The 1949 classic The Fountain Head, starring Gary Cooper.
With President Barack Obama demeaning individual business owners, and entrepreneurs; saying we didn’t do it on our own, this video seems incredibly important, at this time.
If we are to go forward as the country we were founded to be we must re-learn to respect the individual and their right to succeed on their terms AND their right to fail.
Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.
Give us a call.
Astounding that the comments made in the above video are being spun and defended by bias, entrenched liberal warriors who don’t want their champion to fall. The problem is the words used in this video are completely indefensible. There is no explaining away the fact that our President Barack Obama believes government comes before private industry, private industry wouldn’t succeed without government, and entrepreneurs owe all their succes to government. As a private business owner I can say without equivocation government has posed more of a hinderance to my company’s growth than it has an asset.
Defenders of this speech last Friday in Roanoke, Virginia have repeatedly pointed to the text of the speech as evidence that the President was taken out of context. For the life of me I can’t imagine why we need the text when we have the full video showing the entire statement in full throated socialist roar. But to placate those deaf, and blind who seem intent on calling that which is up, down, and calling that which is dark, light…we post here the full text of what Obama said:
“If you were 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 am just so smart’. There are a lot of smart people out there. ‘It must be because I worked harder than anyone else.’ Let me tell you something. There are a whole bunch of hard working 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 opening lines of the statement is said in mockery of business owners. Our President is belittling the very people who are the engine AND the wheels of this economy.
To make the argument that the President is right; every entrepreneur got help along the way from teachers, road builders, etc is an inane and silly argument. All of the American people receive the benefits of road building and public education. Every American has the opportunity to strike-out on their own and create commerce and create jobs by building a business. Very few do. Very few put their own money into a business and risk losing it all. Very few work mornings, afternoons, evening, and weekends when the going for their business gets tough. Few are interested in reading the books, watching the videos, attending the classes and the seminars needed to learn how to start and grow a business. Almost none are faced with using and abusing their credit cards when necessary purchases have to be made and cash flow isn’t there.
When payment of the world’s highest federal corporate tax rates come due it isn’t the employees the IRS comes after. Hard working company employees and government employees are not held legally liable when something goes wrong with a business. No. It’s the business owners who face the repercussions; legal and otherwise. And when a business fails the employees lose their jobs, but the business owner loses their job, their dreams, their way of life, often their house and much much more.
I want to give credit to a friend, Bradley Kelley, who wrote the following:
“All of the discussion on the role of government sounds great as to all the benefits to society in general as long as you acknowledge one critical point; government was formed to do these functions by people already engaged in trade with each other and employing others, who were willing to give to public coffers to fund these functions. Get the story straight, that government was formed and survives at the behest of the governed. It does not exist without the benevolence of the governed and those that fund it. Everyone may use roads, attend public schools and enjoy police protection. Not everyone risks everything they have and their family’s future to start a business. When you get hired for a job some one owns that business and provided the capital to fund it (before there was any revenue). The same is true in the public sector. Our property, business, B & O, sales, income, gas taxes etc. fund those jobs. The horse is the private sector. Carts don’t pull horse and you better make sure you have enough horses and they are well fed or the carts don’t move.”
The President believes that people and businesses don’t succeed without government. He doesn’t understand that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…”. It’s not the other way around, Mr. President.
Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.
Condelezza Rice
I am really in the corner for Condelezza Rice. I think she’s brilliant, and comes from a perspective that everyone can respect. She would be ready to take over the White House if ever needed to do so. And she helps with the electorate bringing over some black voters, women and independent moderates.
Who Is Mitt Romney’s Running Mate Going To Be « Election 2012 Coverage.
Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.
See my progress before the 24 Day Challenge was complete.
The fact that I’ve written about my efforts to lose weight twice in this calendar year is not something I would have ever expected of myself. It was just not a subject I cared too much about. That all changed in May 2011 when I got on my bathroom scale and it barked back at me 245.3 pounds. It was the heaviest I’d ever been. That combined with the fact that I didn’t feel particularly good, things had to change. Little things like bending and stooping became difficult. And recent photographs of me were quite un-flattering. Like this Easter pic from 2011:
Me and My 2 Oldest- Easter 2011
Notice the round belly, and the double chin? Not my best moment.
So I took steps to lose weight which I wrote about last January in a blog I called, My Weight Loss Frustration. The writing of it was prompted by a holiday season of mostly regular indulgence resulting in no weight gain, followed by the first week of the new year filled with exercise, light-healthy eating and a gain of five pounds. Grrrrrr.
In the six months since that writing my weight has remained fairly steady…though gaining slightly. I may have started the year at 233 lbs. But by June I was again approaching my heaviest, about 240 lbs. And while I never would have thought so prior to my weight/size awakening in May 2011 I can REALLY feel those extra pounds. And it’s not a good feeling.
I think perspective is important when discussing an individuals weight. In my case even at my worst I’ve never considered myself obese. Just heavy. Since the weight of an average man is 160-195 pounds, according to Wikipedia, it might be easy to think I’m way over weight. Here’s my history in pictures since my full height of 6′ 1″ and High School.
15 years old, 6’1″, maybe 165lbs.
In this pic I don’t remember how much I weighed. But I would guess around 165 lbs. It was July 1979. I was 15. I know I was already my full height of 6’1″.
My High School Senior Portrait was shot in August 1981, when I was 17 years old, 6-foot 1-inch, 181 lbs. I have a clear memory of my weight at that time because I was trying desperately to gain weight for the upcoming football season. I still harbored hopes of playing in college. But try as I might, I couldn’t put any meat on a pretty skinny frame.
21 years old, 6’1″, 195-200 lbs.
In May 1985 I was 21 years of age and through natural maturation and some weight training I was a fit 195-200 lbs. And since attaining legal drinking age I had begun drinking alcohol, BEER, pretty regularly.
This pic below came as a result of a funny story. I was fishing off this dock you see me standing on with my buddy Rob McBride, and my daughter Arica, who must have been 6-7 years old at the time.
So that would make me 30 years old in this picture, and based on appearance and memory I was about 220 pounds. I’m soaking wet because my daughter had dropped her brand-new fishing pole into the water and was crying. Not wanting her to be sad or have a bad memory from fishing, which is something I LOVE, I decided to dive into the water, where I retrieved the lost pole. Feeling quite proud of his friend, Rob rewarded me with a Budweiser.
Never posted this pic anywhere at any time for any reason until now; for obvious reasons. It’s not very flattering, and shows me at close to my worst. This shot was at Steamboat Rock State Park in July 2010 at the age of 46 when I weighed about 240 lbs.
June 18, 2012. 48 years old 240 lbs.
Really wasn’t looking forward to posting THIS one…ever since the pic was taken. Obviously I don’t look very good. I weigh 240 lbs. I don’t feel particularly good. I’ve gained back the 8-9 lbs I lost the previous year. This picture was shot the day I began the Advocare 24 Day Challenge, June 18, 2012.
At my worst I’m just 35 pounds heavier than the 210 lbs. I weighed when I married my wife at age 23 in 1987 and was in pretty good physical condition. No pot belly. Not even any love handles. Pretty firm, regularly playing basketball, and doing other physical activities. A 35 pound weight gain on a 6-foot 1 inch frame is not good. But the story of my weight loss frustration isn’t my weight or how much I’ve gained since any point in my life. The real story is how I felt, how I looked, what physical limitations I was encountering, and what health time bombs I was planting in my body. My Dad, Grandpa, and his brother, my Uncle, all died in their early 60s due to health reason that were largely preventable. They were all over weight. And they were all over weight for a considerable part of their adult life. The thought of dying young (60s) like them scared scares the hell out of me. I have too many things to do.
So, the Advocare 24 Day Challenge seemed logical to me. The ONLY time I’d lost weight in the 13-14 months since it became important for me to do so was in July of last year when I took a couple of friends advice and did the Advocare 10 Day Cleanse program. At that time I lost about 6-7 pounds, and felt great.
What might surprise many of you is how avid an exerciser I am. Underneath this round belly and chunky figure is a rock solid body waiting to get out. I stretch, lift weights, run treadmill, and do some bicycling and other cardio five days per week. I’ve done so pretty religiously for 8-9 years. 14 months ago I began eating all my meals on salad plates, rather than dinner plates so that I would be eating less. Still the weight wouldn’t come off. Not until Advocare.
Its great to get back to a body that has some muscle definition.
A real frustration for me was 230 lbs, which I bumped into several times in the past year but could never break through into the 220s. I finally cracked 230 lbs. 6 days into the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. Because of the muscle gain I’ve achieved with weight-training and natural aging I’m not sure I can get down to 210 lbs. again, and I know the final 15 pounds will be the hardest. But I know with Advocare I can do it. I’m down 15 lbs. to 225-pounds at the conclusion of the 24 Day Challenge and feeling much better about my health, my appearance, and my future. It’s the only thing I’ve tried that has worked.
My lovely wife of 25 years has been on the 24 Day Challenge with me and has also lost 15 pounds and says she now weighs less than she has since before the birth of our 13-year-old daughter.
Sonja lost 17lbs on Advocare. Call us for info.
In the course of a lifetime I hope to have last 80+ years, 24 Days is just a tiny blip on the radar screen, and the minor sacrifices I had to make in this short time frame were infinitesimal compared to the tremendous benefit I have gained.
Contact me about Advocare. I’d be happy to give you the whole scoop.
Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.
M Schuett blah blah blah 