Giving Them The Business End

We keep hearing from Republicans that "Obama regulations and high taxes are destroying America's small businesses and jobs!" and repeat it as a mantra, which largely goes unchallenged by the "liberal" media.  When asked for proof, Republicans usually just go SHUT UP CUT TAXES NOW and cover their ears.  McClatchy finally got around to asking small business owners if regulations and taxes were putting them out of business.

They said "no."

McClatchy reached out to owners of small businesses, many of them mom-and-pop operations, to find out whether they indeed were being choked by regulation, whether uncertainty over taxes affected their hiring plans and whether the health care overhaul was helping or hurting their business.

Their response was surprising.

None of the business owners complained about regulation in their particular industries, and most seemed to welcome it. Some pointed to the lack of regulation in mortgage lending as a principal cause of the financial crisis that brought about the Great Recession of 2007-09 and its grim aftermath.

Hey wait a minute, it's like there's another cause out there or something.

Then there's Rip Daniels. He owns four businesses in Gulfport, Miss.: real estate ventures, a radio station and a boutique hotel/bistro. He said his problem wasn't regulation.

"Absolutely, positively not. What is choking my business is insurance. What's choking all business is insurance. You cannot go into business, any business — small business or large business — unless you can afford insurance," he told Biloxi's Sun Herald.

Since 2008, Daniels has opened one business and expanded another, hiring as many as 15 people thanks to lower labor costs and an abundance of overqualified job candidates. He credits the federal stimulus effort with helping to keep some smaller firms afloat.

"It allowed those folks to spend and have money and pay for the essentials," said Daniels, whose business pays corporate taxes. He grudgingly supports closing some business tax deductions to reduce the federal budget deficit.

"Who wants to pay more? I certainly don't. I want to pay my fair share, and I do," Daniels said, adding that he wouldn't resist loophole closures to cut deficits.

Gosh, don't free market businesses provide insurance?  And here's a guy saying yes, Obama's "failed" stimulus saved businesses.  On top of that, he wants to close business tax loopholes.  And he's saying that because right now it's an employer's market:  he's got a number of highly qualified candidates to choose from.

It's like President Obama knew what he was doing with the stimulus plan, and that small business owners really do want to hire.  It's craaaaaaaaazy.