House Republicans are gearing up to fight the Senate Democrats’ extension of some of the Bush-era tax cuts with a message that an extension of all of the cuts is needed for America’s small businesses.
After “Stop the Tax Hike Day” in home districts on Friday, the GOP will vote on a tax plan this week before heading home for the summer recess.
Paving the way for that vote is a video released today by Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) office, in which third-generation restaurant owner-operator Michael Passalacqua tells the story of Angelo’s Restaurant and its role in the economy.
“My family has been in business for 73 years and I truly see us as a fabric of the community,” Passalacqua says in the video. “This economy is just absolutely teetering and raising taxes on anybody at this particular time seems to me to be relatively foolish.”
With consumer spending in danger from a looming tax hike, Passalacqua says, “It’s just going to be tons of money dropped right out of the economy immediately.”
Ninety-three percent of food locations are small businesses employing fewer than 50 employees, according to the National Restaurant Association, and restaurants employ nearly one in 10 Americans.
“With the economy already at a near standstill, the president’s proposed tax hike on American small businesses comes at the worst possible time for job creators,” McCarthy said. “Independent reports confirm that raising taxes on more than 900,000 small businesses threatens 710,000 jobs and would reduce economic output by 1.3 percent. It just doesn’t make any sense to punish American families and small businesses already struggling to make ends meet in this tough economy.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) confirmed the House will vote this week on H.R. 8, the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act sponsored by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), and H.R. 6169, the Pathway to Job Creation Through A Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act, sponsored by Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.).
“Two years ago, the President said extending these same tax rates was the ‘right thing to do’ for jobs, the middle class and small business. Keeping taxes low is still the right thing to do to get this economy growing again,” Cantor said. “In the near term, our plan gives working families and small businesses the certainty that they will not face a tax increase. In the long term, we will reform the tax code to spur sustained economic growth.”
Watch the “Taxation Nation” video from the heart of Pennsylvania:
90% Of Small Business Owners Take Profits As Personal Income. 97% Of Those Make Less Than $250K. Those That Make More Than $250K Would STILL Get The Middle Class Tax Break On The First $250K.
RepTeaPty = Party Of The Rich!
You make it sound like there will be no effect. Guess what. There is an effect. It will hit them in the pocketbook whether they fall in the bracket or not. Every change to the tax code will take just a little bit more time away from the actual business of making and selling. It will be just that much more paperwork in making sure everything gets put together at tax time. It affects productivity, planning, and cost, whether it takes a few more minutes for the accountant to figure it out, or the small business owner is wrestling with it a bit longer.
And your statistics are off. In 2006, 10,600,000 small business owners were sole proprietorships (taking profits for personal income) and 5,600,000 were incorporated (drawing a salary from the profits). Unless things have changed drastically in the last 6 years from the last published study, that does not equate to 90% of small business owners taking profits as personal income. It only equated to 65%.
Also, at that time only 77% of the total number of small businesses (sole proprietorships only, those you claim are taking profits for personal income, in this chart) were in the less than $100,000 bracket. The next bracket up was $100,000 to $1,000,000. When that is added in, 95%, not 97%, of small business owners fell into the two brackets. The gap between what you said and what the report shows is greater than 2% but we don’t know by how much because we have no idea how many of that last 18% is below $250K and how many are above.
What is being over looked, here, is this: Obama is not just talking about raising taxes on the so-called “rich.” He wants to increase dividend tax to 45% for some and, at least, 30% for all. The number effected will be a nominal 120 million American investors, pensioners, and hard working middle class folks. Nearly all of the middle class will be included in the Obama tax hikes.
He talks “millionaires and billionaires” but wants to tax those making $100,000 after taxes and all middle class investors and retirees.
He screwed the pensioners (police and teacher unions) holding primary stock in GM and now, he intends to screw the rest of America.
No, Republicans want tax cuts for everyone, not just the rich, not just the middle class, but everyone. By your logic, this should make them the party of all the people.
Yeah, the Party of the People stimulates the people billionaire Solyndra’s Kaiser with $535 million of the money of the rich who earns $250,000 a year.
The Party of the People stimulates the people billionaire Petrobra’s Soros with $20 billions of the money of the rich who earns $250,000 a year.
The Party of the People stimulates the people billionaire Pelosi’s brother-in-law with $700 millions of the money of the rich who earns $250,000 a year.
The Party of the People stimulates the people billionaire Buffett with tax breaks that net his sons billions each of “tax-free” inheritance, the “tax-hole” is to be filled with the money of the rich who earns $250,000 a year.
The Party of the People stimulates the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Global Warming Profiteer Al Gore with $2 billions of the $250,000/year rich people’s money to prop up his bankrupt Spanish solar co.
The Small Business Rich Fatcats toil their tails off so the poor billionaires could smooch the politicians in return for the Fatcats’ money. The Fatcats didn’t build the businesses anyway, somebody else made that happen.
Obama is not a socialist, he is an “anti-socialist”. He is Robin Hood who robs the $250,000 a year rich millionaires to rescue the ultra-poor billionaires.
I’ll chime in for us wage-earners. A family income of $250k here in New Jersey puts you in the middle of the Middle Class. It doesn’t make you anywhere near “rich”.
Cranking taxes on those above 200/250 will destroy small businesses like restaurants because their patrons will have to cut back to pay Uncle Sam.
As for those under that magic threshold, the Democrats are still only offering a one-year extension, not an actual fix to our terrible tax code.
for those that oppose this tax, come back when you have tried to own and run a business, hire people, and are finding it more and more difficult.
Y’know, back in the bad ol’ days of high tax brackets, there was a special provision for those people who labored away for years in hopes of a big profit one year — income averaging. If you made $25,000 a year for four years, then $300,000 the fifth, you’d pay roughly the same as if you’d made $80,000 each year. Small businesses don’t generally make the same amount every year.
How many people, knowing there was only a one-in-five chance of a big score, would toil away for years if they knew the government was going to swoop in and tax the ever-lovin’-whatsis out of ‘em just when they were going to pay back the credit cards and home equity lines they’d been living on?
Brave man. Hope he isn’t audited.
Small businessmen if they are Schedule C pay SS and Medicare taxes at around 17% on their own income until 100K is reached, just as the highest income tax rates kick in. If incorporated they can pay themselves a salary at say 60K with the rest as profit saving that 40K at 17%. Yes you can deduct the employer part, but it really hurts to realize I pay income tax on that same income that went to SSI.
The point that Libtards miss – as tax rates rise, does it make sense to work harder, employ added people, invest in the business or lead a more relaxed life with more free time and less income.
I went from having 3 employees + me to just me, yes less income but far less taxes. Each extra $ earned (at the 100K marginal) and spent means .03 SSI, .33 income, .10 state business taxes, .10 State Income tax, and .09 state sales tax leaving $.35 for me. It is not worth my time to hire some entitled 20 something that makes my day miserable.
Denigrate the rich and steal their wealth – soon there are far fewer rich folk. MD imposed a millionaire tax (250K up), they got about half the revenue on the tax they expected this year because those ingrates ‘moved’ to another state.
Can Organic Food Feed the World? New Study Sheds Light On Debate Over Organic Vs. Conventional Agriculture ScienceDaily (Apr. 25, 2012)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120425140114.htm
Add this into the mix as well. Biofuel demand in US driving higher food prices, says report Government support for ethanol has led to an increase in corn production and a steep rise in soybean imports
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/19/biofuel-demand-us-fuel-prices