I made a serious point the other day about how government plays a very important role in the lives of entrepreneurs.
But since I was talking about the staggering burden of red tape and regulation, I wasn’t being very supportive of the President’s assertion that government deserves a big chunk of the credit when a business is successful.
This cartoon makes the same point, but adds taxation to the mix.
As far as I recall (I sound like a politician under oath when I write something like that), this is the first Branco cartoon I’ve used, but I think it’s the best one in this post, so I’m looking forward to more of his (her?) work.
Regular readers know about Michael Ramirez, of course, and he has an amusing take on the you-didn’t-build-that controversy.
I’ve used lots of Ramirez cartoons over the past few years, and you can enjoy some of his work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The Obama campaign has been complaining that the President’s words were misinterpreted, so this Eric Allie cartoon is quite amusing and appropriate.
You can laugh at more Allie cartoons here, here, here, and here.
Fortunately for Obama, he has some allies to help him out, as Lisa Benson reminds us.
More funny Lisa Benson cartoons can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Last but not least, we have another Allie cartoon. I think this is the first time I’ve used two cartoons by the same person, but I think you’ll agree they’re worth sharing.
This gives me an opportunity to end on a serious note. The Obama campaign is asserting that the President was simply stating that private sector prosperity is made possible by the provision of “public goods” such as roads and bridges.
This is a perfectly fair point, as I explain in this video about the Rahn Curve.
But what Obama conveniently overlooks is that spending on so-called public goods is only about 10 percent of the federal budget. The vast majority of government spending is for unambiguously harmful outlays on transfers, consumption, and entitlements.
Which is why the second Allie cartoon is so good. Even when government does something that is theoretically good, it causes a lot of collateral damage because of the excessive size and scope of the welfare state.
A picture or, in this case, a cartoon is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, many of Obama’s words are Orwellian. His real plan is World Order domination and the ruination of America!
It’s to bad he forgets who really pays for those roads, the taxpayers, the Amercian people. He’s also obviously forgotten that most of the bridges in America are on the verge collapse. Also how horrible the roadways really are. So either way really what he said is a slap in the face.
More importantly, once down this road, like many times before the world over, the electorate will react to the regulatory failures by imposing more regulation. The writing is on the wall.
American businesses and the people they employ, due to historical serendipity, have always operated in the most fertile environment, namely the lowest overall regulation and the lowest overall taxation in the civilized world (no the mistakes made during the New Deal period were not enough to bring America to parity with the rest of the world because America, at that time, still had so much unspent freedom from its original creation – but things are different now, after many years of complacency and convergence, parity is approaching and in the last few years the pace of convergence seems to have greatly accelerated).
Americans have thus taken American business success for granted, something almost metaphysically ingrained in American culture and destiny. Americans are now thus forgetting that they live through this unique period in their history where three Billion people have woken up to the very Economic Freedoms that America pioneered. Meanwhile, Americans, in their world renowned naiveté, are reacting by ratcheting up regulation and taxation towards parity with the European Union, a continent whose long chosen and thus inevitable decline trajectory is becoming more apparent every day. What is the American reaction? A record number of Americans are now questioning the very capitalism and economic freedom that made them most motivated and prosperous nation in the world. The writing is on the wall.
How can the government “deserve a big chunk of the credit when a business is successful” when it takes the money from taxpayers in the first place, wastes much of it on employing a host of government workers, and then build the infrastructure with a small percentage of what’s left?
All the taxpayers who provide the funds to the government are the only ones who deserve any credit apart from the business owner…
Or am I missing something, and if so, what?
Look guys. Be fair here. I might disagree with a lot Obama does, but I do not appreciate demagoguery on the right even when it supports my bias.
Don’t just listen to the edited words that you want to hear and believe. Go, watch the entire clip of what he was saying before and after. He could have been Romney saying this. I know that politics and misrepresentation is part of the silly season game, but it is this part of the game that just turns me off.
He was obviously speaking of the roads and bridges. He used ‘that” instead of “those” , a grammatical mistake I could have easily made, and he clarified his point in the next part of the speech, so why are we beating this one too death. Because we want to believe that is what he believes?
In this regard, I do think Jon Stewart has it more right than most…
http://bit.ly/P2kMWC
His and he’s awesome spot on when it comes to politics. Use him regularly … maybe someone on Fox News will get a clue … because I know the alphabet stations would avoid him.
Thanks for using this great political cartoonist on your page.
[...] A Funny Look at Obama’s You-Didn’t-Build-That Comment [...]
You have had a lot of funny cartoons on your blog over the years but this set if by far the funniest. I can’t decide if the one with Washington in the boat is funnier than the first one or not. The first and last one both demonstrate greater lessons though. Keep up the good work.
[...] can see some of my favorite Ramirez cartoons here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]
[...] Earlier this year, Obama made his infamous “you didn’t build that” statement, which generated some very amusing political cartoons. [...]
Right now we all need a laugh!
[...] Earlier this year, Obama made his infamous “you didn’t build that” statement, which generated some very amusing political cartoons. [...]
[...] is one of my favorite cartoonists, incidentally, and you can see more of his work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]
[...] can see some previous Allie cartoons here , here, here, here, and [...]
[...] And I also shared some humorous cartoons on the topic. [...]
[...] can see some of my favorite Benson cartoons here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]
[...] can enjoy some of my other favorite Ramirez cartoons by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]
[...] Eric Allie cartoons can be enjoyed here, here , here, here, here, [...]
[...] can enjoy some of my favorite Ramirez cartoons by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]
[...] A Funny Look at Obama’s You-Didn’t-Build-That Comment [...]
[...] you can see here and here, it’s quite similar to the theme used with great effectiveness by Eric [...]
[...] Allie – More than anyone else, he shows with this cartoon and this cartoon how even well-intentioned government goes awry. And the teetering-on-the-edge-of-the-cliff cartoon [...]
[...] Allie – More than anyone else, he shows with this cartoon and this cartoon how even well-intentioned government goes awry. And the teetering-on-the-edge-of-the-cliff cartoon [...]
[...] is one of my favorite cartoonists, incidentally, and you can see more of his work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]
[...] A Funny Look at Obama’s You-Didn’t-Build-That Comment [...]
What can you say about Obama? One thing is true and that is sometimes he says what he really means and this was one of those times. Scary!!
[...] Earlier this year, Obama made his infamous “you didn’t build that” statement, which generated some very amusing political cartoons. [...]
[...] you can see here and here, it’s quite similar to the theme used with great effectiveness by Eric [...]