You Didn’t Build That

Jonathan Chait: "Right, except it’s pretty obvious Obama didn’t say that. He was saying that the entrepreneur didn’t build the entire physical and social infrastructure that allowed his business to flourish, not that he didn’t build the business itself. This is obvious if you consider the many ways Obama has made this exact point before, or the soliloquy by Elizabeth Warren that inspired it."

When I read the speech, I thought I missed the line because I understood it the way Chait describes. 

and...

Jonathan Chait: "The existence of this controversy offers an interesting window into the protected status of the rich. Republicans have embraced a vocabulary -- calling the rich "job creators" and dividing society into "makers and takers" -- that implies an extremist moral logic of market absolutism. Even mild, measured rebuttals provoke squeals of outrage. This is not limited to the political right: Even in publications like the New York Times, the complaints of rich people who feel belittled or victimized by Obama have probably received more media attention over the last four years than have, say, the collective plight of the 50 million Americans lacking health insurance. The massive economic privileges that have accrued to the rich have given rise to a widespread belief that they must also enjoy a protective cocoon of political correctness."