Here's to My Dad, Who "Made It"

I saw this video just now, and it struck a powerful chord with me:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-on-small-business-owners-20120718,0,5614318.premiumvideo

It reminded me of my own Dad, who never asked for or expected any government handout or bailout when financial times were (and still are) tough.  Who is in the office on all major holidays and most weekends busting it.  Who risked it all and went on his own to start his own small business, and pays through the nose to our government because politicians feel he should pay much more in taxes only because he worked for himself, but employed several other people in the process.  Who, because of punitive and arbitrary fees and oppressive interest charges by the IRS, frequently is forced to raid his own meager savings just to make payroll.  Who denies himself every luxury and even what many would consider basic necessities (a car, at the moment, as an example) so that his family can have better and so that he can keep the taxman at bay.  Who, day in and day out, lays it on the line and puts his nose to the grindstone for clients who most likely won't pay timely, if at all.  Those who know you the best and love you the most don't tell you nearly often enough, but your backbreaking work does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.  We love you and thank you for having the courage to chase your version of the American Dream, even as the government makes it ever increasingly difficult for you to do so.  Here's what a "man's man" looks like.

Here's to you, Dad, an entrepreneur who "Made It," at least in my eyes, in spite of the government, not because of it.  And for one who never ran so much as a popsicle stand before becoming President to suggest the opposite is audacious and insults you and the millions of American entrepreneurs like you who pull themselves up by the bootstraps to build their businesses from nothing.  Obama has it backwards.  Without entrepreneurs, their drive, their ideas and businesses, the salaries that go to their employees, and the taxes that these productive businesses and individuals pay, the government's coffers would be empty.  Where does he think the money for roads, airports, infrastructre, and research for the internet came from, anyway?  You'd think that a man whose sizeable salary is made possible by people like you would be less insulting and more thankful.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0718-20120718,0,2313230.column