The American economy has been built and sustained by risk-taking entrepreneurs whose pioneering ideas and hard work gave birth to flourishing businesses. Those enterprises, small and large, provide the jobs that have blessed our nation with economic prosperity; which is why it’s astounding that Washington Democrats seem determined to hammer small business owners with the largest tax increase in history on January 1, 2011.
America’s private sector has suffered enough for the past 18 months under the failed economic policies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats. Nearly 15 million Americans are out of work and unemployment hovers near a heartbreaking 10 percent. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported that optimism among small businesses “is dismal, capital expenditures are at 35-year lows and small businesses are still cutting more jobs than they are adding.” The NFIB also said that Congress must act quickly to ensure no tax increases for business owners in January.
Sadly, Washington Democrats have given no indication that they’re ready to provide such certainty to America’s small business owners. In fact, the president’s Treasury Secretary said recently that he thought the country’s economy could “withstand” a tax increase. Apparently the administration now defines good economic policy on the basis of what it thinks the country can withstand.
The truth is our country will not stand for a tax increase. Washington’s policies of borrowing, spending, taxing and bailouts have already choked the economic recovery and caused private sector job creation to stagnate. Yet, Democrats seem ready to proceed with a tax increase that will affect virtually every taxpayer.
When those rates go up in January more money will be taken from business owners, leaving less for business investment and job creation. Even if the tax hikes are only on the top two income brackets, small business owners will pay more than half of the taxes raised. Those owners account for roughly 70 percent of all job creation. When was the last time a tax increase created a job?
No matter how hard Democrats try, there is no way to spin tax increases as good for the economy, especially during the worst economy in decades. That’s why House Republicans are determined to fight this tax increase with everything we’ve got. We’ve been hearing from the American people at AmericaSpeakingOut.com and we understand that the problem is not that Washington doesn’t tax enough. The problem is that Washington spends too much, and the solution is leadership in Congress that will make the hard choices and sacrifices necessary to rein in spending.
House Republicans are meeting their constituents during August and we look forward to hearing about the issues that concern you, like taxes and government spending. We are ready to do what’s needed in Washington to put a stop to tax increases and deficit spending, and to create a more effective, efficient and smarter federal government.
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