Who built it?

[dwer.livejournal.com]

So ever since President Obama talked about how it takes a society to build things that business uses to do things like deliver goods, send data, etc, the GOP has been hammering him for being "unamerican". Apparently, subscribing to American Exceptionalism requires the believer to refuse to acknowledge any possibility that an innovator or "job creator" might have had help.



Now, Paul Ryan comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Ryan Incorporated Central (the company for which Paul Ryan worked for a short time before he became a life-time public employee) has been in business since 1884. That's over 125 years!

And they've been the recipients of hefty government contracts, from building railroads embankments (run by the Feds), to the Federal Highway system ($119 billion in federal dollars), to that bastion of Chicagoland, O'Hare airport (or what became O'Hare airport, anyway).

And lest you think that the Ryan's got out of sucking off the federal teat, be illuminated: 22 Federal Defense Contracts since 1996 (including this one of over $5 million dollars)

As a life-long public employee, Congressman Ryan has brung home the bacon in multiple ways. All of which is perfectly fine -- except for the part where Ryan is all up in arms over the affront President Obama made on American Exceptionalism.

And, of course, there was the part where he voted to preserve subsidies for industries he and his wife are personally invested in. Not sure that part's entirely kosher.

This, of course, is only part of a larger overarching campaign strategy of Governor Romney's, to point out how exceptional american businesses are:

There's Gilchrist Metals, which... um... got $800,000 in tax exemptions about 13 years ago, and US Navy & Coast Guard contracts and also a $500,000 business loan with matching funds in the late 80s. As well as, you know, not building the roads or bridges that the trucks that brought his raw materials and took away his finished products drove on.

But wait! There's more! Ball Products, which hosted a "We Built This" event, was the recipient of over $600,000 in loans in 2012, and a $50,000+ government contract just after it was founded.

Home Instead Senior Care centers have gotten over $3.6 million in funds from the VA.

There's plenty more information here: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/07/25/584751/romneys-we-did-build-this-events-feature-businesses-built-with-government-subsidies-and-contracts/

But the icing on the cake?

The GOP Convention is being held at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Who owns the Forum? Hillsborough County. Who paid for it? Well, according to MediaMatters here, the St. Petersburg Times reported, in 1996:

"Financing for the arena was completed in August with the closing in New York on seven bond issues. Sales taxes, tourist development taxes, and ticket surcharges will be used to repay the bonds. Permanent financing includes $84 million in bonds backed by the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County, and another $60 million worth backed by the Lightning."

Never mind the other federal and local tax money spent on preparing for, hosting, and securing a national convention. That's only going to be another $70 million.

Again, all this is fine. There's no problem with municipalities or counties owning property, spending money -- after all, how many jobs do you think were created in building a convention center? How many permanent jobs were created? There's an entire sports team that operates out of that building!

So, not only does subscribing to American Exceptionalism require the believer to refuse to acknowledge any possibility that an innovator or "job creator" might have had help... it also requires a healthy dose of hypocrisy.

And THAT, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan built all on their own.



edit: requesting a "you didn't build that" tag, and "Mitt Romney's Enduring Hypocrisy" tag.