President Obama Reveals his True Anti-Business Colors

A response to President Obama by a friend and business owner, Michael Zwick:

Mr. President- Your comments today confirm something that many Americans know. You simply don’t know much about the role that business owners and entrepreneurs play in creating jobs and, by extension, the economic welfare of this great nation. 

I am an entrepreneur and owner of a company. My company is not big. Including me and my two partners, we have fluctuated in size over the past few years between 14 and 21 people. In other words, my company alone has a negligible effect on the employment numbers. In its own small way though, it has been successful. We have been in business for over eleven years, provided numerous people with the opportunity of employment and conferred on society a net benefit. In other words, I am just one person but I am one of millions who have worked hard and taken risks in creating something bigger than ourselves.
 
Speaking for myself, I do not deny that I have benefitted from others--my family, teachers and even people I have never met or whose names I will never know. At the same time though, your argument that my partners and I didn’t build our business or “make it happen” is downright false and insulting.


My company started from nothing—no clients, no mentoring, no handouts and no clear picture of where it would go. My partners and I invested our time and money, including the opportunity cost of steady employment. Along the way, we have had our ups and downs. During the down times, we have always made sure to pay our bills and make payroll, even if it meant we and our families came last. We have taken risks along the way, some of which worked in our favor and some of which didn’t.


During these eleven plus years, we have not only employed our current and past employees. We have purchased so many goods and services—payroll administration, legal services, insurance policies, bonds, office supplies, airline tickets, taxi rides, IT support, computers, printers, copiers, telephones, etc., etc., etc. Each and every one of the vendors from whom we purchased those goods and services used the money we paid them to employ people and purchase goods and services from other vendors. In other words, our company not only directly employs people and provides a valuable service to our clients but we also create economic activity and growth among other businesses.


Yes, I pursued my entrepreneurial visions with a selfish motive. I wanted to provide a good life for me and my family. I will not apologize for that. Neither do I seek some special recognition or award from you. I say all this to educate you on how the real world works. While pursuing my own dreams, I have created jobs and growth for others. The more that government impinges on that pursuit, the less I have to contribute to the marketplace. I am sure that you believe that government is the better arbiter than the marketplace of where my money should go. If that is what you believe, just say so. Ask your fellow Americans who is better equipped to decide how to spend their hard earned dollars, themselves or some centralized bureaucracy.


Obama Against the Self-Made Man by Rich Lowry