Archive for the 'Presidential policies' Category

Does the U.S. need another Jobs Council?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 11, 2013
in Economy: National and Global and Presidential policies
. 0 Comments

Unemployment just went up – to 7.9%. The economy just went down – negative growth in the 4th quarter 2012. Consumer confidence (Conference Board) and small business optimism (NFIB) both are down.

The government is experiencing annual operating deficits of over $1 trillion and the national debt, over $16 trillion, is on par with GDP. Let’s put that last number another way: if the U.S. were a business, it would owe as much as it sells.

With this set of realities facing our nation, it’s interesting that President Obama chose to say very little about the economy in his second inaugural address, but did talk about his climate change agenda. We wanted to know what small business owners think about the president’s priorities, so last week we asked this question in our online poll: “The President said climate change will be a major focus of his second term. What do you think?” Here’s what we were told.

Those who said, “I agree. Climate change is our greatest problem,” came in at 6%. The middle group, at 38%, believes the president “… should focus on economy recovery more than climate change.” And the rest, 56%, allowed that Mr. Obama “… should focus on the deficit and debt more than climate change.”

Clearly President Obama is watching a different ballgame than 94% of small business owners, plus we just learned that his Jobs Council was disbanded after two years. This 25-member committee is noteworthy because of the make-up of the roster: big business CEOs (16), venture capitalists (3), academia (1), politics (1), union bosses (2), and 1 – count them, ONE – small business owner.

That’s right, the group that signs the front of the largest batch of payroll checks (70 million) every week in America and has created almost every net new job for more than a generation was represented on the President’s Jobs Council by one very brave small business owner, Darlene Miller, CEO of Permac Industries, Burnsville, MN 55306. Permac has 30 employees.

Miller has been a guest on my radio program and recently told me she believes the Jobs Council actually did create jobs. But if that’s true, with more than 20 million Americans still unemployed or underemployed, shouldn’t it still be in business?

Well, the truth is the president doesn’t need a Jobs Council to create more jobs. He just needs to spend his efforts on policies that make America’s job creators think he’s watching the same ballgame as they are.

Small business owners will create more jobs when the government stops acting like it’s working against them.

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Recently on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I also talked about the lack of businesspeople in President Obama’s cabinet plus the failure of the Jobs Council with Rick Newman, chief business correspondent for U.S. News & World Report. Click on one of the links below to hear what he and I had to say. I’m also interested in what you think, so please leave a comment.

Why no business people on Obama’s cabinet? with Rick Newman

Obama is not watching the same ballgame as small businesses with Jim Blasingame

Check out more of Jim’s great content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Is Climate Change that Important?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 7, 2013
in Green Technology and Presidential policies
. 0 Comments

The Question:
The President said climate change will be a major focus of his second term. What do you think?

6% - I agree. Climate change is our greatest problem.

38% - He should focus on economy recovery more than climate change.

56% - He should focus on the deficit and debt more than climate change.

My Comments:
Clearly, President Obama and small business owners are not watching the same ballgame. Small business owners voted overwhelmingly - 94% to 6% - that the president should focus on two much more important issues other than climate change in his second term. I’ll have more to say about this next week.

Check out more of Jim’s great content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Phil Mickelson should be praised for tax comments

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 5, 2013
in Economy: National and Global and Presidential policies
. 0 Comments

In America, there are 20 million small business owners who can be further classified as independent contractors (IC).

These entrepreneurs are sole proprietors, consultants, freelancers, or anyone who works alone, without a net, on the marketplace high-wire. When the person coined the term, “Eat what you kill” he was talking about this hardy group. On the scale that measures financial and professional risk, with 10 being “made in the shade,” and 1 being “OMG,” ICs begin with a 0.1 rating and 90% never get above a 2.

One of these ICs is Phil Mickelson, professional golfer.

Mickelson, 42, is a very successful IC: World Golf Hall of Fame, short list of “Greatest Golfers of All Time” and the greatest left-handed player. “Lefty,” has won 40 PGA tournaments, including four majors, career prize money over $67 million and annual endorsements estimated at $50 million.

Just like other ICs, and unlike NFL, MLB and NBA players, Mickelson has no guaranteed contract. If he plays poorly the first two days of a tournament he is “cut” and leaves without a paycheck. And if his poor play continues long enough, not only do tournament earnings diminish, but endorsements as well. “Phil the Thrill” has earned his wealth.

Recently this native Californian made news by voicing concerns about his state’s increasing income tax rates, that with Federal rates, conservatively puts him well above the 50% level. He lamented that he might have to move, or maybe even retire. If he lived in a state with no income tax, like Texas or Florida, his tax bill would drop more than $7 million.

Many in the press were critical of Mickelson for his comments, saying he shouldn’t complain since after all, how many millions does anyone need? But this is America; we have the liberty to earn and keep as much as we can, the right to voice our displeasure when the government is taking too much, and not apologize for either.

Small business owners agree with Phil and Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who wrote that while tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance is commendable. Mickelson’s comments on high taxes were commendable, honest and courageous – too bad he later apologized.

We have just learned the U.S. economy had negative growth in the fourth quarter. One big reason we may now be slouching toward a double dip recession is because small business owners, like Mickelson, are shrugging in response to anti-growth tax and regulatory policies.

A small business owner’s motivation to take risks is in direct proportion to the level of government interference.

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Recently on The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with a couple of pretty smart guys who defend Phil Mickelson’s comments, his right to say what he did, and why his position is on target with small business optimism and growth in the U.S.

Cliff Ennico is a lawyer specializing in legal and tax issues for small businesses, and is a popular instructor at eBay University. He is a frequent contributor to Entrepreneur magazine and the author of The ebay Seller’s Tax and Legal Answer Book and Small Business Survival Guide. His weekly syndicated column, Succeeding in Your Business, appears in dozens of newspapers and websites.

Rick Newman is chief business correspondent for U.S. News & World Report and author of Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success.

Click on one of the links below to download or listen. We’d also like to know what you think, so please leave us a comment.

So what’s wrong with what Phil Mickelson said about taxes? with Rick Newman

In defense of Phil Mickelson and other small business owners with Cliff Ennico

Why Phil Mickelson was right about taxes with Jim Blasingame

Check out more of Jim’s great content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Next Main Street movie: “Small Business Shrugged”

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 14, 2013
in Economy: National and Global and Presidential policies
. 0 Comments

At this moment four years ago we were in the middle of The Great Recession whirlwind. We didn’t know how bad things were going to get because all of the shoes had not dropped in reaction to the financial crisis. Millions were still being laid off, GM and Chrysler had not yet taken bankruptcy and the federal government was injecting the first of trillions of dollars into a shell-shocked economy.

Today, 43 months after the technical end of The Great Recession, surveys I report about on my radio program (NFIB, Tatum, our online poll, etc.), indicate that about a fifth of small businesses are doing well, about as many are doing poorly, and the middle 60% are doing just okay. This economy should be a rising tide floating all boats; but it isn’t. Instead, as in 2009, every small business owner is still anxious about the next 12 months.

During recoveries of past recessions, concerns were about market dynamics created by the usual suspects: inflation, global trade, supply and demand, technology disruptions, fear and greed, etc. But this not-so-great recovery is different.

For the first time in my long career (seven recessions), the origin of what will wake up small business owners at 3am in 2013 are mostly challenges created by the federal government. Here’s the short list: higher taxes; unsustainable budget deficits and debt; hundreds of Obamacare mandates, regulations, penalties and taxes (Galen Institute); thousands of new 2013 regulations costing businesses $123 billion, plus 13.6 million compliance man-hours (American Action Forum).

But alas, there is one more thing which may be more troubling to this market sector that produces over half of the U.S. economy: A zero-sum philosophy coming from Washington that the financial success of “fortunate” Americans is at the expense of others. But successful entrepreneurs are only fortunate because, like every American, they have a Constitutional right to pursue success, not a guarantee of success.

Small businesses take economic headwinds in stride because they know the marketplace is self-healing with the passage of time. But government-created headwinds not only don’t heal, they compound, and this truth does not motivate small business owners to take risks.

Most small business owners want to grow and hire, but they don’t have to. So far, that’s not a government mandate. The next movie the political class may see playing on Main Street could be titled, “Small Business Shrugged.”

Eventually government expansion and economic expansion become mutually exclusive.

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This week on The Small Business Advocate Show I talked more about America’s lack of small business optimism and why political policies are to blame for the slow economic recovery. Click here to download or listen. Afterward, please let me know what you think.

Check out more of Jim’s great content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Which candidate is best for small business?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on November 5, 2012
in Government and Presidential policies
. 0 Comments

As a leading voice for small business success, one of the factors I track and report on is public policy. In my advocacy role, I support those issues that benefit small business and oppose those that don’t, regardless of party origin.

Every four years since 2000 I have compared the policies of the two presidential candidates with regard to their alignment with small business success. Here are comparisons for the top small business issues:

Jobs = customers
President Obama’s economic recovery plan – including spending hundreds of billions on a government approach to economic growth – has failed as a jobs creator. And yet he continues to advocate more government “investment” in the economy. Mitt Romney has stated that the best way to grow the economy is to support small businesses in their efforts to grow jobs and thus create more customers for everyone.

Taxes
The largest drain on a small business’s precious working capital is taxes. President Obama thinks of tax reform as a way to redistribute wealth from “millionaires and billionaires,” but small businesses will become collateral damage. Mitt Romney proposes tax reform where job creators pay higher taxes based on their success, plus a broader tax base so more Americans have a vested interest in our country’s future.

Health care
Obamacare will cost double the initial estimate, plus impose new fines, new taxes and onerous compliance requirements on small businesses – without benefiting them. But perhaps the worst of this law is it puts small business owners in conflict with their employees and their own growth plans.

President Obama is committed to his namesake law. Mitt Romney promises to repeal Obamacare. When we polled small business owners about Obamacare, 78% agreed with Romney.

Fuel prices
Gasoline costs small businesses and their customers almost twice what it did when Barack Obama took office.

All of the increase isn’t Obama’s fault, but presidents can influence oil prices. When crude topped $140 a barrel in 2008, President Bush simply announced he wanted to remove the offshore drilling ban and oil prices dropped like a stone.

President Obama has taken no steps to reduce oil prices – rejecting the Keystone pipeline, for example – because his alternative energy policies only work when the cost of carbon fuel is high. Mitt Romney has promised to pursue the full potential of America’s domestic energy sources.

Mitt Romney is the only presidential candidate who knows what it takes to make a payroll every Friday.

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On my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked more about my comparison of the two Presidential candidates based on issues important to the future of small business. Click here to download or listen.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Who will you elect to be the next president?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on May 4, 2012
in Economy: National and Global and Presidential policies
. 0 Comments

The Question:
In about six months either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will be elected as the next president. At this moment, who will you vote for?

12% - Barack Obama

83% - Mitt Romney

5% - Neither

My Commentary:
The Republican primary process is practically, if not technically over, and all signs point to a contest this November 6 between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Every day, one or more national polls are being released showing how these two are doing against each other either in general, or with regard to one group or another, such as independents, for example.

We wanted to know how Obama and Romney were doing with the small business electorate, so last week we asked this question of our audience: “In about six months either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will be elected as the next president. At this moment, who will you vote for?”

As you can see, if our poll is any indication regarding small business politics, President Obama has some work to do with those who create over half of America’s GDP, employ over half of all workers and create most of the new jobs. Can he close the gap?

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I have talked to several experts on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, about the 2012 election, why it’s so important, and the prospects of the two parties. Click here to see the list and download or listen.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!