Small Business is Big Business: Why Politics Matter
Whenever I tweet about politics or make a public statement about a political belief I have, I am usually reminded that it is best NOT to discuss politics online, in the boardroom or anywhere someone might be “offended” by a particular view or belief. In the past, I might have gone along with that, although deep down I have always had the conviction to state my mind. Today, however, I think our country is beyond leaving out politics when it comes to running a business in the USA—any business. When the President of our great nation (yes, we are still a great nation, are we not?) gets into our business by saying what he has said this week and by undertaking his own agenda. Now, it is personal for many and this means that the government is getting deeper and deeper into our pocketbooks.
Think about what it means to be Independent and to be a democracy. Now think about what the government is doing to businesses. As a small business owner of 17 years, I would like to point out some obvious direct impacts politics have on my business (again, MY business):
- Mandating that I provide health insurance for my employees in the near future (if this bill is not reversed) is not only un-American in my opinion, but also unrealistic. This change will open the door to pile on other mandatory financial burdens that will quite possibly put me, and many like me, out of business. It is not the specific amount of coverage that I have a problem with, but the entire principle of forcing me to do this by law and punishing me if I don’t.
- Taxes: We are taxed and taxed. I am burdened by business property taxes, payroll taxes (my payroll taxes alone run approximately $1,000 each month), and the taxes that I pay on anything that I purchase for my business as well as the income tax, which is off the charts. It’s incredibly expensive to own a small business and there are times when I wonder if it is even worth it. We work for a dollar to get about 30 cents, to put it in straight form. In my opinion, that is not the American dream. What incentives do I have to grow my business? What incentives do new, young entrepreneurs have? They won’t do it. What if small businesses become nonexistent in our country? Does anyone want to do an economic forecast on that?
- Nothing is free for me. While a business owner works, employs individuals, provides for others by hiring accountants, lawyers, vendors, paying rent, purchasing property and so on, we get no money back from the government. We are provided no assistance because we don’t qualify because we are working. Keyword: Work. Thanks to mismanaged programs that politicians on both sides have put in place and excessive spending, I will have to work at something forever as I will likely not see my due social security income that I earned over the past 30 years—there won’t be any left. To be fair, the government should deduct what they owe us in social security from our taxes, if that should happen.
- Business owners are held accountable, so we are fined and/or audited. The treasury department employees hire prostitutes on the federal payroll and fly around on government paid airplanes—funded by taxpayers like me.
- Politicians decide where funding goes. How are they doing thus far? How is the economy doing? How are our states doing? The answer is not so great. After all, we’re going to institute a sales tax for purchases online estimated to create 23 billion dollars for the states to use. What are they going to do with it?
- Politicians have grown our government over the years to the point of total inefficiency, waste and embarrassing public debate. In order to stay competitive and keep our economy healthy, America needs less governmental control and spending on rebuilding infrastructure. That is, if we can ever get out from our debt, which I believe will be the worst crisis we will face.
Depressed yet? You should be if you have a job, and in fact, you should be down right frightened. Our politicians (many of them) are not good financial stewards of our taxpayer funds. If the government were a private business, we’d fire them all and start over. The only thing we can do is VOTE for change and stand up for what is right for businesses. So please, Mr. President, park your jets and discontinue the waste of our money traveling the world. Your efforts aren’t showing job growth or economic boost to our country, nor are they fostering goodwill with small businesses that are the economic fuel for our country. Please, do not tell us we did not build our own businesses when, clearly, we did.
