What part of the pprsidents speech regarding business and taxes makes sense?

[valentino]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=YKjPI6no5ng&NR=1

and on top of that, he tries to contradict what he says by claiming that he was just referring to bridges and roads when he EXPLICITLY stated that you didn't build that. someone else made that happen. I'm even quoting a liberal source for you guys lol! Clearly he realized the stupidity of what he said and now is quickly trying to backtrack. Anyone with any basic comprehension skills can tell that 'bridges and roads' were NOT the main topic of his speech.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/obama-business-build-that_n_1688865.html

Furthermore, by his logic, the valedictorian of a high school, who goes on to become a wealthy lawyer, should pay the same taxes as another individual from the same high school who happened to become a failure (which i'm not against, since everyone should pay similar taxes, w/ equality and all). After all, they both had same teachers, education, used the same roads and bridges to get to school etc.

And btw, I didn't have to go to Fox to hear about this :P all you need to do is listen to the speech
bunch of politics really! politics campaigning

[banys]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=YKjPI6no5ng&NR=1

and on top of that, he tries to contradict what he says by claiming that he was just referring to bridges and roads when he EXPLICITLY stated that you didn't build that. someone else made that happen. I'm even quoting a liberal source for you guys lol! Clearly he realized the stupidity of what he said and now is quickly trying to backtrack. Anyone with any basic comprehension skills can tell that 'bridges and roads' were NOT the main topic of his speech.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/obama-business-build-that_n_1688865.html

Furthermore, by his logic, the valedictorian of a high school, who goes on to become a wealthy lawyer, should pay the same taxes as another individual from the same high school who happened to become a failure (which i'm not against, since everyone should pay similar taxes, w/ equality and all). After all, they both had same teachers, education, used the same roads and bridges to get to school etc.

And btw, I didn't have to go to Fox to hear about this :P all you need to do is listen to the speech
bunch of politics really! politics campaigning

You're just deliberately misinterpreting what he said.

[flannagain]

"Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that"

Clearly, when you don't edit out the prior sentence, the word "that" is referring to roads and bridges. When you take out that sentence, it completely changes the meaning of the word "that".

As further evidence, note the immediate following sentence: "The internet didn't get invented on it's own." Indeed, the government built the internet. It was invented by the US military, cultivated in American public universities, perfected in a European public agency, and made accessible by a US government chartered public authority. Without that, we would have no facebook, no google, and no Yahoo Answers.

The message of the speech was better articulated previously by Elizabeth Warren. It is that success is not possible without help from society. You need to be smart and you need to work hard, but just because you do, that doesn't do it alone. You still need the good fortune to have the benefits of living in this society and thus your social contract is to pay it forward to ensure that the next smart hardworking kid can grow up to be a success too. Ensure that he can move his goods to market on roads that aren't crumbling and bridges that haven't fallen. That he can get a good public education even if he isn't lucky enough to be born to rich parents who can afford private school. We need taxes to pay for these things and those who benefited the most in society from them have a responsibility to pay it forward.

EDIT: @Ritch, you missed the point. An A student who doesn't have access to the kind of money needed to pay for things like a fancy car and a private school needs a teacher and a school, brought to you by the government through taxes. Even if you have that kind of privilege, you can't get to your private school without roads built by tax dollars and protected by police who are paid in tax dollars.You don't need fancy stuff, but you do need a little help. You need hard work and intelligence too. Without that, you get nowhere, and you deserve all the credit for that, but it isn't enough to succeed.

[chay]

Pretty much. His apologists are trying awfully hard to spin this in a good way. "You didn't understand the context!" Uh, yeah, we did. That's what makes this so damning. He meant PRECISELY what he said.

To this President and his mouth breathing minions, an A student could only be an A student if he got an extra helping of oatmeal in the morning, came from a priviledged family, was driven to school in a fancy car, had a butler doing his homework for him, extra tutors and favoritism on the part of the teacher. It has nothing to do with discipline, initiative, responsibility and hard work. It has nothing to do with the A student doing his homework while the D student was playing with his XBox. You see? This way it validates the mediocrity of his minions. It isn't their fault that they're living in public housing or have to rely on a union to get an inflated wage. No. Of course not. If you're not wealthy and successful, it isn't your fault! And Obama knows that. That's why he's going to make all those wealthy and successful cheaters pay!

Yes. We understood precisely what he was saying. But feel free to spin away all you little Obamabots!