A friend of mine received a letter from Alabama (-oops TX -) Congressman Pete Sessions...

... that again takes the President Obama "you didn't build that" quote out of context. It seeks his permission to have his named added to an open letter to the President. The open letter reads as follows:

Dear Mr. President,

In a speech on July 13th, 2012, you said:

"If you've got a business - you didn't build that. Somebody
else made that happen..."

Have you ever started a business? Have you ever met payroll? Have you ever gone without so you could pay employees? Have you ever managed cash flow? Have you ever had to comply with government over regulation?

NO!

Therefore, we the undersigned Business leaders, along with Republican leadership, are supporting an alternative solution. Make the current tax cuts permanent for EVERYONE!

Economic revival will begin as it always does - with entrepreneurs and America's small businesses.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME HERE



His response:

Dear Congressman Sessions,

I received your proposed Open Letter to President Obama. I understand that you may disagree with some of the policies put forth by our President and the Democratic Party. That’s fine. In fact, I sincerely believe that a healthy and vigorous debate of ideas is essential to the healthy function of our government.

However, when you start your proposed letter with an out of context and highly misleading quote, one that everyone who is paying attention understands is equivalent to a falsehood, you immediately sacrifice your credibility. President Obama never said that business owners in America didn’t build their businesses. Instead, he clearly said that the country’s infrastructure that helps support small businesses – all businesses– was built by the collective efforts of our society – a statement that is both true and politically inconvenient for those that oppose modest tax increases for top wage earners. While certainly you’re not the first Republican politician to take this quote and twist it for the political gain of a “sound byte”, you’re the first one to drop it at my fax doorstep. Accordingly, I felt compelled to respond.

Are your positions are so fundamentally flawed that they cannot be supported unless you employ outright deception? If so, then perhaps you need to re-evaluate your positions. When I see someone use this now well known misquote, it tells me three things:

I. You don’t have a well reasoned and logical opposition to the President’s plan. Why else would you resort to this kind of tactic?

2. You assume that your constituents are uninformed and gullible enough to be taken in by such a tactic. That’s insulting, to say the least. While many small business owners may support efforts to preserve the current tax rates, I am confident most of them would prefer that the torch of their position be carried by a representative that brings substance to the table rather than cherry-picked sensationalism.

3. And finally, it tells me that you are likely a subscriber to the “divisiveness plague” that has infected Washington DC in recent years. This attitude that it is necessary to fight against everything and anything the other side supports, regardless of whether or not it is good for America, is nothing short of childishness, and it is unbecoming to elected representatives of a government by and for the people.

If you have a statistically supported and fact based justification for opposing the President’s tax plan, please lead with that the next time you seek to garner support for your cause. I think you will find that the most informed and politically astute American public in the history of this great Nation will appreciate that kind of straightforwardness. Of course, if you do not have such a justification, I suggest you turn your attention to working with the President and other Democrats toward an actual solution.

In the meantime, please DO NOT include my name in your proposed open letter. I appreciate your consideration and attention.

Sincerely,




On Edit - sorry - Pete Sessions is obviously from TX. My friend is in Alabama. And I was momentarily confusing Rep. Pete with Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama. Forgive me.