Fujah - America's Stories - Missouri Culture

You got to let go of remote control!

Hey world, you know you got to put up a fight
Hey world, you rumble in the jungle tonight
Hey world, keep bringing it the rest of your life
You got to put up a fight

* Rebel Rockers

After spending a week on the road listening to small business owners throughout Missouri , one thing is quite clear  - President Obama and the Democratic Congress have been very successful at creating an economic atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the economy.  And as uncertainty among small business men and woman increases the less likely they are to expand their business, hire more people or take any more risks.  Furthermore, at a time when our country is in the depths of a recession, unemployment remains above 10 percent, our total debt is 84% of GDP, the interest on the deficit equals  approximately $1.2 billion per day, and government continues to deficit spend at record speed, the Democrats in Washington passed a health care bill that creates even more uncertainty for the people of this country.  

Our country was beautifully designed by our visionary founding fathers to protect our God-given natural rights and our individual freedom.   They knew that in order for our country to succeed, government had to be restrained and answer to the people.  In 1964, Ronald Reagan challenged the country in his “A Time for Choosing” speech:

“This idea -- that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power -- is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.”

The expansionary role of government is at the heart of every major issue President Obama has brought before Congress – fiscal stimulus, health care, financial reform, or cap and trade. And each of those proposals creates more uncertainty for businesses.  Some businesses would like to expand but cannot get credit because of the additional restrictive regulations imposed on small independent community banks that are no longer able to make these loans, even though they had nothing to do with the bad decisions of the big investment banks and the collapse of the credit markets.  Global demand has dried up because of the huge U.S. debt and concern over the solvency of our country.  It has been two years since the financial markets nearly collapsed and Congress just this month unveiled a bill that has more regulations and bureaucracy but does nothing to specifically address the causes of the collapse.  The financial and banking community fear what these reforms will do and therefore are unwilling to make credit available to businesses.   Access to credit is a huge issue for small businesses who want to expand.  Economic activity is created when loans are made through the banking system which is at its lowest level since the 1940s.    

The health care bill just signed into law contains provisions that not only contribute to economic uncertainty but directly increase the cost of doing business. And we don’t even know with certainty what all is contained in the bill – but we do know this.   It mandates that all Americans must have health insurance.   It imposes a new tax on jobs by forcing employers who do not provide “acceptable” coverage to pay a “fair share” tax of up to $3,000 per low-wage worker.   Exactly who determines what is “acceptable”? That “little elite in Washington” referred to by Reagan!  In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that this tax on jobs masquerading in the form of a “pay-or-play” mandate “could reduce the hiring of low-wage workers and could also lead to wage stagnation” as wage compensation is diverted to comply with new federal taxes and mandates.  The bill also increases the Medicare payroll tax to the tune of $86.8 billion!!   It eliminates the tax deductibility provided to employers who offer prescription drug coverage to their retired workers. This is the equivalent of a $5.4 billion tax increase.  How in the world does a small business remain solvent let alone successful as their demand is falling, taxes are rising, access to capital is restricted and they are going to be penalized if they don’t cover all their employees with health insurance.

Uncertainty is toxic and seeps into every financial decision made by businesses and families.  America’s economy didn’t just happen by chance.  The hard working men and women of this country followed their dreams and took risks to build their businesses with the hope of reward for their risk.  Risk involves enough uncertainty without the help of government.  At a time when the economy needs new growth, Congress and President Obama are choking it to death by expanding government at a record pace and increasing taxes on business and families.   Every penny in profit that a small business makes will go to pay for this huge government expansion instead of being invested back into the business.  
Aside from the laundry list of tax increases, deficit spending,  new regulations and increased bureaucracy created by the Democratic Congress, the real and tragic cost to the American people is that we are losing our freedom.   We the people must rise up and stop the “little elite in Washington” from deciding what is best for us.   We must stop the abuse of our constitution.  Save Our Freedom must be our battle cry.  The fringe rock band – Michael Franti and Spearhead  - the Rebel Rockers -wrote a song, Hey World, the lyrics which appear above.  Now is the time for all of us to become rebel rockers, “let go of the remote control” and put up a fight to Save Our Freedom.

Submitted by Sarah Steelman, former Missouri State Treasurer