Politics & Power Quote by Bill Richardson

The line pulls off a careful bit of political jujitsu: it flatters free-market instincts while quietly defending an active state. Richardson leads with a familiar American catechism - private sector good, government suspect - then pivots to a more technocratic claim that government is still necessary, just recast as a "productive partner" rather than a boss. It is an ideological inoculation: reassure centrists and business owners first, then smuggle in permission for public investment.

The subtext is less about economics than about blame and credit. If the private sector is the "engine", politicians can take credit for "tuning" it without being held responsible for driving. That metaphor also disciplines expectations: government cannot create opportunity directly, only enable it. In an era when "big government" is an attack line, calling the state a partner sidesteps the welfare-state caricature and frames regulation, infrastructure spending, loan guarantees, and workforce programs as pro-business tools rather than constraints.

"Particularly small businesses" is the emotional keystone. Small business functions in U.S. politics as a moral category - local, hardworking, supposedly apolitical. Invoking it lets Richardson argue for policy interventions (tax incentives, procurement, healthcare reform, training) without sounding like he is picking winners or catering to corporate giants. The phrase "good jobs" nods to wage stagnation and insecurity while avoiding stronger language about labor power; jobs are delivered by businesses, not demanded by workers.

Contextually, this is late-20th/early-21st century Democratic pragmatism: market-friendly rhetoric designed to keep the party credible with business while maintaining space for government to spend, regulate, and broker growth.