2008 Elections: Confessions of Small Business Owners

With the time left in this campaign reflected better in hours than days, it will be interesting to see the total reach of an Obama presidency and Democrat control of both Houses of Congress. Every day, when I go on the air or view my email, small business owners are horrified by what this country will be like under a new administration. A fellow host of another radio show at my station told me that they have already identified who they will layoff if Obama wins. They will likely give them the walking papers before the week is over.

Each month, I give several speeches and people quietly whisper to me that "there is no way my business can survive Obama, I am thinking of selling before the election." Time has run out for many of these individuals, but there appears to be a great deal of doom and gloom in the works if Obama and company wins the day.

Recently, Barack Obama has gotten extremely specific about what he would do if elected. In a new TV commercial, the Illinois Senator said he intends to both "penalize" companies that export jobs over sea and provide a tax increase for the top 5 percent. So much for the old saying that "you can't help America's poor by making America poor." Obama seems more than willing to try such a policy. When Herbert Hoover raised taxes in the early days of the recession of 1929, we slipped into a depression. Obama intends to use the Hoover approach as a road map.

Meanwhile, instead of asking the question as to why jobs are being exported to other parts of the world, Obama prefers to penalize business owners who are looking out for their natural self interest. US Businesses are in the business of making money. Obama's plan will force those companies that are still corporately located here to simply move entirely overseas. That will help America's poor?

I go back to my mantra. Business don't pay taxes, they are tax collectors. If the cost of taxes on corporations are too high for them to collect and still stay competitive, they will move from the United States. We don't want to compete with developing countries by making labor cheap, but we can compete by cutting taxes. Business taxes are used by cowards in politics who are afraid to tax voters directly. Meanwhile, those taxes harm business and jobs. We need to cut taxes on job creators.

Businesses are telling me they are not "like sheep." They are ready to take care of their families and businesses. They will take the necessary actions to fend off the policies supported by Obama. Unfortunately, the middle class and working poor will be the ones who will suffer most from those actions. But don't blame the businesses, blame the policy makers who forced such choices.

Kevin Price articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.