President Obama’s mildly botched “you didn’t build that” comment has made it exceptionally easy for Republicans like Mitt Romney and Scott Brown to take his remark out of context and pretend that he meant something he didn’t. That is unfortunate, though par for the course for the GOP.
But here’s a fascinating development: today, Elizabeth Warren doubled down on her far more eloquent statement of what Obama was trying to say. In a campaign email with the subject “I meant what I said,” here’s the message:
Last August, I stood in a living room in Andover and talked about why our country faced a massive deficit and what it would take to move us forward as a nation.
I’m proud of what I said. I meant every single word of it.
I said, “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.” I praised the people who did get rich. I said, “You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea, God Bless!” But I asked those who make it big to invest in the next generation of kids so they will have a chance too….
We don’t know who is going to have the next big idea in America.
But we’re pretty sure they’re going to need employees who can read and write. They’re going to need power to keep the lights on and clean water and functioning sewers to keep going. They’re going to need roads and bridges to move their goods to market or bring customers to their store. And they’re going to need police officers and firefighters to keep their businesses safe.
That’s what makes America great. We make the investments together — to put the conditions in place so that businesses can flourish and create more opportunities for all of us. And it keeps going forward. When we make it, all of us have an obligation to invest in creating the conditions so the next kid can get ahead, and the kid after that, and the kid after that.
I believe in small businesses. My brother started a small business. My daughter started a small business. My aunt started a small business–and that’s where I worked when I was a teenager. I’ve seen up close and personal how hard small business owners work and how much they risk to make their businesses succeed.
Right now, Washington’s rigged for the big corporations who can afford armies of lobbyists and lawyers — not America’s small businesses. If Republicans like Scott Brown and Mitt Romney have their way, the system is going to stay rigged for the big guys.
The Republicans have their vision for the future. It says, “I’ve got mine, the rest of you are on your own.”
That’s not the American Dream. That’s not how we build a future for ourselves and our children. We build a future together.
“We build a future together.” That’s it, in a nutshell, isn’t it?
seascraper says
Does she really expect to win serving up these meatballs?
David says
Any more questions?
merrimackguy says
Their data must show her share of unenrolled voter is solid and the remaining undecideds are probably not going to see this anyway.
So this is a rally the troops and encourage them to maximize turnout of Democrats message.
danfromwaltham says
Does Professor Warren believe filthy rich universities like Harvard should pay their fair share in taxes? Is an endowment of $32 billion not big enough and needs special protection from federal tax obligations?
I suppose if one is tax exempt, there is no need to have an army of lawyers in D.C. If one proposes a bill that Harvard start paying capital gains taxes, I bet lobbyist/platoon of lawyers for Harvard will descend upon Washington to fight any proposal.
David says
Stated otherwise: do you really think Scott Brown has any interest in raising taxes on non-profits?
danfromwaltham says
She is the one talking about big corporations and rich people not paying their fair share. I don’t hear Brown talking about raising taxes on anyone. So I am more interested in her answer. She won’t go on any talk radio shows, so I can’t ask her. She hides behind Maddow/Schultz and Sharpton.
methuenprogressive says
http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/06/19/12306794-maddow-scott-brown-has-been-kind-of-weird-fixating-on-msnbc-and-me?lite
Why is he hiding behind talk radio hosts who never questioned his bizarre fumblebrag of meeting secretly with Kings and Queens?
johnd says
Or Ruch Limbaugh’s show?
whosmindingdemint says
go on the Sean Hannnnnnity show?
bcal92 says
She was on the tommy Duggan show in February
http://payingattentionwithtomduggan.blogspot.com/2012/03/paying-attention-radio-program-with-tom_17.html
progressmass says
“Did you get where you got ‘on your own’ or did you have help?”
From the welfare assistance his family received, to the coaches who mentored him, to the Wall Street folks who finance his campaign, Republican Scott Brown has had help every step of the way.
One could argue that Republican Scott Brown is undeniable proof of the accuracy of the Warren-Obama-Romney philosophy of nobody doing it 100% on their own.
johnd says
INstead of the direct and nuanced attack on small businesses of Obama’s comments and her own previous ones, she broke out the exact words to see she supports businesses and mentions we are all in this together (which nobody, GOP or DEM, denies).
However, she also mentions how Brown and Romney somehow are against this notion and want to continue big businesses’ hold on Washington with lobbyists. Does she mean the lobbyists that Obama said would not be on his his team but now are common on his team? Does she mean Democrats will break this hold on DC while Democrats have had control for the last four years and did NOTHING to break the hold?
We ALL get sucked in by these pols who talk to our interests and never do anything about it. Did Obama fix the “too big to fail” problem? Do we still have the threat of complex derivatives falling apart? How many tax loopholes have been fixed? Obama couldn’t get EW a job in DC so she had to come back to her mansion in Cambridge. Obama has failed, unemployment is still and will get worse, economic growth has slowed down almost to a stop with the threat of another big downturn looming. No thanks!
methuenprogressive says
How is that straw man working out for “you people”?
L says
I know everyone here is too perspicacious to miss it, but please note Dan’s telltale use of “Professor Warren” as a pejorative. It’s really getting to the point where Dan couldn’t be any more obvious even if he dressed up in a George Wallace costume.