08/ 01/ 2004
by Jack Faris
If you’re waiting for Congress to help you find affordable health insurance, good luck. If you haven’t seen any legislation to deal with frivolous lawsuits, don’t hold your breath. Help with high energy costs? Forget about it!Lawmakers won’t be spending much time in Washington this fall. It’s an election year. Most likely, those who will deal with health insurance, energy costs and civil justice reform – three of your top-10 problems, according to a new NFIB survey – will be elected Nov. 2.
We had high hopes for the 108th Congress. With both houses controlled by Republicans and President Bush committed to helping small business, it seemed reasonable to assume that the problems that have dogged you for years would get the attention they require. It didn’t happen.
Consider your No. 1 problem: affordable health insurance. One immediate remedy is Small-Business Health Plans (also called Association Health Plans, AHPs), which would allow small firms to band together and purchase insurance through an association such as NFIB.
The president called for passage of AHPs in his State of the Union address last January. The House has voted seven times to permit Small-Business Health Plans. But the Senate has not taken up the legislation. The problem: Some senators appear to be best friends of small business when they are back home, but in Washington they seem mesmerized by the arguments of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, labor unions, big businesses, liberal health groups and state officials threatened by the idea of Small-Business Health Plans. NFIB’s petition drive calling on senators to pass the legislation is getting the attention of some. You will have to deal with others in November.
It’s the same story fighting frivolous lawsuits. The roadblock is in the Senate, where the trial lawyers – whose campaign contributions are significant – have the support of enough senators to block any meaningful civil justice reform.
Even permanent repeal of the death tax is in trouble. The law repealing the tax expires in 2010; in 2011 the tax rate returns to 55 percent. In the Senate, the votes for repeal aren’t there.
You can fix the problem by sending the right people to Washington Nov. 2. You vote in huge numbers. Voters prefer candidates you support almost 3-to-1 over those supported by organized labor. Use your power as a small-business owner – a respected figure in your community – to make the difference this November.
It’s as easy as 1-3-10! First, vote early (many states allow you to vote days and even weeks in advance; if not, use an absentee ballot). Next, call three of your colleagues, neighbors or friends and ask them to do the same thing (vote early and contact three people). And on Election Day keep calling 10 friends until they tell you they have voted. Make sure the people you send to Washington this fall will take on the problems important to small business.
