Archive for the 'Politics' Category

Small Business Advocate Poll: “Just get out of our way!”

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 25, 2013
in Economy: National and Global and Politics
. 0 Comments

The Question:
What do you want the federal government to do to help you with your small business?

0% - Initiate more programs to help small businesses

71% - Get out of our way by reducing taxes and regulations

29% - Both of the above

My Comments:
These days it seems a lot of people have their hands out for help from the government; from GM, Chrysler, and AIG, to who knows how many big banks. Then there are the unions, public and private, that rely on government support for their very existence. Big corporations make billions of profits doing business with the government. And one out of every seven Americans - over 50 million - now receives some kind of welfare.

But there is another group of folks out there that is about half the number of welfare recipients, produces over half of the U.S. economy, and sign over 70 million paychecks every week - small business owners. So what does this group want from the government? Well, we asked them about that last week in our online poll, with this question: What do you want the federal government to do to help you with your small business? Here’s what they said:

Not one person chose, “Initiate more programs to help small businesses,” as their answer. But those who believe the government should just, “Get out of our way by reducing taxes and regulations,” came in at 71%. The rest, 29%, allowed that the government should do “Both of the above.”

What if every group of Americans felt the same way small business owners do? I would like to see what that looks like, wouldn’t you?

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I talked more about what small businesses want from the government this week on my radio program. Take a few minutes to download or listen.

Check out more of Jim’s great content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Small business and the “fiscal cliff”

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on December 12, 2012
in Economy: National and Global and Politics
. 0 Comments

The only thing that exceeds the lack of leadership in Washington, D.C. these days is the level of partisanship.

For most of the last two years, the political class has demonstrated proof of these two ignominious distinctions by failing to minimize the damage – if not provide solutions – to a number of fiscal challenges facing the U.S. government. Democrats and Republicans have continued to walk away from the negotiating table with nothing more than a temporary fix and full knowledge that on December 31, 2012, the calculus created by expiring governmental laws and the rude laws of economics, will cause the government to go over the dreaded “fiscal cliff” and take the economy with it.

And now, with the drop-dead date looming, the economic implications of political dysfunction are filling up the windshield of every small business as we race toward the year-end precipice. They know on the other side are multiple tax increases and mandatory budget cuts that will drain cash from consumers and businesses, which many economists predict will lead to another recession. As a consequence, way too many small businesses that barely made it through the Great Recession won’t survive a Double Dip.

With the November 6 election producing little change in the balance of political power, or the players, can we expect the same unleadership dynamic to fix in a matter of days what didn’t get fixed when there was plenty of time? Isn’t that Einstein’s definition of insanity?

We wanted to know what our small business audience thinks about this issue, so recently, in our online poll, we asked, “How do you feel about the ability of President Obama and Congress to avoiding the ‘fiscal cliff?” Here’s what we learned:

Just over a third said they were “Confident” of a fix, with the “Undecided” coming in at 7%. But the big group - 57% - allowed that they had “No confidence” the fiscal cliff would be avoided.

Alas, with precious little time left, it appears that our poll majority may be the accurate one. Meanwhile, small business owners still can’t make informed budget, pricing, and growth decisions for 2013. Here’s some rich irony: If we ran our businesses the way the government runs its affairs, there would be no private sector income to tax.

And yet the political class still wonders why businesses of all sizes aren’t hiring more workers and making more investments.

The 19th century French philosopher de Tocqueville said, “In a democracy, we get the government we deserve.” Rude, but sadly, still true.

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This week on The Small Business Advocate Show I talked more about the impact of the fiscal cliff on small businesses with Chuck Kadlec. Chuck is a member of the Economic Advisory Board of the American Principles Project, and former Managing Director of J. & W. Seligman & Co. Inc. and Chief Investment Strategist for Seligman Advisors. He was also Jack Kemp’s economic advisor during his 1988 presidential campaign. Click on one of the links below to listen to Chuck’s fiscal cliff predictions.

Republicans should retreat from fiscal cliff talks

Boehner should take what he can and fight another day

The fiscal cliff dysfunction is already hurting small business

Check out more of Jim’s great content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Presidential debates and NASCAR

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on November 1, 2012
in Government and Politics
. 0 Comments

For most of the history of televised presidential debates, we’ve watched them with the anticipation of auto racing fans - waiting for the next wreck. In the case of debates, a “wreck” is some kind of a “gotcha” by one candidate over the other, or a misstep by a candidate.

Presidential debate wrecks are the thing of legend: Richard Nixon sweating profusely in the 1960 debate with Jack Kennedy; Ronald Reagan’s “There you go again,” comment to Jimmy Carter in 1980; Reagan again in 1984 telling Walter Mondale he wouldn’t “hold his youth and inexperience against him”; and George H.W. Bush looking at his watch during a debate against Bill Clinton was considered a wreck to some in 1990. But perhaps the mother of all debate wrecks was when Dukakis’ 1988 running mate, Lloyd Benson t-boned Bush 41’s running-mate, Dan Quayle with the infamous, “You’re no Jack Kennedy” collision.

But all of the foregoing examples must now be considered penultimate presidential debate wrecks, because none of them approach the wipeout represented by the entire performance of Barack Obama in the first 2012 debate against Mitt Romney. In NASCAR terms, Obama’s 90 minute slow-motion wreck created what surely will become the Talladega Class of presidential debate wrecks. Not just because the President basically phoned-in his participation, but because of the way it reversed the momentum of the race like the leader of a NASCAR contest running out of gas a quarter-mile short of the checkered flag, handing the race to a driver who had previously never led a lap.

We wanted to know what our audience thought about race momentum after the first debate, so a couple of weeks ago, we asked this question in our online poll: “With less than a month before the presidential election, regardless of who you plan to vote for, who do you think will win?”

Those who chose Obama/Biden came in at 17%, and 20% said the race was “Still too close to call.” But the big group - 63% - projected that the Romney/Ryan ticket will prevail.

For generations to come, when political pundits handicap an impending presidential debate, any reference to whether debates matter - or the potential for a wreck by either of the candidates - the first reference will be to President Obama’s debate debacle on October 3, 2012 in Denver, Colorado.

The funny thing about momentum is it doesn’t belong to a political party or subscribe to an ideology. The good news for the President is that he still has one more debate to get back in the race. And if you’re like me, you’ll be watching. Because you never know when there could be another Talladega Class, presidential debate disaster.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Game-changer?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 8, 2012
in Government and Politics
. 0 Comments

Debates between presidential candidates aren’t always game-changers. But sometimes they are, like the one just competed.

It’s difficult to gauge whether people are surprised that Romney performed so commandingly, or that Obama came in third in a two-man debate. Either way, in terms of being a game-changer, this debate is being scored as one of the top three in more than a half-century.

We wanted to know what our audience’s expectations were for this debate, so in our online poll last week, we asked this question: “The first of three Presidential debates will take place this week. How will these events impact your vote?” Here’s what we learned:

Only 12% said the debate results would not change their plan to vote for the Obama/Biden ticket. The big number from our survey - 73% - said the debate would not change their vote for Romney/Ryan. Just 15% admitted that they thought the debates would influence their final decision.

If our audience is representative of the small business sector, it’s a solid Romney/Ryan constituency, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, least of all the Obama campaign. But with his poor debate performance this week, it can’t be good news for President Obama that 15% of our folks were looking forward to the debate for something to help them make their decision.

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Last week on The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about the first presidential debate with Rich Galen, Republican strategist, publisher of the popular cyber-column, Mullings.com and frequent political talking head. Click on one of the links below to download or listen to what we had to say.

Who won the first Obama-Romney debate?

The Obama-Romney debate was beautifully unstructured

Was the first Obama-Romney debate a game changer?

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Political conventions and dinosaurs

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on September 20, 2012
in Politics
. 0 Comments

The Question:
Did the political conventions impact your voting plans?

4% - My mind was not changed. I’m still voting for Obama/Biden.

76%- My mind was not changed. I’m still voting for Romney/Ryan.

2% - My mind was changed. I’m now voting for Obama/Biden.

2% - My mind was changed. I’m now voting for Romney/Ryan.

16% - I still haven’t decided.

My Comments
In two previous polls, we wanted to gauge your interest with regard to political conventions and, as you know, we reported those responses - with my commentary - at the end of each convention.

For our most recent poll - post-conventions - we wanted to know how successful you thought they were, so we asked: “Did the political conventions impact your voting plans?” Here’s what you said:

Four percent of our sample said “My mind was not changed. I’m still voting for Obama/Biden, compared to 76% who said they remained committed to Romney/Ryan.

In the mind-changing category, 2% for each party said their minds had been changed by the conventions. And finally, those reporting they are still undecided - arguably the most powerful political influencers in America - came in at 16%.

So here’s what I’m getting from the past three weeks of poll responses:

  • Small business owners are more likely to be Republicans than Democrats.
  • Both parties had very little success in changing minds.
  • There are still - incredibly - a lot of people who haven’t made up their minds about who they will vote for.
  • National conventions are experiencing the same fate as the dinosaurs.

Thanks for participating in our polls, especially these associated with the election cycle in progress. Whether we like it or not, politics impacts our businesses and, as owners, we must engage in the debate and the process. Otherwise, we will be relegated to taking what politicians - and special interest groups - give us, making the assumption that we don’t care.

Small business owners, let’s begin the process of taking back our country and reinstalling Main Street values of authenticity, intellectual honesty, accountability, market-based solutions and reverence for the U.S. Constitution.

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Bill Brandt

Rich Galen

On my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about the impact of the 2012 political conventions and their validity in the future with Bill Brandt, President and CEO of Development Specialists, Inc. and Democrat pundit, and Rich Galen, publisher of Mullings.com and Republican operative. Click on on the links below to download or listen.

Will political conventions be part of our political future? with Bill Brandt

Who won the battle of the conventions? with Rich Galen

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Political conventions, Does anybody care?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on September 7, 2012
in Government and Politics
. 0 Comments

The Question:
How much of the Republican Party Convention will you watch this week?

42% - As much as possible

32% - Probably just the last night

15% - None - conventions are no longer relevant

10% - Not interested in the Romney/Ryan message

My Comments:
The first political convention was held in 1766 to nominate a candidate for governor of Connecticut. The first convention to nominate a president was in 1831 held by the Mason Party, with Democrats and Republicans holding their first conventions in 1832.

Since the first presidential conventions - and for most of America’s political history - they served the purpose of selecting the nominee of each party, including many hotly contested and acrimonious events. For most of the past half century, however, conventions have served little more than to be a showcase for the incumbent and/or the last candidate standing in each party after the primary process - about 99% production and 1% nominating process.

Consequently, with the possibility of virtually no drama or surprises, conventions have become less of a big deal in America in the past generation. Indeed, where broadcast television networks once practiced the term they coined of “gavel to gavel” coverage, the big three - ABC, NBC and CBS - have reduced coverage from three or four hours a day for five convention days, to only the last hour each day.

We wanted to know how our small business audience felt about watching the GOP convention this year, so last week we asked this question: “How much of the Republican Party Convention will you watch this week?” Here’s what you told us.

One in ten of our respondents said, “Not interested in the Romney/Ryan message,” 15% said, “None - the conventions are no longer relevant,” and almost one third of our sample said, “Probably just the last night.” But the big number, 42%, said “As much as possible.”

This week the Democrats will stage their convention in Charlotte, N.C., where the Obama-Biden team will be nominated again. So our new poll asks the same question as last week, except for the party name change. Please make sure to register your answer.

It will be interesting to see how the new poll compares to last week’s response. I’ll have a final comment on both surveys next week. Stay tuned.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!