Today in Washington, D.C. - July 29, 2010 - Dems Proven Record of Hurting Small Business

The Senate resumed consideration of the small business bill, H.R. 5297, and the pending Baucus-Landrieu substitute amendment. Around noon, the Senate began a vote on cloture on the Baucus-Landrieu substitute. Last night and this morning, Democrats again tried to restrict Republican amendments to the bill, so no agreement was reached on how to move forward. If cloture is not invoked on the small business bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid is likely to turn to his scaled-back energy bill, S. 3663.

CongressDaily reports today, “Hopes for quick passage of a Senate bill to spur small-business hiring tumbled Wednesday as senators failed to close a deal on amendments. The breakdown threatened to derail the measure until September. Senate Majority Leader Reid on Wednesday announced negotiations over amendments to the bill had broken down . . . .”

Once again, Senate Democrats are blocking Republicans from being able to amend a bill, while larding it up with unrelated spending, such as $1.5 billion in agriculture disaster funding. Instead of working across the aisle on something as basic and agreeable as helping small businesses at a time of severe economic hardship, Democrats instead decided they were more interested in playing partisan games.

Speaking on the floor this morning, Sen. Mitch McConnell explained what’s going on here: “We first got on this bill in late June, and since then, Democrats have set it aside six separate times to move to something else. So from the beginning, this bill clearly wasn’t a priority to them until they realized that they didn’t have anything to talk about when they go home in August. . . . one Democrat senator put it best when he suggested this week that a midterm campaign that revolves around his party’s agenda and that of the White House is a losing proposition for the majority. He was summing up their strategy on this bill. They knew they couldn’t run on a record of job-killing taxes, burdensome new regulations, massive government intrusions, and record deficits and debt.”

Indeed, Democrats’ record on small business is one of a series of legislative efforts that increase tax and paperwork burdens on small businesses, could force them to lay off workers, and a massive, unpopular health care bill that the NFIB says “will devastate their business and their ability to create jobs.” Democrats also passed a flawed financial regulation bill that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says “will only exacerbate uncertainty and jeopardize job creation.” And the NFIB points out that “many small business retailers and merchants – such as medical professionals, hardware, electronics, and jewelry stores – struggling through the current economic climate would be subject to these new regulations.” And then there was  The New York Times report last week which detailed how the Obama administration’s auto task force “pressed General Motors and Chrysler to close scores of dealerships without adequately considering the jobs that would be lost . . . an audit of the process has concluded.” In fact, the NYT noted, “The report . . . estimated that tens of thousands of jobs were lost as a result.”

But Democrats are preventing Republicans from trying to correct some of these damaging policies on a bill that allegedly about helping small businesses. One of the worst provisions for small businesses in the health care bill “requires businesses to report to the Internal Revenue Service the names and tax identification numbers of vendors that sell them more than $600 in goods in a year, starting in 2012,” according to the AP. As Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) says, this provision is “[o]ne more mandate that stifles small businesses at the same time that Washington urges them to hire workers.” Yet Democrats continue to block GOP amendments to the bill, including one from Sen. Johanns that would repeal this onerous reporting provision in the health care law.

As Sen. McConnell said, “[Democrats] can try to deflect attention all they want. You can manufacture a legislative impasse. But the American people know what’s going on here. Nearly every major piece of legislation this Congress has considered has had painful consequences for small businesses.” If Democrats really wanted to help the economy, they would stop blocking amendments that might actually relieve some of the pressures and regulations that they’ve imposed on small businesses. But instead, Democrats seem to prefer political arguments to actually helping small businesses create jobs.

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