Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Romney continues the "You didn't build that" line of attack – with more deception.

Romney continues to harp on a statement by President Obama, which, when viewed out of context, seems to imply that people who build businesses do not build businesses. Romney’s people made a web ad, and now they are going on the television with a 30 second version.

Check out this (edited) story from the New Hampshire Union Leader (7/23/12):

In the Mitt Romney campaign web and television ads that received national attention last week, a blunt Jack Gilchrist of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson tells President Barack Obama that he, his father and his son – and not the government – built his company.

In 1999, 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,” according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report at the time.

The federal government allocates to each state a certain amount of tax-exempt bonding capacity each year for business and housing loans. Because the bond buyers do not pay federal taxes on the interest, the interest rate for the borrower is typically lower than that of standard bank financing.

Last year, Gilchrist Metal also received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller, $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008, according to a government web site that tracks spending.

Romney called the comments insulting to private business people and Gilchrist, in the initial web ad, said, “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? Did somebody else take out the loan on my father's house to finance the equipment? Did somebody else make payroll every week or figure out where it's coming from? President Obama, you're killing us out here. Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?”

Gilchrist also said his company received a U.S. Small Business Administration loan totaling “somewhere south of” $500,000 in the late 1980s. He said his business has also received matching funds from the New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (NETAAC), which is federally-funded.

Gilchrist said about 10 percent of his company's contracts are defense-related.

As Romney hosted a small business roundtable in California Monday, Obama spokesman Lis Smith said, “Mitt Romney continues to criticize President Obama by taking his words completely out of context -- all while sitting with small business owners who built their enterprises through their own initiative but with some help along the way. As CEO of Bain & Co, he even negotiated a $10 million federal bailout to keep the company afloat. Mitt Romney's attacks may be unfair, but his events and own actions actually prove the President's point that while businesses are built through hard work and initiative, we're all in this together.”

The entire unedited article from the Manchester Union Leader can be found here.

“… and tell ’em Big Mitch sent ya!”



1 comment:

BigMitch said...

This is a level of deception that boggles the mind. Think Progress shows how Romney has ramped up the attack, and the deception. Here's your link.