Please THINK before you vote for Obama - I'm for McCain
I am a long term small business owner and a woman and I support McCain/Palin (and not because Palin is a women, I made my choice long before). I've owned more than one company in my business career so far and the latest one I've had for 16 years. I've never had over 10-12 employees so we've always been small. This is by choice and necessity because there is VERY little support from groups like the SBA and I've chosen to build our business on profits, not loans or venture funding.
Because we are an s-corp. building on profits means often times paying higher taxes at year end because we didn't spend all our profits and we get taxed on them personally rather we take the money out as stockholders or not. Most non-business owners DO NOT understand this. Many medical doctors, lawyers, CPAs and other small businesses may have similar tax burdens.
I see Obama as a threat to my business. I am actually making contingency plans for the first time in 16 years - expecting I may have to change dramatically to survive all the new "changes" he and the Democrats are proposing. I am expecting more and more people to take their money "off the table" if Obama wins - and that is scary because so much of our economy depends on that money. Please THINK before you vote for Obama - it may mean the end of many small businesses in America.
Kelly
of
@
Oct 15, 2008 14:48:19 PM
small business
i work for a small business. i think.....what is considered a small business. my boss says, who is a mccain supporter, that it has nothing to do with number of employees she has only how much the company makes. is this true and what if the company makes gross sales 4 million. is that a small business....there are about 16 employees and it is family owned...
kesha
of AL
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Oct 11, 2008 19:43:39 PM
25 Employees a Non Issue
I own a small business and just hired my first employee, we are now 3 and it took 9 years of prayer, hard work and intense labor. If the tax burdens were simply lifted then it would not have taken us 9 years to hire our first employee and now we would absolutely grow faster and hire more employees. When I got to my 26th hire I'd worry about what taxes would be at that time. I promise you this if I was to my 26th hire we would be in a much better position financially to accept those tax burdens then we are today. That much I do know! It has been a struggle growing all these years due to the tax burden on our small business. If it were gone that cash could go to expanding and hiring more employees. It sure wouldn't take us near as long to get to 26 employees as it has taken us to get to 1.
HOWEVER....This theory or idea is only a pipe dream. The taxes will never be lifted on small business. Government does not turn down a nickel, a dime or a penny for that matter. That's just life! The Bigobama plans reach further into the pockets of every American then I care to imagine.
As a small business owner WE will vote McCain in 08'. I will NOT be convinced by a bunch of idle rhetoric from a young man who has no experience, has never run a small business, governed a state, 7 houses, managed a Senate Office for 26 years, lead a Military Troop or anything else for that matter. The nominee for the Democrats has no clue what it takes to run a small business. He thinks his campaign contributions make him an athuority on balancing a budget. He buys ad space and his staffers get paid, then donors send in more money and the same thing goes round about. Where is the balancing act in that???
He wants to transfer everything I've worked so hard for in the last 9 years to people who don't deserve it. I make 1% of his income and have donated more money to charity then he has. I beleive I can decide what is the best way to spend my money. NOT BIG PARTISAN GOVERNMENT! My company falls in the crack of the BO plan to tax the "rich" and my company is by no means rich nor am I, just hard working trying to make a living. Two houses & one car.
Enough Said!
R
of NV
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Sep 20, 2008 17:03:39 PM
Most important help for Small Business
Big business and Labor Unions can band together across state lines in economy of scale to purcharse health insuance. Small business owners can't. Why are small business owners discriminated against when they are the mainstay of the economy? This could save small business owners 10 to 20% on their health insurance premiums. Both presidential candidates MUST embrace this initiative. If you are a small buisness owner, you should ask every congressonal candidate and both presidential candiates where they stand on this issue! Congress must pass this legislation in order for small business owners to have this right.
Terry Neese
of OK
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Sep 16, 2008 11:05:13 AM
Jobs Cuts
I think that Obama is telling the truth and i know McCain is telling a lie. McCain is like Bush meaning stuff like leave the U.S. Troops in Iraq for nothing. Yes Saddam H is dead. But we aren`t doing our job right to keep U.S Troops in Iraq for nothing. Even something else like, why should we aband gay marriages? It`s stupid if we did that. I think that we should leave gay marriages alone. America needs help to have jobs for people so people don`t live to be homeless. Even with our kids that go to school so they can learn how to get a job, but what if McCain doesn`t care about anything and just leave the U.S. Troops in Iraq? How would America be better if McCain wins? I don`t think it will. America is going to have something to do with the blacks if Obama lose. I think that McCain should drop out of the race. And even god knows it, i pray to him everyday and that is the good thing.
Joe
of NH
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Sep 15, 2008 13:54:11 PM
Vote your conscience
First off, if the question is who should an up-and-coming entrepreneur vote for, I think the answer probably lies outside of the two "major" parties. The Dems and Republicans really care about helping out established businesses first, which often includes stifling competition in many areas (agriculture, media, education to name a few.) There are, on the other hand, other candidates out there who actually care about freeing up the system to remove roadblocks to entrepreneurial innovation. Vote your conscience, or you're really just buying into the system, and throwing your voice away.
Now, for the first commenter. What would really help small businesses more than just any national health care plan, or specifically Obama's, would be a health care system that removes employers from the system entirely. A huge number of Americans lose their insurance every year because they lose their job, switch employers, or simply reduce their workload. Healthcare should be easily accessible on a level field for any American regardless of their work situation. I'm not sure what is so hard to understand about this, but the Democrats, and many Republicans have missed this problem entirely.
Greyson
of OR
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Sep 15, 2008 03:07:26 AM
here is what you are missing
If you have a small business that is growing, you face "stair step" decisions every day. If you add that one more employee, you will need office space. If you add that one more employee, your insurance rates change. If you add that one more employee, you will need an additional manager/support person/whatever. If you add that one more employee...
small businesses are always making decisions of short term vs long term and there are never any easy answers. But, if you are so heavily burdened with taxes and paying professionals to manage the paperwork nightmare you cant be profitable and grow, what to do at 25 employees becomes a non issue
It comes down to this, would you rather have small busineses worry about what to do with their 26th employee or not start the business because they cant afford to deal with all the tax burdens.
And you also leave out the cash vs non cash economy. THe tax and paperwork burden pushes many entrepreneurs under the table, this makes those businesses legal.
No proposal is perfect.But creating a decision point at 25 employees is a far better scenario than stifling innovation and entrepreneurship before it can get started
m
mark cuban
of TX
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Sep 12, 2008 13:59:08 PM
See McCain admit he is out of touch See video at
VeepPeek.com
See Last Nights Debate Forum
WatchDebate.com
Iusoehs
of
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Sep 12, 2008 12:52:41 PM
It would be helpful is this author would give examples of exactly WHAT capital gains taxes are being paid by small business now. The tax on cashing out by selling the business itself?
The true best help that could possibly be given to small business is a national health care plan. Mom and Pop need help in buying/having insurance for themselves in their own entrepreneurial efforts AND for getting their employees covered in a manner that does not require the little business to pay most of the cost.
I've had a small business. I KNOW where the risk is.
Matt Bandyk, a reporter for U.S. News, explores capitalism from where it all begins, with the entrepreneur, whose risk taking and experimentation provide the roots from which the rest of the economy grows. As much courage as it takes to create one's own business, even the entrepreneur needs some help, and this blog will look at news, trends, and practical advice for starting and running a small business.
Kelly of @ Oct 15, 2008 14:48:19 PM
kesha of AL @ Oct 11, 2008 19:43:39 PM
R of NV @ Sep 20, 2008 17:03:39 PM
Terry Neese of OK @ Sep 16, 2008 11:05:13 AM
Joe of NH @ Sep 15, 2008 13:54:11 PM
Greyson of OR @ Sep 15, 2008 03:07:26 AM
mark cuban of TX @ Sep 12, 2008 13:59:08 PM
Iusoehs of @ Sep 12, 2008 12:52:41 PM
of @ Sep 12, 2008 12:48:44 PM
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