Small Business Owners

[zuzu98]

Of all of the undecided/"soft" B/C supporters I talk to about this election, it seems that small business owners are the hardest group to sway. I have printed out the information from the K/E website, but I am wondering if others out there have ideas/suggestions for persuasive arguments with small business owners (or their employees).

Thanks for any input!

[rockymountaindem]

1. My dad is an ex-GOP small business man.

Well, he alternated between Republican and Democrats in the past, but I don't think he's voted GOP in a while. When I asked him why he stopped being a Republican, he said "Well, I thought they were for small business and the little guy..."

I'm proud that he wised up to the fact that the GOP is for big-money interests only. Does that make him a flip-flopper? :)

[notadmblnd]

2. exactly. I was speaking to a guy at the local cider mill

Sunday, we were lamenting how the urban development and growth had ruined it. One of the statements that I made is that the Me publicans (usually small business owners)think that as long as they got theirs, everyone else can go to hell. What they don't realize is that when the average worker has been economically raped and squeezed to death, they'll be next on the list. Because with these crooks having it all is never enough. It's just a matter of time, and the Me-publicans will have theirs taken away too.

[napi21]

3. Here are 2 links you might want to try.

Here's a link to a schedule Delliot Touche prepared that explains how the Kerry tax plan would affect individual filers, & small business owners who use the individual tax tables.

http://www.deloitte.com-dtt-cda-doc-content-Kerry Tax Table.pdf

You can also check FactCheck. They have a fairly long, but good explaination of both sides of the tax plan.

http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx@DocID=265.html

Edit pdf link

[merh]

24. Deloitte is a big time repuke supporter

Just an FYI!

[fugue]

4. I've got a story for you . . .

I work for a small business. I used to work for a big one (the local university--if you don't think large universities are major corporations, you don't know large-university working life).

I was laid off from the university last year, and my health benefits will run out in the not-too-distant future. I must have health insurance; I cannot afford even one of my prescriptions without it. My boss cannot afford health insurance for me. I know. I do her books.

I told her I'd have to leave her company and go back to the university to get health benefits. "No, I don't want you working there." (She knows how miserable I was.) She said she'd get me insurance. I pointed out that insurance for a person going on forty (I'm the oldest person in the company, by a comfortable margin ^_^), with a history of medical problems is not cheap. She insists she will find the money and I shouldn't worry about it. We'll see. If she can't find the money, I will have to go back to the university.

Big corporations can afford health benefits for their employees, but small businesses usually cannot. Supporting national health insurance is therefore pro-small business; it levels the playing field for small businesses on the health benefits issue. I am convinced that the Bush administration is against national health insurance because it is anti-megacorp.

My boss, an entrepreneur with more than one small business and from an entrepreneurial family (every adult member owns at least one business) in Arizona, is voting Kerry-Edwards. The business of hers that I work for is, by the way, one of the S-Corps that Bush was talking about in the second debate, and she still thinks Kerry-Edwards is a better deal for her business. Among other reasons, her business involves working with individuals outside the United States, and they're really not keen on Americans right now. You don't need that kind of strike against you when you're trying to make business deals.

I've toyed with writing Paul Krugman and asking him to make the case of Kerry-Edwards as the pro-small business team rather than Bush-Cheney. What Bush-Cheney support is big corporations, and keep in mind that one of the things big corporations want squelched is small businesses. . . .

[medeak]

5. Bush's insurance plan is tough to beat

That's been our biggest hardship...is insuring employees. Bush's plan to get small business the same rate as large ones makes hell of lot of sense.

Husband is undecided....and that's the quagmire for him.

Please no flames thrown at me.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. You're kidding, what insurance plan?

I'm a small business owner, with 25 employees. We use to have 30, but that was back when Clinton was President.

I pay for 100% of my employees health insurance after one year of full time employment. This costs us approximately one full time position.

The rates that I pay has a small group, are not that much more than the big corps. Years ago the State of Florida decided to offer a plan where small businesses could go in together and supposedly get a better rate. I never joined it because it was not any cheaper than the plan I already had. Plus the plan I had, had better benefits.

So if Bush has some great plan that I haven't heard about, that's for real, please tell me about it.

[medeak]

7. he's been talking about it

we have 70 employees and it's hard to keep up with mines here benefit wise...but we do.

bush says he's going to have small businesses join group of large corporations to get same costs. Probably blowing smoke...but it got husband's attention. He turned off husband big time with stem cell position thank goodness.

We struggle as have had employee with Chrone's and million dollar baby. Any major illness and insurance company takes advantage.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Ask your insurance provider

how much the premiums would be if you had enough employees to qualify has a big corp. I think you will find that there is not that big a difference anymore.

W is full of it and besides Congress would have to pass a bill to make it happen. So far, even with a Republican Congress and Republican President, very little has been done for small businesses since Bush took office.

If he really did have a plan to cut our rates, than why did he let them go sky high for the last four years? It's time for a change, don't you think?

[medeak]

12. father in law is insurance provider

believe me he's tried everything. Said if he had it to do over again he would have gone into different field as insurance companies are so greedy corrupt.

[medeak]

15. good point

why hasn't he done anything yet!

[IIgnoreNobody]

19. Please post a liink to this mythical Bush 'plan' -- does it really exist?

Republicans control the House and Senate... if Bush has a plan to expand insurance why didn't he enact it?

[F.Gordon]

22. Have your husband read this.....

http://www.nsbaadvocate.com/content/438.shtml

Our insurance carrier is now bound by state laws. If the AHP becomes federal law (oh, the irony....) the insurance carriers can then group across states and won't be bound to any one state regulation.

So, where are the cost differences sent? Back to the states. Our carrier already charges us for the additional costs on the state programs they are required to provide. The AHP's will force the state carriers to either raise premiums or reduce benefits or both. The AHP’s that bush* wants can then do the same “to be competitive”.

Either way, Small Business is screwed again by this clueless bunch. Oh, and do you know what “Small Business” bush* is appealing to here? Can you say…..Churches.

[sandnsea]

16. Oh bull

It's medical savings accounts. I looked into them 5 years ago and they cost just as much as regular insurance. They only cover catastrophic illnesses, your regular doctor's visits come out of the savings part. Less coverage, same rates. Especially when you consider private pays are billed higher rates than insurance companies are.

Kerry's plan is much better. Buy into the federal insurance that already exists and already has many options and is already cheaper than anything small business can join together to get. Join a preventive program and have your catastrohpic cases pulled out of your pool, reducing premiums by $1,000 per person that you pass on to your employees meaning an instant raise for them. 50% tax credits for insuring employees. Plus there's the payroll tax credit for new hires. He's way better for the truly small business person. He chaired the small business committee since 1996, he's spearheaded alot of the changes that have been made in the SBA since then. Alot of the changes in federal procurement and empowerment zones are his.

[The empressof all]

20. No flames but

At this point in time the difference between small and big business cost are insignificant. As a small business owner i am able to purchase group rates through our business association. The reality is that it is still not affordable. Just because you own a business doesn't mean you are making enough money to support your staff as much as we would like.

[medeak]

21. if you have employee with catastrophic illness

at this time it's nearly impossible to change companies without ridiculous increases.

[w4rma]

8. Small buisness owners are getting the hardest hit by the big corps

who are working to crowd them out of buisness.

[roseBudd]

9. Letter signed by major Business college professors

http://www.openlettertothepresident.org/

As professors of economics and business, we are concerned that U.S. economic policy has taken a dangerous turn under your stewardship

snip

The data make clear that your policy of slashing taxes – primarily for those at the upper reaches of the income distribution – has not worked. The fiscal reversal that has taken place under your leadership is so extreme that it would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

snip

These sorts of deficits crowd out private investment and are politically addictive. They also place a heavy burden on monetary policy – and create additional pressure for higher interest rates – by stoking inflationary expectations. If your economic advisers are telling you that these deficits can be defeated through further reductions in tax rates, then you need new advisers.

snip

Some degree of inequality is inherent in any free market economy, creating positive incentives for economic and technological advancement. But when inequality becomes extreme, it can be socially corrosive and economically dysfunctional. Problems of this sort are visible throughout much of the developing world. At the moment, the most commonly accepted measure of inequality – the so-called Gini coefficient – is far higher in the United States than in any other developed country and is continuing to move upward. We don’t know where the breakpoint is for the U.S., but we would rather not find out. With all due respect, we believe your tax policy has exacerbated the problem of inequality in the United States, which has worrisome implications for the economy as a whole. We very much hope you will take this threat to our nation into account as you consider new fiscal approaches to address the nation’s most pressing economic problems.

Sensible and farsighted economic management requires true discipline, compassion, and courage – not just slogans. Given the tenuous state of the American economy, we believe that the time for an honest assessment of the problem and for genuine corrective action is now. Ignoring the fiscal crisis that has taken hold during your presidency may seem politically appealing in the short run, but we fear it could ultimately prove disastrous. From a policy standpoint, the clear message is that more of the same won’t work. The warning signs are already visible, and it is incumbent upon all of us to pay attention.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. I AM a small business owner.

I'm still a democrat.

My country before my profit margin? Go figure! :evilgrin:

[KharmaTrain]

14. The Same Here!!!

There's no way someone can start a small business in today's atmosphere of anti-competition, poor international relations, a weak economy and rising interest rates. This regime has been a disaster to small businesses...driving many out of business.

Note to DNC: Check the number of S-Chapters and LLC that were operating and filing in taxes in 2000 and see how they're doing in 2003...methinks there's a lot of hay to be made there.

I'm lucky, I sold a lot of my business before the market collapsed, but haven't been able to re-invest as long as this regime remains...money is tight and getting tighter.

[kodi]

13. wall street republicans drove out main street republicans long ago

and here's the irony; the rise of the New Deal vested government with great control over the economic power of US society, power designed to lift people out of poverty. yet now, this power is wielded by corporate interests that have undermined the purpose of having such power concentrated in the hands of the government.

[cally]

17. Some interesting quotes in this article from Zogby

http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=9786



Lowder recalls. Since 2002, students have been enrolling "because they desperately need a job, any job. Their jobs went offshore."

Lowder's company, which operates four campuses in the Chicago area, received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Labor Department this year to train unemployed workers. She is calling on the federal and state governments to provide additional money to train more workers.

"Unfortunately, I see just the opposite. Some government programs are actually cut," Lowder says.

"I'll be voting for the Democrats in the upcoming election, not because I think they have all the answers, but because it's the only way to end the effect of the current domestic economic disaster," Lowder adds.

Small-business owners point to the Bush administration's 25 percent cut in funding for the Small Business Administration and the elimination of the SBA administrator's Cabinet seat.

[DemsUnited]

18. Also a small business owner

and our insurance premiumus are devastating, have been for the last four years. Where was Bush's plan then?

The problem is, as Kerry says, the catastrophic cases. An employee who needs expensive surgery, has a difficult pregnancy, or develops diabetes will drive up their employer's premiums for years to come. Kerry's idea of a government plan for catastrophic illness would bring insurance premiums down for large AND small companies.

On the other hand, Bush's plan for giving small businesses the same rates as large ones will work only if the problem of double digit annual premium increases is also resolved. Otherwise, we small business owners may be paying a bit less to begin with, but will soon have problems keeping up with the annual premium hikes.

[Maine-ah]

23. work for

I work for a small business, five employees including the owner. The owners have one son in the military, currently stationed in Kuwait. They can't afford health insurance for themselves, let alone for the rest of us. I come from a state that relies heavily on the tourists for income. Our business sales are wayyyyyyyyy down. Along with many others in this area. They are voting for Kerry, and so is everyone else here. Most small business owners I know are voting for Kerry.

[MissMarple]

26. Lap, welcome to DU!

:hi:

[slor]

25. I own a small and struggling vintage clothing...

store, and I am a pro-environment, socially liberal life-long Democrat. I honestly do not know what to say to others that support that idiot *. He and his policies are bad for the world and dangerous for America, this should be clear to everyone, even those that get good tax breaks.

[zuzu98]

27. THANKS

for all of your great information!

:yourock:

[zuzu98]

28. THANKS

for all of your great information!

:yourock: