Washington, DC
(September 3, 2014) – House Speaker Thom Tillis clearly understands how
federal policies have affected North Carolina small businesses but the same
can’t be said for US Senator Kay Hagan, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
“We didn’t expect Senator Hagan to repudiate her own record
but we were hoping to hear a more honest assessment of the relationship between
Washington and North Carolina,” said NFIB
Vice President Lisa Goeas. “The
administration’s policies haven’t been merely ineffective, they’ve been
damaging. Even its allies in the Senate
should be able to acknowledge that and be willing to change course.”
Both candidates made references to small businesses during
their exchange but it was only Tillis who appeared to know why so many have
lost trust in the federal government.
“The Speaker made it clear that Obamacare doesn’t simply
have a few flaws. Obamacare is the
flaw,” said Goeas. “Small business
owners understand that this law is an impediment to growth and that it will
take more than a little tinkering to fix the problems.”
The unpopular health care law, which small business owners
strongly opposed, came up very early in the debate. Hagan, who voted for the bill, said she’s
busy “fixing the broken law” but didn’t really acknowledge the massive problems
it’s causing or how she plans to remedy them.
“Thousands of North Carolinians, including small businesses,
were stripped of their policies and herded into the exchanges because of the
law that the Senator now claims to be fixing,” said Goeas. “If she had listened to them from the
beginning, she would never have voted for the law. And if she were listening to them now she’d
be working to repeal its most burdensome provisions.”
The minimum wage was also a hot issue. President Obama earlier this year proposed
raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour, a 39
percent increase in the cost of hourly labor that many small business owners
don’t think they can absorb. Hagan said
she’d vote for the mandate. Tillis
argued that North Carolina small businesses don’t need another heavy regulatory
burden from Washington.
“Thom Tillis is a businessman who understands that the money
has to come from somewhere,” said Goeas.
“The Senator very clearly assumes that small businesses can somehow
absorb a big increase in labor costs without a corresponding increase in
sales. That’s not the real world.”
The North Carolina senate race could determine the balance
of power in Washington and potentially arrest or reverse Washington’s mistakes.
“This is one of the most important races in the country and
it has significant national implications,” said Goeas. “It’s important that we get this right and
small business owners will be paying close attention.”
For more information about NFIB, please visit www.nfib.com.
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