Obamacare record keeping costing small businesses thousands...

We had to pass it to learn what was in it...

NEW YORK (AP) – Complying with the health care law is costing small businesses thousands of dollars that they didn’t have to spend before the new regulations went into effect.
Brad Mete estimates his staffing company, Affinity Resources, will spend $100,000 this year on record-keeping and filing documents with the government. He’s hired two extra staffers and is spending more on services from its human resources provider.
The Affordable Care Act, which as of next Jan. 1 applies to all companies with 50 or more workers, requires owners to track staffers’ hours, absences and how much they spend on health insurance. Many small businesses don’t have the human resources departments or computer systems that large companies have, making it harder to handle the paperwork. On average, complying with the law costs small businesses more than $15,000 a year, according to a survey released a year ago by the National Small Business Association.
“It’s a horrible hassle,” says Mete, managing partner of the Miami-based company.

Small businesses to face #Obamacare HIT of $500 per policy...

A tax that unions got exempted from is just one of the things we had to pass Obamacare to know what was in it.

To add insult to injury, a hidden tax within the law is coming to light that threatens the very livelihood of thousands of U.S. businesses and millions of American workers. Known as the health insurance tax or HIT, this is a new discriminatory tax on small businesses and their employees that will raise the premiums by as much as $500 per policy per year. Main Street enterprises are now being faced with the choice of eating the costs, passing it on to their employees, ending coverage altogether or other unexpected decisions impacting their operations and workers.Adding to the confusion is the fact that the cost of the tax is only going to grow over time – collecting an estimated $145 billion from small businesses in the first ten years alone and making it that much harder for business owners to prepare for the future.Ironically, during one of the ACA’s many back door deals, large corporations and unions received a carve-out from the HIT, leaving the full burden of the tax to fall on the fully-insured marketplace, where nearly 90 percent of small businesses, their employees and the self-employed purchase their insurance.

Obamanomics: Businesses are collapsing faster than they are being formed

Increased regulation from Obamacare and the current EPA and an unfriendly NLRG are the triple kiss of death for business.

Via WaPo:

The American economy is less entrepreneurial now than at any point in the last three decades. That's the conclusion of a new study out from the Brookings Institution, which looks at the rates of new business creation and destruction since 1978.
Not only that, but during the most recent three years of the study -- 2009, 2010 and 2011 -- businesses were collapsing faster than they were being formed, a first. Overall, new businesses creation (measured as the share of all businesses less than one year old) declined by about half from 1978 to 2011.

After being caught trying to destroy conservative groups, the IRS moves on to small businesses...

More than half the small business owners identify themselves as Republicans or right-leaning independents ...

Via Fox News:

Small business owners across the country are receiving letters from the IRS questioning if they are reporting all of their cash income, in a new push by the agency some are saying could unnecessarily create fear in the small business community.
The Wall Street Journal reports the initiative is an attempt to respond to what the agency feels is a widespread failure by small businesses to report all their cash sales.
The agency says the letters are not the same as an audit, and it is simply seeking more tax information from the businesses. However, some lawmakers and business owners who received the letters say the initiative is alarming.
"There's an emotional thing when you get a pretty ominous-looking letter from the IRS, [saying] you might have done some bad things," small business owner Tom Reese tells the Wall Street Journal. "I really work hard with my accountant to make sure that I not only follow the law, but follow the letter of the law."
One letter the IRS sent is headlined, "Notification of Possible Income Underreporting." It notifies the business owner "your gross receipts may be underreported" and says they must complete a form "to explain why the portion of your gross receipts from non-card payments appears unusually low."

Gallop Poll: 40% of small businesses say that Obamacare has caused them to freeze hiring

Since most new jobs are created by small businesses, this is going to crate the job market later this year.

Via TWS:

A new Gallup poll of small-business owners indicates that Obamacare is having a dramatic and deleterious effect on Americans’ employment prospects.  More than 40 percent of small-business owners say that Obamacare has caused them to freeze hiring, while nearly a fifth say that it has caused them to cut existing workers.  According to the poll, 41 percent of small-business owners have frozen hiring, while 19 percent have “reduced the number of employees [they] have in [their] business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare]” (italics added).

The Gallup poll was commissioned by Littler Mendelson, a firm specializing in employment law.  Steven Friedman, an attorney for the firm, said of the results, “We were startled.”  He added that these are “some pretty startling answers.”

Chart of the Day: Wells Fargo/Gallop Small Business Index...

Small business owners are expecting next year to be horrible. Thanks President Obama...

Update: Arizona gun store owner who banned Obama voters says business is booming...

Who would have guessed? 

Via CNS:

Last week, the owner of an Arizona gun shop made national headlines after it was reported that he had posted a sign and taken out a full page ad in a local newspaper that banned Obama supporters from entering his store.  One week later, Cope Reynolds is cashing in on the attention.

Mr. Reynolds, owner of Southwest Shooting Authority says “business is booming” after his sign and newspaper ad caught the attention of various media outlets.  The sign read: “If you voted for Barack Obama, your business is not welcome at Southwest Shooting Authority. You have proven you’re not responsible enough to own a firearm.”

Reynolds says he has been inundated with hundreds of calls and emails from media types and supporters.  When asked about business, he replied, “I’ve been busier than a cat covering up poop on a marble floor.”

The Arizona Republic spoke with Mr. Reynolds about his sign and the effect it’s had on his business:

NJ small business owner Halloween window display depicts President Obama as a witch doctor

 Skuby & Co. Lifestyle Clothing in Spring Lake is selling items with the acronym FYBO.

SPRING LAKE, N.J. (WABC) -- A business owner in Spring Lake, New Jersey has put up a window display for Halloween which depicts President Barack Obama as a witch doctor. 

The display in a window of Skuby & Co. Lifestyle Clothing in Spring Lake includes an image of the president's head superimposed on the body of a witch doctor above the word "ObamaCare."

There's a tombstone featuring a picture of the president with a stethoscope and the inscription, "I Told You I Was Sick." A mannequin also wears a hat with a derogatory Obama acronym.

 Here is something really scary...

Obama asks Cleveland chicken seller how's business. Cleveland chicken seller: "Terrible since you got here."

Priceless...

Obama: How's business. Cleveland chicken seller: "Terrible since you got here."
— Reid Epstein (@reidepstein) October 5, 2012

The liberal Messiah was not amused...

Pool:Potus didn't appear amused by the sentiment.

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 5, 2012

Obvious: KFC franchiser explains why he will have to cut employees hours as a result of Obamacare...

Via Flickr

Obamacare is a train wreck for small businesses. Small businesses are normally the jobs growth engine of the economy. You don't have to be a genius to figure out the result of the full implementation of Obamacare.

Via Washington Examiner:

That is until he pulled out his powerpoint showing how funding Obamacare will cut his--and likely their--profits in half overnight. With simple math the small business folks understood, he spelled out that their only choice is to slash employee hours so they aren't eligible for company-paid health care or stop offering insurance and pay the $2,000 per employee fine.

Barr has 23 stores with 421 employees, 109 of whom are full-time. Of those, he provides 30 with health insurance. Barr said he pays 81 percent of their Blue Cross Blue Shield policy, or $4,073 of $5,028 for individuals, more for families, for a total bill of $129,000 a year. Employees pay $995.

Under Obamacare, however, he will have to provide health insurance for all 109 full-time workers, a cost of $444,000, or two and half times more than his current costs. That $315,000 increase is equal to just over half his annual profit, after expenses, or 1.5 percent of sales. As a result, he said, "I'm not paying $444,000."

Confirmed: Small business owners favor Romney 56-36

I am surprised even 36% still support Obama after the "You didn't build that" comment. 

Via Rasmussen:

Ever since President Obama’s “You didn’t build that” comment, the Obama campaign has fought back against the perception that he values government workers more than small business owners.

Regardless of whether the comments were taken out of context or reflect his true beliefs, the president trails badly among the nation’s entrepreneurs.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that among those who are self-employed or own their own business, Mitt Romney enjoys a 20-point lead. Fifty-six percent (56%) favor Romney, and 36% prefer the president.

Gallop: 59% of business owners disapprove of President Obama

The other 41% must have government contracts...

Via Gallop:

Add caption

200,000 small businesses have vanished

President Obama should have built some more roads and bridges to those business. That is what he thinks makes them successful.

Via Fox News:

More than 200,000 small businesses vanished between early 2008 and 2010 — a period covering the Great Recession and its immediate aftermath — taking with them in excess of 3 million jobs, according to Census figures which illustrate the depth of the country’s economic hole.

Data is only available until 2010, but the U.S. Census Bureau stats reveal a startling slide for America’s businesses. While the country boasted 5.14 million firms with up to 99 employees as of March 2008, that number dropped to 4.92 million by March 2010 – representing a loss of roughly 223,800 businesses and 3.1 million workers.

The Obama administration notes that the trend has since reversed, and that the country has seen 28 consecutive months of private-sector job growth.

But a recent slowdown in private-sector hiring has raised questions about the direction and strength of that recovery. And amid an escalating campaign trail battle about President Obama’s recent remarks on businesses, a new poll shows American business owners are harboring serious doubts.

Keep on reading…

Forty-nine percent of business owners support Mitt Romney; Obama gets only 32 percent

32 percent of small business owners are planning on voting for Obama? Are they insane?

Via HuffPo:

Small-business owners are leaning right leading up to the U.S. presidential election. Forty-nine percent of business owners plan to vote for presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, while 32 percent of respondents say they’ll support President Obama, according to a report released this week by Manta.

In Manta’s last poll in January, the president was the clear winner against the Republican field as a whole, but received just 34 percent of the total vote. Now, with Romney emerging as the GOP favorite, Obama appears to face a challenge among business owners — although Romney is yet to earn support from all the 61 percent of small-business owners who planned to back a Republican in January.

In the eight swing states shaping up to be the central election battleground, small businesses favor Romney even more, Manta found. Of the small-business owners surveyed in those states, 53 percent said they’ll vote for Romney, while 32 percent said they will choose Obama.

Georgia business owner has new policy: He is not hiring until Obama is gone (video)

He posted the signs on his company’s trucks. According to the owner, the feedback has been “about 20-to-one positive.”

64% of Small Businesses Will Not Be Hiring This Year

This report illustrates the reason this is a jobless recovery. Most jobs in this country aren't created by GM or Citibank. They are created by small businesses. Small busines owners are very hesitant to hire anyone now. Here are the four main reasons.

• Obamacare- Small business owners will soon be forced to purchase and keep insurance on themselves and their employees. They can't purchase a minimalistic plan. Obamacare mandates the type of plans that can be sold. Business owners will have to pay for many preventative services or pay a government penalty.
• High energy costs- Gas and electric costs are up across the country. Gas prices really hurt many small business because they are service oriented and actually drive to the constomers house. Obama's anti-drilling and EPA CO2 regulating policies are exacerbating this increase and this trend will continue while Obama is in office.
• Increased regulation- President Obama has launched an adventurous increase in regulation. Small business owners don't know how this will fully impact them, but they know it will be for the worse.
• Taxes- President Obama and Democrats are committed to increasing taxes. A particular target is individuals making over $200,000 a year. Many small business owners fall in that bracket. They are faced with the possibility of receiving less reward for their financial risk if they expand their business.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

The U.S. labor market could stay sluggish for a while, with small-business executives reluctant to hire amid the murky economic outlook.

Almost two-thirds—64%—of small-business executives surveyed said they weren’t expecting to add to their payrolls in the next year and another 12% planned to cut jobs, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report to be released Monday. Just 19% said they would expand their work forces.

This comes after a Labor Department report Friday showed employers added few jobs in June, and unemployment rose to 9.2%. The bleak figures joined other data showing the recovery losing momentum in recent months, which has caused many analysts and policy makers to lower their forecasts for economic growth in the second half of the year.

Small Businesses Being Crushed By New Taxes

Most new jobs are created by small businesses (pdf). Small businesses generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years. That may no longer be true. New taxes by Federal, State and Local governments are crushing the ability of small businesses to grow and succeed. The effective tax rate on the nations 26 million small businesses may be as much as 50% now. This is a 10 percent recent increase.

A record 25 percent increase in the taxes against US small businesses -- from costs associated with new health care law...

By one estimate, the effective tax rate on the 26 million small businesses across the country -- ...

Here are a sampling of the new taxes imposed on the nation's small businesses.

The 26 million small businesses in the US — like Eneslow Shoes, headed by CEO Robert Schwartz— are getting buried under an avalanche of new taxes, which include:

* An increase of 4.6% in federal taxes from 35% to 39.6% (expiration of Bush tax cuts)

* An increase in capital gains taxes from 15% to 20% (expiration of Bush tax cuts)

* A new tax of 3.85% on investment income, dividends, rents, royalties mandated in the new health care bill

* An increase in the Medicare payroll tax to 2.35% as mandated in the new health care bill

* In states like New Jersey and others, state and municipal taxes have been raised by the average of almost 2%

Businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to provide health insurance to employees in 2014 or pay a penalty. If you were a small employer with 45 employees, would you hire another 5 and move into the mandatory health insurance range or try to get by with your current employees? Growth from small to medium size carries a heavy penalty.