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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Kristof: "You Didn't Build It, Mitt"

Timely Nick Kristof column just posted exposing lies of GOP's "We Built It" theme tonight. On of chief speakers, Sher Valenzuela, got millions of help from government, and so on.  But also:  those infernal taxes also "built it."
In short, taxes don’t just smother. They can also fuel growth — when they’re invested in highways or the Internet, in colleges or early childhood education. They can create opportunities, as they did for Sher Valenzuela.

Or for Romney himself. He built his Bain empire partly because he was smart and hard-working, but also because of a great education and because of tax breaks for debt financing. Tax loopholes helped him build his fortune, and other loopholes gave him the low tax rates to retain it. 

If the Republican convention wishes to highlight and explain Romney’s success, it should have a moment of silence to honor our infernal tax code.

Who built this country? Entrepreneurs, yes. But so did schoolteachers and railway construction workers. Doctors and truckers. Scientists and soldiers. You didn’t build it, Mitt Romney — we all built it.

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