Archive for the 'Universal health care' Category

Small business owners answer questions about growth

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on September 1, 2010
in Economy: National and Global, Government, Regulations, Uncategorized and Universal health care
. 0 Comments

One of the big issues these days is why the economy isn’t growing. Many people believe one reason is because businesses, especially small ones, are so uncertain about the future that they aren’t taking the risks associated with growth activity, like hiring more people, borrowing money or other expansion steps.

We wanted to know what small business owners think about this, so we asked our NEWSLETTER subscribers and website visitors to tell us about their perspectives on growth opportunity. Here is the question we asked: Please, tell us where you fall in this issue. “I am not taking growth steps because…”

Here’s how our respondents answered:

23% said:  I’m worried about the economy in general.

15% said:  I can’t get financing to fund growth opportunities.

58% said:  Government actions make me uncertain about the future.

4% said:  We are not experiencing growth opportunities

Perhaps the good news is that only four percent of our respondents indicated they were not experiencing growth opportunities.  The bad news is, as you can see above, 96% of responders were so troubled by three issues that they either can’t or aren’t growing their businesses.

These responses track pretty closely with others I have seen lately.  There is no way to sugar-coat this: When small business owners are troubled, the economy is troubled.  I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I do know that my prediction earlier this year in an article titled, “The shape of this recovery is M” is coming to pass. This recovery is more of a marathon not a sprint.

But we’ve come too far to quit now.  This is no hill for a climber, and you’re a climber.  I’m proud of you. You should be proud of yourself.

To participate in next week’s poll question, visit www.smallbusinessadvocate.com and vote.

What President Obama doesn’t get about creating small business jobs

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 30, 2010
in Economy: National and Global, Politics, Presidential policies and Universal health care
. 1 Comment

In the two previous posts, I reported on things I liked about President Obama’s State of the Union speech and my critique of his specific small business jobs-creation ideas.  In this post, I predict that all of the tax credits, bank loans or other policy gyrations designed to influence small businesses to create new jobs will fall woefully short of a successful result because none of these issues are the reason businesses aren’t creating jobs. The reason for sluggish jobs creation is best described by paraphrasing a recent movie title: Mr. President, we’re just not that into your policy initiatives.  Here are the two issues Obama doubled-down on in his speech that are in direct conflict with his hope of new small business jobs.

Health care reform: Most Main Street small business owners will be reluctant to hire new employees as long as Obama and his party’s leadership push a health care reform agenda that sounds confusing at best and prohibitively expensive at worst.  Mr. President, if you want more small business jobs, scrap the current health care reform bill in Congress and start over with market-based solutions that make health insurance portable by giving tax advantages to the individual rather than the 20th century model of deductions for the employer.

Climate change legislation: America’s businesses, large and small, are already the most carbon-efficient in the world when the appropriate measurement is ascribed, per dollar of GDP.  Mr. Obama should congratulate businesses for this and encourage more of the same, instead of deriding and demotivating the marketplace with his climate-change policies that cause small businesses concern over what will happen to their energy budget if the current climate-change legislation is passed. 

President Obama, your current strategy for motivating small businesses to hire more people won’t work. You need better small business advisors who can prevent you from embarrassing yourself with statements and proposals that demonstrate how out-of-touch you are with Main Street.

Recently on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I reported in more detail on these issues. Take a few minutes to listen and, as always, let me know what you think the government can do to help small businesses hire more people. Listen Live! Download, Too!

The difference between health care reform and politics

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 8, 2010
in Universal health care
. 0 Comments

In the beginning, there was a philosophical desire to reform health care in America. One thing that most people on both sides of the debate agreed upon is that something must be done to improve the way we deliver and pay for health care. Initially, the debate was over how to accomplish that Herculean task.

In Biblical days, the Pharisees had, as they claimed, the power “to bind and loose.” Currently, Democrats have this kind of legislative power, but interestingly enough, there is a debate within the debate among the Democrats as to how to accomplish reform, primarily along the lines of how much the government should be involved in our health care system.

When you blend this debate-within-the-debate with the political prudence of galvanizing some kind of bipartisan reform legislation, then stir in the arbitrary time pressure President Obama and the Democrat leadership has placed on this process, the result is a contest between so many different legislative proposals that the average person watching can’t possibly score this game at home.

In all of this convolution, there is one thing that is starting to become clear to regular folks: those in the “damn the political torpedoes, full speed ahead with reform now” camp are starting to look like their objective has evolved from health care reform for its own sake to health care reform purely for the sake of politics. No one is naive enough to believe that any health care reform won’t be political, but when we’re talking about a topic that involves 17% of the U.S. economy and has few peers in terms of the personal impact on every American, shouldn’t we expect the final product to actually be more focused on reform than on accomplishing a political win?

Watching this embarrassing mayhem has led me to want no health care reform legislation at all right now. Any bill produced in the current process will be so flawed that it will surely create more damage than solution. The reform process should be scrapped completely until market opportunities and governmental checks and balances can be debated with the single purpose of setting our health care system on a track that makes sense for Americans living in the societal and market realities of the 21st century, not a victim of the vestiges of 20th century political party dysfunction.

As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

The compelling political stories of 2010

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 7, 2010
in Future thinking, Presidential policies and Universal health care
. 0 Comments

Does health care legislation still have some hurdles that could derail passage? Could the Democrats lose their majority as a result of their policies? With an opportunity to take advantage, will Republicans be effective or feckless?  Political operative, Rich Galen,  joins me on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, to discussed these issues, plus Rich makes a bold prediction that surprise even me.

Rich is a long-time Brain Trust member, and is the publisher and writer of the thrice-weekly e-zine, Mullings.com. Take a few minutes to listen to this interview and, as always, leave your thoughts on what you think about 2010 politics. Listen Live! Download, Too!

Jim Blasingame’s 2010 crystal ball predictions

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 6, 2010
in Banking - Investors - Capital, Customer Care, Economy: National and Global, Future thinking, Presidential policies, Social Media and Universal health care
. 0 Comments

This year marks the 10th year of my Small Business Advocate Crystal Ball predictions. For the first nine years, my accuracy percentage has averaged 70%, including 13 for 16 in 2009. Take a look and see what you think about how I will do in 2010.

2010 Prediction: The fragile economic recovery will continue at a marathon pace with steady annual GDP growth of between 2% and 3%.

2010 Prediction: Surviving small businesses will have fewer competitors due to recession casualties and fewer start-ups.

2010 Prediction: Big business layoffs in 2008-09 will produce small business opportunity in two ways: less competition for customers and outsourced business from the big guys.

2010 Prediction: Reversing the 2009 trend, growing small business loan demand will signal Main Street recovery.

2010 Prediction: Improved balance sheets and TARP repayment won’t cause large banks to increase small business lending.

2010 Prediction: Community banks will continue to increase as the option-of-choice for small business growth capital.

2010 Prediction: The multifaceted challenges of the real estate triumvirate of housing, mortgages and commercial will continue to produce significant economic headwinds.

2010 Prediction: The second jobless recovery in a decade will result in unemployment above 9% at year-end.

2010 Prediction: Diminished consumer credit, combined with a new aversion to debt, will stunt economic growth.

2010 Prediction: U.S. stock markets ended 2009 flush due to earnings based on expense cuts, not revenue growth. This scenario will not repeat in 2010.

2010 Prediction: So called “health care reform” legislation will be signed into law along strict party lines.

2010 Prediction: Election-year realities will cause Democrats to forsake their leadership’s goals for pro-union and cap-and-trade legislation.

2010 Prediction: Republicans will increase seats in both houses without gaining control of either but will win a filibuster minority in the Senate.

2010 Prediction: The federal government will intervene to keep California out of bankruptcy. New York will follow.

2010 Prediction: Under pressure from within and without, a desperate Iranian government will take steps that disrupt geopolitics and global markets.

2010 Prediction: Recognizing the power of community building technologies and practices, small businesses will increasingly leverage these tools to find new competitive advantages.

2010 Prediction: With increased product information and user experiences available online, The Age of the Customer has begun. More customers will choose businesses offering online platforms that promote dialogue and deliver targeted information.

Finally, continue to expect a deliberate, marathon-like recovery.

I talked about these predictions in more detail recently on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show. Take a few minutes to listen and let me know what you think about my prophecies. Listen Live! Download, Too!

2010 economic forecast and the impact of government on it

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 6, 2010
in Economy: National and Global, Government and Universal health care
. 0 Comments

What is ahead of us with the economy and how much will government policies impact the recovery? Bill Brandt joined me today on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, to discuss the dynamics of the economic recovery between the solutions we should naturally expect from the marketplace and the artificial, and often harmful, effects of government intervention.

A long-time member of my Brain Trust, Bill is President and CEO of Development Specialists, Inc., a firm specializing in the consulting and turnaround assistance to troubled or reorganizing concerns. Take a few minutes to listen to this interview and, as always, leave your thoughts on the way the federal government is attempting to influence economic recovery. Listen Live! Download, Too!