The Real Small Business Problem

This picture (which I got from Facebook) contains some hidden truth -- that many people (especially the teabaggers) want to blame President Obama for the problems that they are creating. It is not just disingenuous to blame the president for hurting small businesses while you spend your money in the big box chain stores -- it shows a lack of common sense and a lot of racism.

The truth is that President Obama has cut taxes for small businesses since taking office -- and his recent tax raise on the richest Americans did not hurt small businesses. His desire to raise the minimum wage would not hurt them either, since all businesses would be required to pay the same minimum wage, and the increase in money flowing through the economy would let people buy more goods and services.

The federal government is not the enemy of small businesses. That enemy resides in the same community that small business is in, and is the customer who spends their money at corporate chain stores instead of locally-owned small businesses. The fact is that small businesses will thrive if they have enough customers (regardless of how high taxes and wages are), and they will die if they don't have enough customers (regardless of how low taxes and wages are).

It is easy to blame the president (and Washington in general) for the problems of small businesses. But if you really want to know who is to blame, just look in the mirror. If you want small businesses to survive, then spend your money there. It's that simple.