With all the members that NFIB has, I wonder why there is so little activity in the discussion forum? I don't think the forum has been well publicized. I only stumbled across it by accident.

Perhaps this is not the purpose of the forum, but it seems to me there are a number of issues NFIB should be addressing but (other than health care) I don't know the official positions on.

What about:

Income Taxes: (why do the feds tax our working capital?)

FairTax: (pros/cons of the FairTax or a national sales tax in lieu of income tax)

SBA Lending: Who cares? They are next to impossible to deal with and most small businesses aren't looking for more debt at this time.

Not easy to figure out how to respond. I share your desire to hear more from the members. What do others see as the true differences in policy between the Govnor=candidates -- especially any policies most likely to affect small business? Yes, we know that both are relatively middle-of-the-road. Yes, we fear that this election will be buffeted not by our local Virginia issues but by the national partisan politics. The pro-Obama press will do everything to make it into a referendum on Obama policies, undoutedly.
Also, the Kaine administration has been taking steps (to tighten belts everywhere) that directly hurt small business -- example, no longer using outside contractors to collect bad debts owed to the State. Why aren't we hearing more about these nati-small-business steps?
And I'd like to know more about what our Virignia/NFIB will be doing to support House candidates (especially) in the upcoming races. Yes, we will give our "small business" awards, which the candidate's staff can trumpet if they wish. And NFIB might give a few dollars to a few candidates. But cannot NFIB/Virginia help local members, who want to support know pro-bsuiness candidates, some advice/support/background to make the membership's support more effective?

It seems to me that NFIB should be encouraging a little more grassroots feedback. The ballots are useful to a degree, but the issues are pre-determined. My membership would have a lot more value to me if there were a mechanism for more involvement by members in determining the specific issues that end up at the forefront of NFIB lobbying efforts.

Thank you for your feedback. Our discussion forum is still new but we encourage all NFIB members to share their views and use it more often.

Thank you for helping spread the word about our forum. I will forward your concerns to the appropriate staff at NFIB and they'll follow up soon.

Thank you again.

Ani Matson
Online Communications Director
NFIB

FYI I noticed in the My Business magazine that there are discussion forums, but when I logged on...I had to use the search to find them. I am assuming the info you are forwarding will help it be easier to find. (Edit) I see it now at the bottom of the main page, but I must not have scrolled down and I didn't see it in the top menu bar.

Thanks so much!

I would like to thank the members who have taken advantage of the discussion board in order to inquire how they can become more involved in NFIB's grassroots activities. Your interest is appreciated and any way you get involved is greatly valued.

In that spirit, there are a number of ways to get active with NFIB and promote a pro-growth, small business agenda.

First, get involved at the state level. Utilize the calendar function on NFIB.com and see if there are local events in your area. Also feel free to contact your NFIB state staff members to get a better idea of what is happening in your area and how members are getting involved (state contact information can be found on your respective NFIB.com state page).

Second, help NFIB get the small business perspective to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The easiest way is to visit the Issues & Elections section of NFIB.com. Throughout the site there are a number of action alerts that provide members with template letter and phone scripts that they can use to contact congress about the most pressing issues facing small business owners - healthcare reform, cap and trade and labor policy.

Copy and paste the following link into your browser to learn more - http://www.nfib.com/tabid/733/Default.aspx

In addition we are always looking for members who are truly committed to activism and who would want to serve in a "grasstops" leadership role on behalf the nation's small business owners. NFIB facilitates these stakeholders in our KEY CONTACT NETWORK PROGRAM. Send us your name, business name and location to grassroots@nfib.org if you are interested in learning more about the network.

Again, thank you taking advantage of this forum. Continue to use it to discuss how grassroots activities and how NFIB can help you get more involved.

Andrew Fimka
Director, Political and Legislative Advocacy
NFIB

I have just returned from the NFIB Retreat in Yakima. It was a refreshing look at what we small business owners could be seeing from our legislature. While most of us have cutback in expenses we found that L & I's claims are dpwn 50% and their expenses are up any where from 19 - 28% depending upon what expenses are included. Because of that L & I premiums (Taxes to us) are going up on average a 7.6%!
As a 13 year member of the Leadershiop Council, I find this atrocious. What are your thoughts?

Hal Palmer
Longview, WA

PS The retreat was in Walla Walla not Yakima!

Hal:

It was great seeing you at the NFIB/WA Leadership Council meeting in Walla Walla. It's clear you were paying close attention to both presenters who spoke about what's going on at the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).

I'm glad to see you asking other NFIB/WA members what they think about the problems at the department -- and what we can do to solve them.

You might be interested to watch the TVW "Insight" interview from yesterday where L&I Assistant Director Bob Malooly discussed the proposed $117 million rate hike and I offered two solutions to help bring costs down. The program itself as well as the rebroadcast schedule is available online at:

http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2009090101&TYPE=V&CFID=928919&CFTOKEN=92323944&bhcp=1.

I too am curious to learn what other NFIB/WA members think about this issue ... and whether there will be enthusiasm to push a ballot measure finally privatizing Washington state's failing "public option" health care system for injured workers.

Thanks for asking your fellow members such a great question!

Patrick Connor
NFIB/Washington State Director