Strickland’s Tax Proposal Not the Answer

Posted on October 8, 2009 by | Leave a comment

By Marc Kilmer

Months after a contentious legislative session that struggled over balancing the state budget, Ohio is still facing a deficit. To deal with this, Governor Ted Strickland has proposed postponing scheduled tax cuts. He says the only other option is to cut spending. But what if there was a better way of dealing with these budget problems? If state policymakers would have taken steps to reform the bloated state bureaucracy, Ohioans would not be faced with this ongoing budget mess.

There were over 182,000 people employed by the Ohio state government in 2007, the last year for which numbers are available from the Census Bureau. Another 546,000 were employed by local governments. Your taxes pay the salaries of each of them. On the whole, these are hard-working people who do a good job and help provide necessary services. They are well-compensated for these services, though, and they receive good fringe benefits. No one is saying these government employees should not be paid for their services. But if their compensation was more in line with the private sector, taxpayers would see significant savings.

For instance, state employee salaries have risen faster than salaries for other Ohio workers. From 2001 to 2007, Ohioans’ per capita income rose 21%. State employee income, however, rose 27%. If state employees’ income would have risen at the rate of the rest of Ohioans, the state government would have spent $413 million less this year. And if the number of state employees remained at its 2001 level, the state would have spent $648 million less this year.

Considering that Governor Strickland is talking about $844 million in reduced education spending if the proposed income tax cuts take effect, it’s clear that the growth in state government employment is a significant contribution to the present budget problems. If state policymakers would have applied the brakes to state hiring over the past eight years, there would be no need for the governor to be discussing raising taxes.

Of course, if the number of state employees remained at its 2001 level and their compensation grew only as much as the rest of Ohioans’ compensation, this would translate to even more than $648 million in reduced spending. There would also be savings from the fringe benefits these employees receive, such as health insurance and pensions. And if these benefits were more in line with the private sector, state taxpayers would see even larger savings.

Take state employee health insurance, for instance. Government workers receive good health insurance coverage and they only pay an average of 15% of their premiums. In the private sector, employees pay closer to 30% of their premiums. If state employees were more like private sector employees, that would save taxpayers around $150 million this year.

Government employees should certainly be compensated for their services. But there is no reason why they should have better pay and benefits than they would receive in the private sector. When there is such a large gap between the state government’s spending and revenue, state policymakers need to review the generous compensation and benefits received by state employees and look for ways to rein it in. A hiring freeze, reducing the rate of salary increases, and paring back benefits to private sector levels are not radical propositions. In fact, it’s just common sense.

Source: Buckeye Institute Weekly News Digest, October 5, 2009.

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Why Darwin’s propagandists oppose the book The Mystery of Life’s Origin

Posted on October 6, 2009 by | 1 comment

Propagandists for Darwin’s theory often claim their opponents are unscientific. They claim their opponents never offer science an alternative theory. They criticize their critics for their continual criticism. This is true of Eugenie Scott, PZ Meyer, Richard Dawkins, and the like.

I have noticed one so-called creationist work often mentioned and criticized by Darwinian propagandists. That work is The Mystery of Life Origins: Reassessing Current Theories by Charles B. Thaxton, Walter L. Bradley, and Roger L. Olson. Therefore, I bought that book and have been reading it.

While reading the first chapter, I began to realize why this book is a problem to Darwin’s propagandists. First, a better sub-title for the book would be Reassessing the Current Theories of Chemical Evolution. That is the actual subject of the book and for good reason: its authors are all professional chemists, evangelists or philosophers. Second, these authors identify the scientific community’s problems with chemical evolution, the statistical improbability of the evolution of cellular life by random chance, the lack of evidence for evolutionary predestination based on finding life on other planets, and the most troubling problem is with the nature of information available to and present by origin science theories.

Quoting preeminent scientists like George Gaylord Simpson, philosophers of science like Karl Pooper, and the prestigious scientific journal like Nature, the authors demonstrates the evolutionary theory of origins is mere speculation, which is exactly the claim made by Darwin’s propagandists against Intelligent Design. If you have watched the documentary Expelled, then you know they also admit they do not know how life actually began.

Consequently, the theories of Creation Science and Intelligent Design are as scientific as is the theory of Evolution to the extent the scientific community (meaning academia, big business, and government) produces and allows observational research by which to verify various theories. To test the plausibility of any theory and its inferences, real scientific research and publication of findings is required; but if it is prevented by the status quo in academia and society, academic and intellectual freedom is denied.

That is the underlying issue of the Evolution v Creation debate. It’s about philosophical views and the suppression of intellectual freedom. It’s bad politics as the many court cases hindering academic and freedom. According to Darwinian propagandists like Eugenie Scott, these cases presumably prove that the Creation Science and Intelligent Design theories are just religious theologies pretending to be science. Decisions of judges are not scientific judgments either.

The belief in a Creator of the material world and that the Creator intervenes in nature to direct or repair it is not illogical. To the members the Continental Congress of this nation, it was self-evidently rational. For a magnificently complex universe and life in it to come about by random accidents was self-evidently irrational. The proposition of Darwinian evolution that life developed by random chance mutations is still illogical as well as unproven. Complex machines do not just assemble themselves by accident. They are purposefully made according to a predetermined design according to ability and knowledge (information).

I have also noticed that all Origin theories, even the Genesis account, always assume preexisting material, organism, or universe from which our world and life in it came into existence. Both name elements and components, describe processes, identify sources, and employ reason and observation. Prior to Darwin and the rise of atheistic secularism, scientific discoveries were expected to give scientists and society a greater understanding of the Creator and his purpose(s) for creation. That is why religion is not a hindrance to science. On the contrary, it is only a hindrance to unethical scientific agendas.

If as David Bohm theorizes, the entire blueprint of the universe and all forms of life exist in every part of nature. Then, its source must have been very intelligent and skillful. Evolutionists like Richard Dawkins speculate that an intelligent being or being could have been the source. Others called that being God. For still others, their personal experience of God verifies their belief. Seeing that millions of people around the world for two millenniums have repeatedly have experienced the same verification, should not God then be regarded as an empirical fact?

Sources: Eugenie C. Scott, “American Antievolutionism: Retrospect and Prospect” in Evolution: The First Four Billion Years, Michael Ruse and Joseph Travis, eds., Cambridge, MA: Belnap Press, 2009): pp. 370-399; Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed, DVD, directed by Nathan Frankowski (Universal City, CA: Vivendi Entertainment, 2008); The Mystery of Life’s Origin (Dallas, TX: Lewis & Stanley,: 1984): pp. 1-7.

Note: I found “Evolution” at the Xenia Library but I could not find “Mystery,” but I did find it at the downtown Montgomery County Library. Other Greene County Libraries have “Expelled,” but the Xenia Library seems to prefer to spend tax dollars on Evolution.

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Good News-Ohio Unemployment Rate Drops 10.8%; Bad News-It’s still Above 10%

Posted on September 28, 2009 by | Leave a comment

According to a 20 September report in the Dayton Business Journal, the Ohio economy faces some positive development in the labor market. Ohio unemployment dropped a whopping 0.4% from 11.2% in July to 10.8% in August.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is the unemployment rate is still well over last year’s rate of a mere 6.7%.

The multiple million dollar question (that represents loss of income) is whatever happened to full employment? That is the employment of all able-bodied citizens. I would include domestic labor such as stay -at-home moms and homemakers as among the employed. Could it be that the welfare state needs unemployment for its beneficent rule?

What scares me is the possibility that the devil really is in the details. As reported by the Dayton Business Journal, “Nonfarm payroll fell about 30,100 jobs to 5.1 million employees from 5.13 million in July, while the ranks of Ohio’s unemployed – those without jobs and actively looking for work – fell to 641,000 from 666,000.” See, 666 x 1,000 probably means there are a thousand devils ruining Ohio jobs. Some people seem to think that if you add up all politicians including lobbyists the number equals about the same.

I’m not blaming the Dayton Business Journal for preaching this bad news in a positive way for one simple reason: they were simply reporting what the Jobs and Family Department of Ohio reported. For example:

“A decrease in Ohio’s labor force was a primary factor in the drop of the August unemployment rate,” department Director Douglas Lumpkin said in a release. “The unemployment rate declined as the number of service-providing and goods-producing jobs decreased and fewer Ohioans were actively seeking work.”

Did you notice the double-speak oozing out of that statement?

I always thought a reduction in the labor force resulted in an increase in the unemployment rate, but not in Ohio. If you get depressed or otherwise sick of trying to find work, it means you are non-existent. It implies that members in the non-labor force are no longer independent citizens. They are nobodies in the statistical world of imperial politics. Such no-bodies may become some-bodies if they submit the imperial paternalism of the welfare state, which by the way, is run mostly by rich politicians and quasi-state institutions called national corporations.

The poor saps who have stopped looking for work are ba-a-a-d people. I can’t understand why anyone could quit looking for work in a society run by rich people who have intentionally worked to put people out of work by their wonderfully increasing debt producing policies that is making it nearly impossible for all but those bailed out by Chinese government loans to continue employing non-labor force people–go figure.

The government should thank those non-labor force people for making the unemployment rate look better than it is. Maybe it will assist political bureaucrats to convince foreign investors to continue loaning them more money.

The unemployed and the state’s economic dependents, however, will be unable to help pay back all of that beneficial debt that will continue to tax Ohio and American citizens’ economic prosperity without their full knowledge and approval.

Source: Dayton Business Journal, September 18, 2009

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Congressman Austria Co-Sponsors Czar Accountability & Reform Act

Posted on September 24, 2009 by | Leave a comment

As you may know, recent attention has been drawn to the administration’s appointment of new czars. While the position of the czar has existed in past administrations, the present concern is focused on the number of czars President Obama has appointed in his short time in office, as well as the amount of power these individuals are given. It has been estimated that there are currently 34 czars in the administration. Questions of constitutionality have arisen because czars are not required to go through the regular confirmation process as, for example, is required for a cabinet secretary. With sweeping new policies that have extensive ramifications, like the stimulus bill, it is important that these individuals are kept accountable to the public.

That is why Rep. Austria became a cosponsor of the Czar Accountability and Reform Act (H.R. 3226), which would prohibit the use of tax dollars to pay the salaries and expenses of these “czars” without the advice and consent of the Senate. There must be complete disclosure, transparency and accountability for those appointed to these important positions.

— From Congressman Steve Austria’s E-Mail Updates.

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3C is Going to Cost, Cost, Cost Ohio Taxpayers

Posted on September 23, 2009 by | Leave a comment

By Marc Kilmer

Hopping a train and riding from Cincinnati to Cleveland or Columbus certainly seems like a popular idea. Opinion polls show strong support for it, a wide variety of civic organizations are backing it, and people are coming to meetings excited to see the trains roll. All this begs the question, though — if passenger rail is so popular, why do Ohio’s taxpayers need to subsidize almost 60% of its yearly cost?

There is often a difference between what people say and what they actually do. It’s easy to tell a pollster you are in favor of something. That’s an abstract question. But when it comes to actually paying money to achieve that object or otherwise paying a cost for it, many times the actions people take differs from what they tell pollsters. Other priorities take precedence over this objective they supposedly strongly supported.

Passenger rail in Ohio is a perfect example of this. The government agencies and community groups advocating for rail routinely trumpet opinion polls showing the strong support for their position. Amtrak’s recently completed feasibility study of passenger rail in the state, though, shows that this supposedly strong support is an illusion.

Sure, passenger rail supporters claim otherwise. They say that since Amtrak predicts nearly 500,000 people will ride it every year, there is a huge demand for rail service. This number is a bit misleading, though, as it includes people who will make multiple trips a year on the train. As other passenger rail systems have shown, a small number of people make numerous trips. Usually these are higher-income workers who travel between cities for meetings. The vast majority of people who have access to passenger rail never set foot in a train station.

Even if there are 500,000 trips a year on this new service (a dubious proposition), those riding the trains would only do so if someone else paid for most of the cost of their ride. Passenger rail users in Ohio would only pay for 41% of the cost of operating the system. State taxpayers would be paying the rest. If you have a business selling a product for forty-one cents that costs you $1.00 to manufacture, then you don’t really have a product people want.

Of course, the situation gets even worse for passenger rail advocates. Not only would taxpayers be required to pay $17 million a year for a system that costs $29 million a year to operate, they would also be required to fund the system’s start-up costs, which would run close to $500 million. And given the history of rail projects around the nation, it’s almost certain these initial estimates will be exceeded by the actual cost of the project.

Rail enthusiasts claim that of course passenger rail will be subsidized by taxpayers, just like all other transportation is subsidized. What they overlook is that road transportation is almost entirely funded by gas taxes paid by drivers and other vehicle-related revenue such as car registration fees. Air travel receives a subsidy, certainly, but it is less than one cent per passenger mile. Rail, on the other hand, receives twenty-two cents per passenger mile. When it comes to fleecing the taxpayers for transportation subsidies, rail is king.

Ohio’s backers of rail contend that Ohio’s neighbors are proceeding with passenger rail so Ohio shouldn’t be left behind. It’s true that taxpayers in Michigan, Illinois, and other states are subsidizing passenger rail in their states. If these state governments are wasting money, does it mean Ohio should, too? Lawmakers in some of these states are reconsidering their support for passenger rail. Michigan, for instance, is looking to slash rail subsidies and rail ridership is declining. These states would be in a much better fiscal position if they would have never begun rail subsidies in the first place.

Passenger rail may sound good in theory but when it actually comes to paying for it, those who would ride it just aren’t willing to pay its full cost. With Ohio’s budget problems, it makes little sense to ask taxpayers to pay the tickets of the small minority of state residents who would take the train. Any way you look at it, if passenger rail returns to Ohio, only a few Ohioans will use it, but every taxpayer will be taken for a ride.

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Austria’s priorities misdirected

Posted on September 22, 2009 by | 1 comment

By LtCol John Mitchel, USAF (Ret)

I recently visited Congressman Steve Austria’s tax-payer funded website and was astonished to learn that his #1 priority is “providing quality constituent services.” I would think that a Congressman’s top priority would be to protect his constituents’ freedom and liberty, not arrange Capital tours, gallery passes or White House tours. Although those quaint activities are nice, I’d rather see my Representative standing in the gap between his constituents and big, intrusive government.

Having said that, on three occasions over the last ten years or so, I asked for Steve’s help, and all three times he failed miserably. The first was five or six years into E-check, which you may recall as “cap and trade light” where our state government charged $19.50 to check our cars for excessive emissions. More than 95 percent passed, but then the government sold or traded the credits we earned to private businesses so they could keep polluting. Mr. Austria told me we needed to keep E-check because it preserved jobs, and of course he took credit for E-check’s demise when it died a natural death after the 10-year contract expired.

Then in 2005 I asked him to side with over 2000 Beavercreek folks who signed a petition to put a $14.8 million dollar government loan on the ballot to help finance The Greene, a private development. Our City Counsel sat on their hands while an unelected bureaucrat voided our petitions on a procedural technicality. Austria claimed he had no jurisdiction, but still took a $1,000 contribution in 2007 from the CEO for Steiner and Associates, The Greene’s private development company. (Source: www.fec.gov)

Then more recently I asked two members of Steve’s staff to shine a bright light on the cost of two mailings that looked like campaign ads paid for at taxpayer expense. Still haven’t heard from Steve on that one.

If you want Steve Austria as your over-paid Washington D.C. tour guide and full time campaigner, that’s up to you, but I believe the job is more important than that. We are at a crossroads and it’s time we put people in Washington who care a lot more about their oath of office rather than arranging complimentary tickets for Washington D.C. tours.

Note: LtCol John Mitchel, USAF (Ret), opposed Steve Austria in the 2008 primary, and is considering another run for Congress in 2010.

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Why Christians Should Be Politically Involved

Posted on September 20, 2009 by | 1 comment

Many followers of Jesus Christ believe political involvement violates the commission of Jesus. Liberals criticize strong conservative Christians for not sticking to the spiritual work of redeeming lost souls. They suggest that by staying out of politics right-wing Christians will better their nation. Instead, Christians should work to transform government and culture by reforming individual hearts and minds.

During this season of left-wing dominance over American politics, liberal Christians want America to believe that their views represent the best of both heaven and earth or rather the best of both the spiritual and the secular. The problem with liberals is their rejection of the underlying tenets of the gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is supposed to result in a more godly view and subsequent lifestyle. By replacing the rule of God’s law with the rule of pseudo-religious secularism, liberals also reject the power of God over all aspects of life. This is the opposite goal pursued by America’s Puritan founders.

But, what is the gospel? It is often summarized as the good news about God’s offer of forgiveness for past sins based on the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of the Jew Jesus. His death is the divine means to the complete satisfaction of God justice. Moral crimes against the natural law of the Creator must be punished. The punishment stated in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 set the standard of punish for all sin. The prophet Ezekiel reiterated this when he said, “the soul that sins shall die.” Jesus’ apostle, Paul, expanded on this aspect of God’s law and justice in his letters to the Christians in both Rome and Galatia. As the story of Adam and Eve demonstrates, separation of right relationships, including the natural relationship with God, spouses, and alienation from others, is the essence of death.

If one thinks about it, liberals have been its champions promoting every form of death and its misery imaginable in American society and around the world for decades.

By the pain of death and by his descent into hell for the sins of others, Jesus temporarily suffered the permanent punishment for all our moral crimes against God’s law. By resurrection and ascent to throne of God, Jesus precedes those who accept God’s gracious offer as the federal head or representative. His ascent to God’s throne is also his reward because he was given the authority and legal oversight of his redeeming work, which is why Jesus is Lord over the rule redemptive justice.

The commission given by the resurrected Jesus to his Church was to make disciples of all peoples. At the very least, this commission means Christian are to represent God’s purpose and will to all people. The message of redemption and grace presented by the gospel of Jesus is that justice has been fully satisfied for one purpose only: that individuals and nations may choose eternal life under God’s rule of law.

Yes, it does mean a kind of theocracy; one based on the natural and moral laws of God. A study of the Puritan colonies and early history of state laws gives us an idea of what that would be like.

It also means laws sanctioning the restriction and punishment of immoral and unjust behaviors. In the American colonies, the enactment of such societal laws required citizens educated in the discipline of self-government. As often stated in early American literature, liberty meant the freedom to do what is right. It was the opposite of doing your own thing no matter how right it might feel.

The rule of law is a political principle rooted in the biblical law as well as natural law. Human nature as created by God is the basis for both. Both are the result of human experience with God and other humans in society. Because the gospel represents the fulfillment of the requirements of divine justice, the commission of Christians is to serve the God as ambassadors of His kingly rule. Only kings rule by law over their kingdom of citizens. Citizens are people invited by kings to enjoy the benefits of and the obligations to the King. Those who do so are citizens of good standing and those who don’t are rebels and enemies.

It should be obvious that the Creator of the universe has an unalienable right to rule over all. This is a self-evident right. If humans can do what they will with their creations, the Creator of human nature even more. That is why Darwinian evolution and its resulting atheism (or secularism) has to dominate the view of public institutions. One of the primary means to that end is the fabrication of the wall of separation of church (religion) and state by the American judicial system and its members like the ACLU. This contemporary view, however, is antithetical to the majority decisions of both the U.S. Constitutional conventions and later Congresses. In other words, federal courts and its members continually violate that First Amendment as it was originally argued and defended by eighteenth and nineteenth century Congresses.

Christians cannot separate their “religion” from their social or political involvement. They can not because it is their life. Their lives are politically ordered under the rule of God and His law. Christians are political representatives by definition of their membership in the kingdom of God under the Lordship of Jesus. Christians have no other choice other than to be politically involved. Their involvement must present the purpose and interests of God and Christ rather than their own. That must be first on their list of their priorities followed by family, nation, and self-interests.

Christian are also citizens of the nations in which they were born or now live. Although loyalty to the kingdom of God does not conflict with their being good citizens in their respective nations. Yet, genuine Christians have pledged their lives to the Kingship of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and to good citizenship in the divine kingdom. Allegiance to the United States or any other nation is secondary. Loyal citizenship to a secondary political entity is only a problem when a nation’s laws and policies contradicts the law and objectives of the kingdom of God. Just as Americans inherited freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly from those who had fought the arbitrary rule of unjust monarchs for centuries, Americans also have inherited the weaponry by which those rights were won. God’s law was and still is the primary legitimating sword in the fight for liberty and justice.

In his Commentaries on the Laws of England published in 1765, British jurist Sir William Blackstone succinctly summarized the prevailing view of man-made law prior to the rise of secularists in both Britain and America. He wrote:

“No human laws are of any validity if contrary to [God’s Law].” (Vol. I, p. 41)

To reiterate, loyalty to God’s kingdom does not necessarily conflict with good citizenship in America or any other nation. Conflict arises when a nation’s law and practices violate the laws of God and conflict with His objectives.

It must be concluded that American Christians are obligated as citizens and representatives of God’s kingdom as well as members of the American body politic to decisive involvement in shaping political and all other aspects of life according to the divine plan. Anything else is treason.

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Man slaps baby at Wal-Mart?

Posted on September 11, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The slap happy graphic commentary was captured by Drewski at “That’s What You Think” blog.

I can vaguely remember being slapped once or twice for not obeying my parents. My candy grabbing hands and sometimes gluteus maximus was stung by my very annoyed momma or pappa bee.

I must admit that I’m glad the government inspired hate crime goons did’t exist during my child arrearing.

Of course, this is not to deny real abuse exists. But, as the good book says, “spare the rod (or hand or paddle) spoils the child.” If you hope your child will one day grow to live the way he or she should, training is of a necessity. Pain teaches about consequences for doing what should not be done and praise teaches reinforces good behavior.

It looks like the kid must have given Dad his lesson. Poor Dad.

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The Obama “Birth Certificate” Scandal Continues

Posted on September 10, 2009 by | Leave a comment

A Newsmax.com story by David A. Patten noted that, contrary to widespread media reports, Hawaiian health officials have not publicly released President Obama’s original, “long-form” birth certificate. He explained, “Many media reports have insisted the President’s actual birth certificate is available on the Internet for anyone to download. It is not.” What is posted, he noted, is Obama’s “certification of live birth.”

Patten said, “The document is essentially a summary of the actual long form birth certificate. The certification does not list the attending physician, the address or hospital where the delivery took place, or the parents’ occupation. Typically, this information is included on the birth certificate.”

A certified birth certificate a state seal stamp on it. The seal prominently displayed by MSNBC anchor Brian Williams was not from Obama’s birth certificate. A good reason not to show a close up of the entire thing.

Cliff Kincaid, the editor of Accuracy in Media, has released a copy of his own birth certificate, in order to demonstrate what needs to be done to resolve the growing controversy over the alleged birth certificate of President Barack Obama. “My birth certificate includes the names of my mother and father, my mother’s doctor, and the hospital in which I was born,” said Kincaid. “This certified copy of an original long form document is what anyone who wants to be president should be prepared to produce.”

By contrast, the “birth certificate” released by the Obama presidential campaign includes no name of a hospital, a location of that hospital, or a physician. “The contrast between what is on so many birth certificates for ordinary Americans, such as mine, versus what the Obama campaign has released, is striking,” said Kincaid. “This contrast is what accounts for the many questions that have arisen and which have given rise to the so-called ‘Birther’ Movement. Many ordinary Americans are wondering why the major media have not explained why the Obama ‘birth certificate’ is so lacking in basic and essential information about where he was born and which doctor by name was there when he was born. If he was born in Hawaii, as he claims, then this information should be readily available and printed on the original birth certificate.”

If Obama has a legitimate birth certificate, why has he spent nearly one million dollars to conceal it from public view? What does he have to hide? Could it be his foreign born status?

As Kincaid asked, “Whatever happened to the public’s right to know?”

Surely, Obama and the Democrat Party leaders are not so contemptuous toward the voting public–or should I say those who voted against him–that they disregard their right to know whether a man holding the highest office satisfies the legal requirements under Constitutional law? Maybe, they sincerely believe all Americans should trust federal bureaucrats. More likely, they believe their presumed authority exceeds that the people and the U.S. Constitution. Tyrants always do.

To read the entire Accuracy in Media Report published on September 2, 2009, go here.

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Small Business Outlook on the Economy

Posted on September 10, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The latest Discover Financial Services “Small Business Watch” survey was released on Monday, August 31. The best that can be said seems to be that small business owners’ lack of confidence in the economy may have bottomed. Clearly, the readings from small businesses are still anything but rosy.

A few key findings on the August survey:

• 43% of small business owners believe the economy is getting worse – the lowest level in the survey’s three-year history – while 38% see it getting better. Meanwhile, 15% see it staying the same.

• 48% of small business owners ranked the economy as poor, 41% fair, and only 9% as good or excellent.

• As for their own firms, 30% saw economic conditions improving, 43% getting worse, and 23% unchanged.

• In addition, 27% of small business owners said they were going to boost spending on business development, 43% said reduce, and 25% no changes.

The only real positive that can be pulled from this survey is that the negatives were a bit less negative than in recent months. According to this poll, most small business owners clearly are still quite sour on the economy.

Considering the importance of small business to economic growth, innovation and job creation, perhaps our elected officials at the federal, state and local levels should take note. Rather than focusing on big spending programs, a pro-growth course includes tax and regulatory relief to help reinvigorate confidence and investment among our nation’s entrepreneurs.

That, however, would require a major shift in thinking among many in power right now. For example, the current plan is to sock America’s entrepreneurs and investors with higher personal income, capital gains, dividend and death taxes over the coming 16 months, while also increasing energy and health care costs in the future. That is anything but pro-small business, and therefore is bad for the economy.

Source: Raymond J, Keating, Small Business & Entreprenurial Council News, September 3, 2009

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