Like Hell We Did Not Build It. A Letter to President Obama From A Business Owner

“If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.” Excuse me, Mr. President, what are you talking about and who do you think you are?

I don’t recall anyone else, other than my husband and myself even being present when we were building our business. We were the ones working night and day because we had no money to pay anyone to help. I don’t recall anybody else pulling out the wallet or checkbook to pay the bills. I don’t recall anyone else being there when we made purchases at K Mart, of the most expensive items they had in the store, to add to our credit card, so I could take it back a few days later and get cash to pay the bills. (By that time, all other merchants were only crediting back to your card but K Mart would still give cash refunds.) I don’t recall anybody else staying up all night too worried to sleep, when the credit card debt had reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don’t recall anybody offering help while we teetered on the verge of bankruptcy on several occasions.

But I do recall, when we finally turned things around and got our feet underneath us on solid ground, we had to send the money left in the bank account on April 15 to the IRS. After working all year and feeling like we finally were gaining ground, the assets were drained to pay the tax bill. And the cycle would start all over again. I remember that all too well.

America is the greatest country in the world. I thank God everyday that in his infinite grace and wisdom, he saw fit to allow me to be born in such a place as this. I thank Him for his blessings upon me, in so many ways. I know I am blessed to live in a place where, through my hard work and perseverance and determination, I can succeed. No matter where one starts in life, in this country it’s still possible to achieve your highest dreams and become a success.

Mr. President, with all due respect, my husband and I did build our business. I am offended by your words professing otherwise. You continue to reveal your lack of understanding of what it takes to “build a business.” You obviously have no knowledge of the sacrifices that many of us make to build our business into successful ventures. You seem to believe, I can’t figure out why, that each business owner has a government committee that has seen us through all the hard times. You seem to believe that these entities, devised in your mind, were there with us through the struggles and now we are beholden to them.

My mother used to tell me when I didn’t know what I was talking about, I should keep quiet. Those were wise words then and still appropriate today, Sir. Perhaps you should heed her advice and stop demonstrating your lack of knowledge when it comes to business.

No matter how tall your parents are, you still have to do your own growing. Even being blessed to live in this great country, we still had to do our own growing. Our business wasn’t built by any government committee or advisory group. It was built through hard work, by my husband and me, and many sacrifices were made by our family.

Mr. President, until you’ve built a successful business of your own and have demonstrated that you know what you’re talking about, please spare us your words of wisdom.