I'll never get the idea in my head that I've somehow been robbed or bamboozled because Congress is exercising its constitutional authority to levy taxes.

They are robbing us blind, and most Americans don't care enough to stop them. A northern-European social democracy model with strong safety nets would never work here simply because we don't have responsible northern-European governments to go along with those safety nets. Northern Europeans have self-discipline, work ethic and self-sacrifice that this government lacks.

If and when they prove they can be responsible with our money, I'll be the first one to volunteer to pay more taxes. Not so, while they spend more than they take in, no matter how much more they take in.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

This talk of government as if it is some kind of entirely separate, single entity, from the people it represents is a fallacy. We have a representational democracy. We have a Constitution that gives Congress the power to tax. We vote for members of Congress.

You can gripe all you want about what kind of expenditures Congress taxes us for, but to suggest they've taken our money or using our money without any real authority to do so, is anti-American. There are lot of things that our tax money goes to that I disagree with, but I'll never get the idea in my head that I've somehow been robbed or bamboozled because Congress is exercising its constitutional authority to levy taxes.

Legitimized theft is still theft.