Three of Obama’s Statements Misquoted in Letter

To the Editor:
Someone wrote to the Editor in the June 24 edition of the Herald defending three statements from Obama. All three were misquoted to minimize what he said. Unfortunately for the writer and the middle class, Obama was wrong; three for three. First, “You didn’t build that” successful business of yours. Sure, business owners use telephones, computers and all inventions that other private entrepreneurs also built, but people say that the government built the roads and other public creations that business uses. Let’s not forget that without the business and employees whose taxes paid for all that, they wouldn’t exist. The private sector pays for the public sector, and does it better every time. It is individuals and not government who invested in their dream, took the risks and labored to make it work.
The second statement is about keeping your doctor. The real quote is “If you like your plan you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor… period.” The quote isn’t “many of you will keep your doctor.” Even that’s not true. This is the most insulting lie ever spoken by a U.S. president. Maybe an Obama defender doesn’t know anyone who lost their doctor, but in the real world millions lost their doctor and/or their plans. This included hundreds of thousands in New Jersey. Millions of others are paying dearly for an inferior plan the government forced them into. My brother lost his doctor and plan, and so did my mother-in-law. They are low-income. They didn’t win “life’s lottery.”
This is the third false Obama quote: “We all are subjects of life’s lottery.” Yes, some did win life’s lottery. Look at Wall Street which is the recipient of trillions of dollars from Quantitative Easing- the biggest bailout in history. President Obama, in this case and many other cases, draws the numbers of winners and losers, and the system is rigged in favor of people who support him. There’s the IRS intimidation scandal, for instance, but America’s still a land where anyone with an idea, drive and perseverance, when faced with adversity, can succeed. It’s less true these days with government punishing achievement, but even this hostile climate doesn’t stop dreamers. If there is a life’s lottery, it’s due to progressivism. Most people have a say when they lose too. As an example, people who become dependent on the government as a way of life choose their fate. Not everyone measures success by how much money they have. Considering what really matters, who is more successful, Mother Theresa or Jon Corzine? Life is what you make of it. It’s in your hands. Now go be the best you can be.