Losing the American Dream Essay

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Larkin Haggard
Mr. Cain
Honors American Lit, 3rd period
17 September 2012
Losing the American Dream
Small businesses in America employ half of all private sector employees and pay nearly 50 percent of the total U.S. private payroll. Part of the American Dream is for citizens to be able to create and operate a small business easily and affordably with the ability to expand. Small business has generated 65 percent of all new jobs in the past 15 years. Because small businesses are a job source for many Americans, they are vital to keeping the American economy rolling. Ever since our current president, Barack Obama, was elected in 2008, small businesses have been dying more and more each year due to the tax increases and regulations being put on them. Obama’s tax increases and regulations on small businesses with over 50 employees are ruining the American Dream. One way small businesses are being negatively affected is through proposed tax increases resulting from Obamacare. The Obamacare cost is currently calculated to be $1.8 trillion per year and is estimated to increase in years to come. Obama has to get this money from somewhere, correct? He plans to get it from American businesses in the form of taxes. Large businesses can handle tax increases because they have more assets than small businesses. Small businesses with over 50 employees on the other hand are running on a much tighter budget, so tax increases affect them much more severely. Future plans for expanding their business must be put on hold until small business owners have a better understanding of the taxes that they will be facing. Small businesses with “50 full-time employees that do not provide health insurance coverage must pay a penalty of $2,000 per full time employee” (Chun 1). This is another form of tax for small businesses with over 50 employees that causes an even tighter budget. The small businesses must either pay for each employee’s health insurance or be fined regardless if they are able to afford it or not. Blanche Lincoln states, “The administration needs to address the “us versus them” attitude between federal regulators and the private sector” (Lincoln 1), meaning that Obama and his administration need to be supportive and mindful of small business. Fewer people will want to/be able to create a small business because of the tax demands that must be met. This contributes to fewer people being successful in the American economy as well as fewer people being able to achieve the American Dream. Regulations are another aspect that has small businesses scared for the future. A recent poll asked small business owners what the most important problem they are facing today is. 22 percent answered, “complying with government regulations” (Jacobe 1). Regulations include redundant training and certifications that are required by the government; small businesses must pay for them. Currently, there are too many regulations on small businesses that have them treading water, and Obama has even more being approved. Chris Hurn discusses how federal regulations “cost small businesses about 36 percent more per employee to comply than their big business counterparts” (Hurn 1), proving that big businesses can operate much more efficiently under regulations than small ones. The Obama administration has approved 613 regulations during their first 33 months in office; George W. Bush had 90 approved over the same period in his first term. Obama has increased the number of unnecessary regulations by nearly 44 percent. Small businesses are trying their best to stay under 50 employees so that they don’t apply to as many regulations such as the Family and Medical Leave Act. Raymond Keating states how there “are many anecdotes about companies cutting off expansion after reaching the threshold [50 people] of which additional regulations take place” (Keating 1) meaning that they hire as many employees as they possibly can before the regulations go into effect. The Obama
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