http://www.nfib.com/NFIB President/CEO Todd Stottlemyer shares his views on small business today.en-usEM3 iOnwebmaster@nfib.orghttp://www.nfib.com/object/IO_37063.htmlWho among us has not felt the bite of rising healthcare costs in recent years?<br><br>That certainly includes small business owners. The cost of healthcare is crushing America's small businesses. It's clear that small businesses have been hit the hardest by this crisis. Of the 46 million Americans who lack health insurance coverage, more than 27 million of those are small business owners, employees and their dependents. In addition, small businesses have experienced 129 percent health insurance premium increases over the last eight years, and pay on average nearly 20 percent more than large businesses for the same healthcare benefits. Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_36738.htmlEntrepreneurs who own and operate seasonal businesses across the country are in near-panic mode because of Congress’ failure to act on the little-known H-2B program. H-2B visas allow thousands of legal workers to come to this country, on a temporary basis, to fill jobs for which no American workers are available.Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_36426.htmlAccording to the Labor Department, Americans will have an average of 10 jobs before they are age 36. Never has it been clearer that we must have a healthcare marketplace that provides this mobile workforce with the options and the freedom to make good entrepreneurial decisions. Unfortunately, what we have today is an inflexible, inadaptable health insurance system that doesn't fit the needs of our ever-changing workforce. Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_36091.htmlYou might have missed that news amidst the recent front-page reporting of economic gloom and doom and headlines about interest rate cuts. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees actually added 66,000 jobs in December. During 2007, small businesses added a total of 716,000 jobs, according to the ADP National Employment Report, which tracks the payroll data of several hundred thousand businesses. In fact, the firm says that in 11 of the past 12 months, small businesses added more jobs than medium- and large-size businesses combined.Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_35695.htmlWe've said this before, but it bears repeating: Small businesses have said consistently for 20 years that access to affordable health care is their biggest concern and the problem is even greater today.Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_35553.htmlWe're well into the annual holiday season, when people across America stop to take stock of the blessings they've experienced over the past year and begin to look ahead to 2008.Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_35241.htmlMany people get frustrated by gridlock, whether it's traffic or political. Of the two, the political kind has far worse effects on our economy. So four leading organizations have decided to do something about it. The National Federation of Independent Business, AARP, the Service Employees International Union and the Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of leading American companies, have come together in a coalition called Divided We Fail.Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_34978.htmlNew York Rep. Charles Rangel, the chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, last week said he was willing to consider reducing tax rates on America's corporations to help them remain competitive in a global economy.Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_34600.htmlAmericans across the country will take time Monday to celebrate Labor Day, a time to be with family and friends and to reflect on a year's worth of hard work. Unfortunately, while Americans are enjoying hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, Congress is cooking up ideas that would prove costly to small employers and their employees.Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_34288.htmlYou've probably heard a saying that goes something like this: When California sneezes, the rest of the country catches the flu. The metaphor describes how the Golden State frequently sets trends that sweep across America like a virulent infection. Sometimes the trends are harmless, even fun, such as skateboarding or roller-blading. Other times, the standard California sets is ultimately beneficial, such as those that have led to lower vehicle emissions and cleaner air.Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_33951.htmlWhen you look back on American history, you realize that the founders and early leaders of our country were at heart entrepreneurs. Risk-takers boarded ships to make a dangerous ocean crossing, looking for new opportunities in a new land. Later adventurers loaded wagons and headed west for the same reason.Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_33746.htmlA Washington, D.C.-based lawyer has filed a $65 million lawsuit against a local dry cleaner for a missing pair of pants. Despite the fact that the pants were found and the owners attempted to settle the case, the lawyer instead brought a suit claiming that the shop was violating consumer protection laws.Mon, 04 Jun 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_33251.htmlYou could hear the sighs of relief as millions of tax returns were dropped at post offices across the land; another tax deadline has come and gone. But at the same time, many taxpayers were left scratching their heads, wondering why filing a return is so hard.Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_32910.htmlSuccessful entrepreneurs know that a key factor in running a thriving business is a good relationship between the owners and their employees. In the current economy, with nearly full employment and intense competition for good workers, it's clearly in their interests to foster that relationship.Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_32213.htmlThe IRS recently announced that the agency intends to target small businesses for increased scrutiny and audits to close what's called the tax gap--the difference between what's owed to the government and what's actually collected.Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_31622.htmlIn every Congress, many laws are introduced that go nowhere, simply languishing in the process, particularly when proposed by the minority party. Now that control of Congress has flipped, several ideas that have been in legislative limbo are likely to be revived, and small businesses need to be concerned about two.Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_31447.htmlPoliticians and pundits are still parsing the results of November's midterm elections, which resulted in the change of control of both the House and Senate. They're trying to divine the meaning of this flip in Congressional leadership and predict the country's direction leading up to 2008. <br>But the most pressing concern for small-business owners and entrepreneurs is what the results mean for your business. So let's put the election in perspective.Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_31212.htmlThe midterm elections next week are critical to small-business owners. Ask yourself if you stand for a fair and level playing field for all businesses in this country? Do you stand for equal access to health care, at a fair cost? For lower taxes, so that businesses can reinvest its profits and create more jobs? Do you stand for an end to burdensome, intrusive government regulations?Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_30786.htmlVote early and often. That old saying often heard around Election Day is meant as a funny throwback to the days of rampant vote fraud and ballot-box stuffing. Although said in jest, there's nothing funny about denying someone the right to vote. And yet 32 million potential voters failed to register in 2004, denying themselves that very right because they never took the time to exercise this most basic of American rights. In addition, according to the Census Bureau, 19 million registered voters failed to cast their ballots in 2000; 10 percent of them said business kept them from voting.Tue, 03 Oct 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_29518.htmlThu, 03 Aug 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_29157.htmlWhen it comes to expensive antiques, the gift that a large crowd of small-business owners shared in Washington last month has no equal. But they had little time to reflect on a soon-to-be 230-year-old endowment proclaiming their rights to a representative government; they were exercising it to the fullest, fanning out across Capitol Hill to meet one-to-one with legislators.Thu, 06 Jul 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_28639.htmlThroughout the history of American politics, two groups of citizens have had a major impact on the outcome of elections. One group is known as the "silent vote" or the "stay-at-homes"—registered voters who don't care enough about the future of their nation to take the time and effort to go to the polls and exercise their democratic right to cast a ballot. The other group is America's small-business owners. Mon, 05 Jun 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_28075.htmlAfter many years of fighting to allow small business to have more of a voice in their health-care choices, there is a strong bipartisan bill in the Senate from Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. They both agree that something must be done soon to help curb costs for America’s small business. S. 1955, “The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2005,” will allow for the creation Small-Business Health Plans, which will give small employers the same buying power as Fortune 500 companies and unions.Tue, 02 May 2006 00:00:00 PST http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_27669.htmlIn Washington this week, the focus has been on security, border protection and illegal workers. Regardless of the ultimate results of the debate, which continues as I write, you can be sure that it will be yet another employment law that small-business owners will need to understand and follow.Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:00:00 PST