Government Spending
Government Spending: Small Businesses Have a Bottom Line - Government Should, Too
Political opportunism and careless policymaking have carried our nation's debt and deficits to staggering levels. Government spending continues to rise and our nation's job creators - small businesses - cannot afford to be taxed any longer to keep paying for these rising costs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the budget deficits in 2009 and 2010, as measured as a share of GDP, were the largest since 1945.
Our nation's small businesses are calling on Congress to fix this dangerous situation without damaging economic growth or raising taxes on job creators. NFIB members are greatly concerned about how this fiscal threat will affect their bottom line.
The Federal Budget Debate: Serious Fiscal Reform Starts with Significant Spending Cuts
The debate over the size and scope of the federal budget has begun, and unfortunately it starts with lawmakers dealing with an eye-popping $14 trillion federal debt. While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize this is an unsustainable fiscal challenge that is harmful to our economy, they differ on how to fix the problem.
The Obama Administration struck first with a 2012 budget plan that raises taxes on small business owners without first forcing significant spending cuts. The spending blueprint would pay for Washington’s deficit woes with a menu of ill-advised tax increases that would raise unemployment taxes, estate taxes and individual rates.
The Obama budget proposes to increase taxes on couples above $250,000 in 2012. In addition, the administration outlines a plan to help states pay for rising unemployment costs by proposing a net $58.5 billion increase in payroll taxes.
This approach – taxing our way out of debt – is not the fiscal reform that small business owners have been seeking, especially when sales continue to be low and job creation has been stagnant.
As your elected officials return from Washington to spend the President’s Day Congressional Recess (Feb. 21 to 25) at home, please make sure you remind them of the importance of protecting the small business community during the budget debate.
Here are three small business points to tell your Congressman about the budget showdown:
- Don’t raise taxes on small business to pay for your spending problem.
- Put meaningful spending cuts into place and reduce our debt load.
- Review federal agencies and cut duplicative and wasteful federal programs.
Call Congress and Remind Lawmakers that Fiscal Reform Starts with Significant Spending Cuts, Not Tax Increases