How Romney's ad about business success undermines his own lie

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Mitt Romney has made much of -- and by that I mean, has been lying a great deal about -- President Obama's recent comment that "[i]f you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own," and specifically that "[i]f you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." The president's point was clear: Nothing happens in a vacuum. If you've been successful in any field, there were others who helped and who deserve some of the credit, including government. Romney in typical fashion took that second line completely out of context, accusing the president of denigrating success, particularly success in business, and released an ad editing the president's words to make it seem that he said what Romney accused him of saying.

Romney's blatant mischaracterization of what President Obama said is bad enough. He's done this sort of thing before and he'll do it again, trying to score cheap political points through blatant dishonesty. In the case of the ad, what makes it worse -- and funnier, ultimately proving the president's basic point -- is that it features an outraged New Hampshire businessman, Jack Gilchrist, presumably speaking for outraged successful businessmen everywhere, saying: "My father's hands didn't build this company? My hands didn't build this company? My son's hands aren't building this company?"

Thing is:

The New Hampshire Union Leader's John DiStato [yesterday reported] that in 1999 the business in question, Gilchrist Metal, "received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority 'to set up a second manufacturing plant and purchase equipment to produce high definition television broadcasting equipment'..." In addition, in 2011, Gilchrist Metal "received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller, $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008..."

The businessman, Jack Gilchrist, also acknowledged that in the 1980s the company received a U.S. Small Business Administration loan totaling "somewhere south of" $500,000, and matching funds from the federally-funded New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center.

"I'm not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government," Gilchrest said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm getting some of my tax money back. I'm not stupid, I'm not going to say 'no.' Shame on me if I didn't use what's available."

No one's accusing you of being stupid, Jack, just a fucking hypocrite with a partisan agenda and silly anti-tax views.

Thanks, state and federal governments, for helping making him and his business so successful. Where would be be without you?

Thanks for proving President Obama's point, Mitt.