Democrats move to crush small business

By Joseph Semprevivo

Democrats may be obsessed with impeachment, but they’re still finding time to advance a left-wing agenda.  That should terrify all Americans.

At its core, the Democratic Party remains the party of high taxes and burdensome regulations, and one deeply critical of America’s free-market economy.  Not only is our economy the most powerful in the history of the world, but it is also reaching new heights under President Trump.  The unemployment rate remains below four percent, while consumer spending is near an all-time high.

When even Vox calls the economy “strong,” you know there isn’t much to complain about.

Yet the Democratic platform would only weaken it, punishing employers and employees while ballooning the size of government.

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) recently introduced the Secure 2100 Act, which would subject all income above $250,000 to the Social Security payroll tax.  In practice, this would amount to a $19-trillion tax hike, particularly detrimental to small business–owners and those who depend on them.  (Even Larson admits that many taxpayers would “pay more.”)

At least he’s honest.  Larson’s plan would exponentially increase the tax burden on self-employed Americans — from restaurant-owners and daycare-providers to farmers and real estate agents.  Small business–owners like these don’t split their Social Security tax liability with a traditional employer, making any tax increase disproportionately more detrimental.

Democrats are coming not just for “millionaires and billionaires.”  Real estate agents, for example, would be especially impacted by Larson’s proposal.  And the average realtor doesn’t make anywhere close $1 million per year.  Trust me: it’s closer to $60,000.

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Larson isn’t alone.  On the campaign trail, former vice president Joe Biden has proposed a $3.2-trillion tax hike, including a higher corporate tax rate and a minimum tax on a company’s  pre-tax income.  Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have proposed even more significant tax increases — from a “wealth tax” to additional business fees.

This simply isn’t the blueprint for economic prosperity.  Nor was it the recipe for the booming economy we see today.

Under President Trump, economic growth has been unleashed because the federal government is taking on a lesser role, not a greater one.  Tax reform, for example, saved a typical middle-class family over $2,000 per year.  Those families now have more resources to spend, save, and invest.

President Trump knows that ours is a small business economy, driven by millions of small business–owners who employ millions more.  America is home to over 30 million small businesses, employing nearly 60 million workers — half of the private-sector workforce.  Over 280,000 of those small businesses are exporters, contributing to the local, national, and global economy.

As a longtime small business–owner, I’ve seen that positive impact on a personal basis.  What we don’t need is a $19-trillion tax hike, taking money away from private investment and sending it to Uncle Sam.  That’s not the American economy that creates about 300,000 jobs in any given month.

Impeachment is troubling enough.  By obsessing over foreign scandals and faux scandals, anti-Trump Democrats threaten to undermine the trust in our political system and the sky-high consumer confidence powering our economy.  When they turn on the news, Americans need to see a reason to go shopping or to invest in real estate, not fear, skepticism, or petty politics.  A partisan, polarizing impeachment process sends the wrong signal.

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Unfortunately, so does the Democratic platform.  Tax hikes and regulatory crusades send the signal that government is the solution to our problems rather than the cause of them.

Even when impeachment takes the oxygen out of the room, ignore liberal policies at your own peril.  They are coming for you, too.  No one is safe — starting with small business–owners and the people they employ.

Joseph Semprevivo is the president and CEO of Joseph’s Sugar Free Syrup.  He is an adjunct professor of finance, business, real estate, and insurance at Indian River State College and the author of the best-selling book Madness, Miracles, Millions.

Posted in Financial, Freedoms.