It's cool to hate Trump. It's
cool to hate the GOP. In fact, these days it's pretty cool to hate
America. The mainstream media have given birth to these ideas, and
they continue to hammer them home, no matter the cost.
Most recently, it's the new GOP tax plan (which is actually two
separate yet similar proposals in the House and Senate) that's caught the attention
of the liberal media. Reporters, left-wing pundits, and Democratic
politicians have plucked little pieces of the plan out and examined them in
isolation – thus losing context – and made outrageous claims. Read a
handful of articles from the left, and you'd think the country were coming to
an end.
While the plan is far from perfect – something many people on both
sides of the party line have publicly spoken out about – the extreme animosity
is a little puzzling. Yes, big businesses and wealthy individuals
get some pretty nice breaks, but so do the rest of us.
Most confusing of all, perhaps, is the idea that the GOP tax bill
is going to hurt America's middle class and harm small
business-owners. If you step out of the echo chamber the media
firestorm has created and actually read through some of the bill, you'll
realize that it's highly beneficial to small businesses.
GOP Tax Bill: Helping Small
Business-Owners Everywhere
Meet entrepreneur Mary Schiavoni. She's a pediatric
speech pathologist and the founder of a series of treatment tools known as
"Chewy Tubes," as well as a line of baby teethers, made in the United
States.
In
a recent piece for the Washington Examiner, Schiavoni expressed
her bewilderment that nobody is really talking about the 20-percent small
business deduction that's included in Congress's new plan. For a
business that earns $200,000 annually, that means that $40,000 is totally
tax-free. For businesses that are currently burdened by taxes, this
is a huge relief.
"I currently employ five people," Schiavoni
explains. "This tax cut would allow me to provide bonuses for
current employees, hire more employees, expand my workspace, and purchase
inventory."
"To prevent this provision from being a tool of wealthy small
businesses, like investment and accounting firms, it is ... available [only] to
those making less than $315,000 a year. The overwhelming majority of
small businesses earn below this threshold, meaning [that] the overwhelming
majority would benefit" Schiavoni rightly states. "For
small business[-]owners who are responsible for nearly two[] thirds of new job
growth in this country, that's a big win."
The Senate's tax bill is even more generous, proposing a
23-percent deduction. Again, the benefit for small business is
clear.
"The ability to protect nearly one[] quarter of my business
income from taxes will give me the ability to expand my drive-in movie theater
operations, hire more employees, and give my existing employees
raises," explains
Susan Kochevar, CEO of 88 Drive-In Theatre. In fact, she
believes that this massive deduction would level the playing field and allow
her to compete with larger cinemas that can afford skilled accountants who are
paid to find tax code loopholes.
Once again, this tax deduction is limited. In the case
of the Senate's proposed bill, only small businesses earning $500,000 or less
have the right to claim the 23-percent deduction.
"That's why I'm confused about the media characterization of
the bill as a gift to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class,"
Kochevar says. "As this small[] business provision
demonstrates, this narrative is backwards."
When small businesses have the freedom to reinvest in themselves,
they're also going to reinvest in the economy as a whole. A small
business-owner who is doing well financially is much more likely to take out a
personal loan to perform a home renovation, as he's confident in his
ability to pay it back. A small business-owner who is more
profitable in his business dealings will have a few thousand dollars more in
his pocket each year to take a vacation and inject
money into other cities and states. A small business
employee who gets a bonus as the result of the deduction is more likely to buy
a couple of extra Christmas presents for his kids, which helps other
small businesses.
It's a cycle that feeds itself. The left fails to see
this. All the leftists see is "corporate greed."
Helping Big Business Help Small Business
Will the proposed GOP tax bill help big
businesses? Absolutely – there's no questioning this
fact. But why is it such a bad thing to give American companies tax
breaks? What few on the left realize is that giving big companies a
boost actually helps the rest of us, small businesses included.
"My most profitable clients are big companies," small
business-owner Gene
Marks admits. "Many of my small clients rely on corporate
customers for their growth and income. Big companies hire small
businesses to do all sorts of things – from construction to maintenance to
landscaping to computer repairs to providing temporary workers. Big
companies also employ people who – when times are good and their salaries are
increasing – go home and buy pizzas, hire landscapers, shop for clothes[,] and
shower the small businesses in their community with the fruits of their
disposable corporate incomes."
It's Up to Businesses to Respond
If you actually read the proposed tax bills and do your research,
independent of the biased influence that the mainstream media push in their
glorified echo chamber, you'll clearly see that they're good for
business. Big business, small business – everyone benefits.
When you look at the top-line numbers, it's easy to say greedy big
businesses are the winners and small businesses are the losers, but that's
simply not true. The top-line figures don't matter. You
have to look at it practically and proportionally. If you view the
tax plan through these lenses, it's clear who the real winners are.
In the end, it's up to businesses to
respond. When they get these tax breaks, are they going to hoard
their money? Or will they use it to increase wages, spark
innovation, and stimulate the economy? Lawmakers are doing their job
– it'll be up to business-owners to pull their weight after the bill is passed.