June 18, 2013

Politics

Obama: ‘If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that’

BY: CHARLIE SPIERING JULY 16, 2012 | 7:15 AM
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In Roanoke, Virginia Friday, President Obama explained during a campaign event that anyone who was successful owed a debt to society.

Here is the text of his remarks from the White House transcript:

Look, if you’ve been 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 was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking 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.

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