Jack & Jill Politics

Courtesy of ThinkProgress

Wow…this so-called Pledge took real moxie. It’s brought to you by the same morally bankrupt corporate-driven forces that sold the middle class down river to line their own pockets. Something like 70% of Americans are employed by small businesses. I co-own a small business myself. Here’s what the Pledge actually proposes to do (courtesy of the White House blog):

Tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires by borrowing $700 billion we can’t afford;

Tax hikes for 110 million middle-class families and millions of small businesses;

Cutting rules and oversight for special interests like big oil, big insurance, credit card and mortgage companies and Wall Street banks;

Doing nothing to stop the outsourcing of American jobs or to end tax breaks that are given to companies that ship jobs overseas;

All while adding trillions to our nation’s deficits.

This is the same agenda that caused the deepest recession since the Great Depression, costing 8 million jobs, wiping out trillions in family wealth and setting middle-class families back.   Instead of a pledge to the American people, Congressional Republicans made a pledge to the big special interests to restore the same economic ideas that benefited them at the expense of middle-class families.

Their plan is also notable for what it doesn’t talk about: protecting Social Security and Medicare from privatization schemes; investing in high-quality education for our nation’s children; growing key industries like clean energy and manufacturing; and rebuilding our crumbling roads, rails and runways.

Wow. Here’s more from Jen Psaki at the White House on the Tea Party plus GOP’s double-talk:

Congressional Republican small business schedule today:

10:00: Unveil agenda mentioning small business 18 times.
2:30: Return to Capitol to vote against help for small business.

Congressional Republicans visited Tart Lumber Company, a small business in Sterling, Virginia where they laid out their “Pledge to America,” which will do nothing more than take America back to the same failed economic policies that caused this recession and hurt the very small business where they are holding their event.

The “Pledge to America”  mentions small businesses not once, but eighteen times.  But what it fails to mention is the impact the Republican  agenda actually  would have on small businesses.

In addition to hiking taxes for 110 million middle-class families and millions of businesses, the Congressional Republican have consistently opposed the 8 small business tax cuts that the President has already signed into law including:

1. A New Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
2. A New Tax Credit for Hiring Unemployed Workers
3. Bonus Depreciation Tax Incentives to Support New Investment
4. 75% Exclusion of Small Business Capital Gains
5. Expansion of Limits on Small Business Expensing
6. Five-Year Carryback of Net Operating Losses
7. Reduction of the Built-In Gains Holding Period for Small Businesses from 10 to 7 Years to Allow Small Business Greater Flexibility in Their Investments
8. Temporary Small Business Estimated Tax Payment Relief to Allow Small Businesses to Keep Needed Cash on Hand

And it doesn’t end there, the same Republicans in Congress are expected to vote against another Small Business Jobs Bill in the House TODAY….that’s right…they are expected to vote against a bill that would potentially benefit the very small business where they are rolling out their agenda.

The potential benefits to Tart Lumber in the Small Business Jobs Bill include:

1. Businesses like Tart will be able to immediately write off its first $500,000 in equipment investment next year.
2. Investors in firms like Tart would receive zero capital gains on their investments.
3. A new Small Business Lending Fund will make capital more available to firms like Tart
4. By expanding successful SBA lending programs, firms like Tart will have expanded opportunities to get the loans they need to grow.

Don’t be bamboozled y’all. The Tea Party Republicans mean business — meaning they want to drive yours into the ground! If you don’t vote in November, look for a tough economy that’s struggling to get on its feet to get knocked right back down.