"You didn’t build that!"
by Kenneth Thomas
Hilarious twist on “You didn’t build that!” UPDATED
The Atlantic Wire (via @NoBigGovDuh) has a great story on the dishonesty of Mitt Romney’s “You didn’t build that” ads. It turns out that at the Republican convention on Tuesday night, they plan to ramp it up again with a speech by a small business owner from Delaware, Sher Valenzuela, telling everyone how she did build it, not government.
Only one small problem. Actually, two.
First, Valenzuela’s business, First State Manufacturing, “received more than $2 million in federal loans and more than $15 million in federal contracts over the years,” according to the article. This included Small Business Administration money very early on, as well as federal disaster relief loans after 9/11 and loans from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. So, beyond the fact that she obviously didn’t build the roads and bridges and other infrastructure–which the President was actually referring to in his speech Romney has so grossly twisted in his ads–she benefited mightily from more direct government aid. Even a month ago, we knew that lots of companies Romney promoted with this tagline actually had gotten direct government support, too.
Second, a fast-thinking Redditor figured out that Valenzuela had not claimed www.firststatemanufacturing.com for her website, and constructed his own parody of her there (h/t @NoBigGovDuh and Atlantic Wire). On the landing page we see Valenzuela displayed next to the words:
This refers to the company’s designation by Delaware in 2000 as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. As the “About” page concludes,
First State Manufacturing is proud of our heritage, and thankful for the help that government has given us along the way. Not to mention the current help government provides! We believe that to say otherwise would be ungrateful, hypocritical, and unpatriotic.
We’ll see on Tuesday night.
(For the humor-challenged out there, remember, this is not her site and not her words. It’s a parody.)
UPDATE: Here is something from Valenzuela’s own website: “Get federal dollars by being a minority-owned business.” Hypocrisy, anyone?
Anyone finding themselves with the least bit of discomfort need only tune into Fox news during her presentation to find out what they are supposed to think about her self-made-woman story.
The pity is that government support of fledgling business is a good thing and, with this weird spin, people who support this help end up seeming like they disrespect people who used government resources.
I hope I am not humor challenged… after all, I DO laugh at my own jokes.
But you know, there is an art to telling a joke.
You’d have had to have been there.
Their actual web site contains a contact page whereon you can write to Sher and share how happy you are with her success and how fortunate she and Eli, that’s the hubby, have been to be small business owners in the US. They have a neat article about the benefits of obtaining a minority-owned business certification and how much value that added to their business. Government to the rescue.
Here’s a copy of my onw note to Sher and Eli.
“Dear Sher and Eli
Just a heads up regarding your plan to, “to ramp it up again with a speech by a small business owner from Delaware, Sher Valenzuela, telling everyone how she did build it, not government,” please be aware that many voters are becoming aware of the significant assistance that your business did receive from the government. To say otherwise would be a lie. Go here for more details: http://www.angrybearblog.com/2012/08/didn-build-that.html
Just another citizen who does appreciate all that the government is able to do to help the economy. You should both be more appreciative of your own success and the help you received attaining that success.”
We should all let them know how much we share their satisfaction at receiving support in becoming a successful small, minority owned business.
The link to the form where you can tell Sher and Eli that you will confront them with their lie is on this page
http://www.firststatemfg.com/firststate.asp?type=contactus
(I appreciate that Jack is too liberal to say anything nasty like “confront their lie”)
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