Media, you must stop letting the R's use 'small business' as a shield to keep tax cuts for top 1%

[flpoljunkie]

Of real small businesses--mom and pop operations--less than 2% have an income of more than $250,000. It is for big business, as represented by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, that Republicans bleed.

“The Speaker shares the Leader’s frustration. Republicans are unified in our commitment to ensuring that the debt limit is not used as leverage to saddle small businesses with increased taxes that destroy jobs.” John Boehner's spokesman in response to Mitch McConnell's crazy plan to have President Obama raise the debt ceiling

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/mitch-mcconnell-to-obama-you-want-debt-ceiling-raised-then-raise-it-yourself/2011/03/03/gIQAwkp5AI_blog.html

[JuniperLea]

1. Those tax cuts lost us jobs!

They were in effect during the BushCo years wherein we were hemorrhaging jobs!

Boooo... they need to go!

[Zen Democrat]

2. FedEx is a "small business" - any business chartered as an S Corp

retains that classification. Many huge international corporations are officially "small business."

[flpoljunkie]

6. Yes. thanks to our screwed up tax code which now works to the despicable Republicans' benefit.

That's some tax reform I could enthusiastically support.

[emulatorloo]

3. Yes it irritates the HELL out of me. I really wish the Media would stop letting them

get away with it.

[dmallind]

4. Especially since ALL employee costs are pre-tax expenses

Not just wages etc but every pencil and paperclip they use. Hiring someone is a great way for a small business owner to CUT their individual tax bill.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Exactly! That $250k is after all expenses are deducted.

How many real small businesses have a hard time operating and fail?

[quaker bill]

7. The time honored republican sacred cow

It is an icon, a cultural archetype, the little mom and pop business, as American as apple pie. They make an absolute idol of it.

What are they really? It is true that most bear little likeness to the notion of mom and pop running the "general store" down at the corner anymore. The many of them would be tiny special purpose corporations, often LLCs, set up to wall off risky business ventures from the main business. Each little construction project tends to have one. This structure makes getting liability insurance easier because the scope of the entire business is limited to a single project. A handful of people are "hired" at the beginning, and "laid off" at the end, just before the business disolves. They are then "hired" by the next small business created for the next project. This process adds to the number of jobs "created" by small business, but it is the same handful of guys doing the same thing for the same money, just in a different location, and all this managed by the same large corporation.


These guys also go all warm and fuzzy over the "job creation" numbers, but what they never discuss is the "job loss" numbers. Since "small business" represents a roughly stable portion of the workforce, if not slightly declining, then something must be true, "job losses" = "job creation" at least roughly. If "job creation" was significantly and consistently greater than "job loss", then over time, more and more of us would be working for small business.

If the myth about small business being the fountain of new jobs was anywhere near as true as republicans have stated over the last 30 years, nearly all of us would be working for small business by now. We aren't and this is because small business is also the largest source of bankruptcy and layoffs. This however is never a topic of conversation, thus the sacred cow analogy. Sacred cows can never do wrong.

[CrazyBob]

8. Its not the media's fault

The leaders on our side have every opportunity to push back against that language. They just don't.

[babylonsister]

10. lol! nt

[flpoljunkie]

12. I often wonder why it's seldom, if ever, mentioned by Democratic leaders.

[CrazyBob]

18. I think we have a risk averse party

All foxes and no lions.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. The Democrats in the House attempted to pass at least 17 small business

bills that were blocked by the Senate. There were some that made it through, however:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2010-09-23-small-business-aid-bill-passes_N.htm

And yet, the Corporate Media continues to advance the GOP *false* meme that somehow they care about the plight of small businesses. The sad part: many small business owners have come to believe that lie!

[flpoljunkie]

13. Democrats need to hammer this fact, as well.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

15. I was proud of Debbie W-S's performance on MTP when she did in fact

Fight back and highlighted this fact. The Repukes have done absolutely NOTHING to advance the cause of small businesses!

[veganlush]

11. yeah they lump together businesses big and small

as if they were the same. Big businesses are the big fish eating the little businesses. Home Depot comes to town with it's first goal to destroy the mom-and-pop hardware store.

[66 dmhlt]

14. Especially David Gregory, Chucky Todd, Matt Lauer & Jon Karl!

[certainot]

16. the lie has been pounded on RW radio for years- hard to fix w/out

challenging the credibility of limbaugh hannity on this.

[polmaven]

17. Wait!!

You're not trying to tell us that General Electric isn't a SMALL BUSINESS, are you? :shrug:

[Supersedeas]

19. It is not 'small' businesses that are buying most of the commercial slots

The 'News' producers cater to Big Oil, Big Auto, Big Insurance, Big Beer, Big Cola, etc., who pay the advertising dollars to keep those quid pro quo salaries at a level a political lobbyist or campaign ad producer would be proud of.

The Network news is not an extension of the political wing of Big Bidness.