And about that sales tax, I wish we had a sales tax that went to schools, instead of property taxes. Taxing those who consume, rather than those who save and own property, is not a bad way to go. Unfortunately, my state keeps trying to soak the homeowners at every turn to the point that voters are in outright revolt when it comes to school levies based on property taxes alone. Everyone knows the system for funding schools is out of whack, but the legislators do nothing and individual levy votes keep failing. A better system for funding schools might even be a tax I’d vote for!

Anita

I read an interesting post by Sam Thacker over at AllBusiness.com on what the candidates claim on their websites regarding helping us small biz owners.
Full disclosure: I’m an advisor/blogger at Allbusiness, but the blog i’m referencing here is not mine.

But i thought it was a good summary, without commenting on the politicians too heavily. And helping SMB folks sort out some of the basics.
TJ

Why? Because my “we” consciousness doesn’t fall on business issues. I’ll vote for what some would call social programs, or environmental concerns, and even higher taxes, whether or not the specifics seem to favor small business ownership. For example, I’ve voted repeatedly against the leanings of the local chamber of commerce (of which my company is a member) because I thought the so-called small business block was short-sighted and selfish. Specifics? I’m against the dreaded tax revolt that’s killing our schools. I wish Oregon, where I live, would institute a sales tax to help the schools, which are really hurting. And I vote that way every time it comes up (we are still one of 5 states that don’t have sales tax). I don’t think that makes me selfish for not joining the “small business” voting block. On the contrary, I think the world would be better off if we all, as small business owners, voted our social and political and economic consciences, not our narrowly-focused business interest.

But then — chuckling — as Anita suggests, I’ve been a left-coast person all my life, I still am, and I can’t help it.

1. There are something like 26 million small businesses in the U.S. Even if you take just the owners, that’s a large part of the voting block. (A little over 4x that number voted in the 2004 presidential election).
2. Perhaps more importantly, pundits, campaigns, etc. see the same study data the rest of us see: SMBs drive our economy. In fact, the smallest of the small appear to lubricate its gears even while medium and large companies perform poorly and shed jobs (see http://tinyurl.com/6zo9vs).

I think mainly for these two reasons, we’ll continue to see SMB owners called out as a group, including having positions thrust upon them.

http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?rta=blog

Thoughts anybody?

“I think that we probably have traits in common that drive some common political views. That doesn’t mean we vote in blocks, just that we start to have similar positions.”

I agree with this! As a business owner, you have to be thinking about things like regulatory burden and tax bite because they have an impact on your ability to stay in business and grow. Without businesses, there will be no tax revenues.

But I also get what Tim’s saying.

For instance, I have come to realize that business owners tend to identify with the social and political environment around them.

Business owners that I speak with on the coasts tend to be much more OK with things like taxes than business owners in places like small-town Ohio.

Business owners on the U.S. southern border states are more senstive to immigration issues than business owners in places like small-town Ohio, which are not affected by immigration nearly as much.

Tim, I guess that goes to prove the point: it’s not easy to lump everyone together in one homogenous group, is it?