Our small businesses should be applauded, not attacked

In addition to being one of my favorite places to eat pizza, Gino’s is also a small business that has been built up over the years, and employs dozens of people who might not otherwise be working.

Your local credit union, dry-cleaner, taxi company and bakery are small businesses that are the backbone of America, and provide 80 percent of this country’s jobs. Long Island is a web of small business after small business. Many people sacrifice everything in the hope that they, too, can achieve the American dream of owning their own companies.

Small businesses have a tremendous impact on our local economies. According to Kirk Kordeleski, CEO of Bethpage Federal Credit Union and chairman of the board of the Long Island Association, in a survey conducted by Bethpage Federal, “Small businesses make up 85 percent of businesses on Long Island and are often in the incubation phase.” Kordeleski continued, “The future of Long Island depends upon our ability to nurture the growth of small businesses and provide them with the tools that will make it possible for them to succeed.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Sadly, however, according to President Obama, “… [I]f you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something: There are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

The president doesn’t credit our small-business owners. Instead, he would have you believe that entrepreneurs like the owners of Gino’s and thousands of others have achieved their success because of government help. What nonsense!