Obama to Olympians: You Didn't Win That

Obama to Olympians: You Didn't Win That

americanthinker.com
William Tate

Swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed the first gold medal for U.S. athletes at
the London Olympics on Saturday. But Barack Obama has a message for
Lochte, and other American medal winners: You didn't win that.

"Look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own.
You didn't get there on your own."

But what about all the hard work, all the training, that Olympic
athletes endure to attain success?

"You think you've been successful because you work hard; a lot of
people work hard."

Maybe Olympic success is the result of smarter training?

"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."

Sorry, America's Olympic athletes; you didn't win anything. You're
simply the end product of governmental policy.

"Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we
have that allowed you to thrive."

Wait, some might object, you're taking Obama's recent comments in
Roanoke out of context. He was talking about business owners, not
Olympic athletes.

However the case could be made that Obama's argument has more validity
-- if it has any at all -- about the impact of government on the
success of individuals in athletics than in business. After all, the
one specific that Obama offered in his Roanoke remarks was that
"Somebody invested in roads and bridges," in order to help business
owners succeed. Whereas sports programs at collegiate and scholastic
levels, where top tier athletes are identified and receive years of
training, receive much of their funding through tax revenues, and
Title IX -- mandated by the federal government--opened playing fields
to women for wider participation in athletics.

And, of course, athletes also use public roads. Often to train on.

Yes, it's laughable to suggest that the government, and not Lochte, is
responsible for his gold medal in the men's 400 meter individual
medley -- or, say, Michael Phelps's 16 Olympic medals heading into
these 2012 games. Both have spent countless hours in the water;
Phelps sleeps in a hyperbaric chamber; indeed, most Olympic athletes
have centered their young lives around efforts to succeed in their
events.

But it's also laughable for Obama to claim, "If you've got a business
-- you didn't build that."

As someone who has started a business, and ran it for fourteen years,
I contend that many, if not most, business owners put at least as much
work and time into their efforts as Lochte, or Phelps, put into
training.

Countless hours in the pool? Try 80+ hour work weeks for months, or
years, on end, with no guarantee of income.

Sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber? Try going sleepless at night,
worried about making payroll.

Think an Olympic athlete endures stress? Try watching your high-
interest credit card debt rise into the tens of thousands because no
bank would approve a loan for a venture as risky as yours.

And business owners typically don't get endorsement deals.

They get to deal with government red tape.

Most small business owners will tell you that the government hinders
their business, not helps. A friend of mine is currently trying to
expand his business. For two years, he has been dealing with various
government entities, trying unsuccessfully to get the necessary
permits for that expansion, one which could mean new jobs and
opportunities for others.

Obama pointed out that business owners benefit from government
services. They do. As do all Americans, business owners or not. But
business owners also pay more for those services than average folks
do; higher utility bills and higher property taxes are but two
examples. And they pay more for the use of the roads to which Obama
referred, through vehicle registration fees which are based on weight
and therefore more expensive for heavy commercial vehicles. In effect,
business owners often subsidize these very services for others.

Unlike individuals, businesses also provide a key governmental
function: collecting and remitting to the government sales taxes. They
receive no compensation in return. The tax system -- the one that
funds public education and other services, such as the construction
and maintenance of roads and bridges upon which Obama based his
contention -- as it now exists would not work without business owners'
cooperation.

It can be argued that these public services simply would not be there
for the general public without business owners and their
contributions.

Watching the video of Obama's Roanoke remarks, there can be little
doubt that, sans teleprompter, he unintentionally revealed his disdain
for individuals who achieve success, his belief that it is
governmental policy, and not individual effort and initiative, that
matters. Something to keep in mind when Obama, no doubt, welcomes
Olympic medal winners to the Rose Garden for a photo-op. Then, he will
smile and praise their achievements.

Especially if some of them are from swing states.

William Tate is an award-winning journalist and author


Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/07/obama_to_olympians_you_didnt_win_that.html#ixzz221aWT5PA

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