I was pretty disturbed to see the results of the latest small business survey by MerchantCircle showing the surge in support for the Tea Party amongst small business owners.
According to the press release announcing the findings:
"16% of merchants believe that the Tea Party is the most supportive political party of small business interests, while confidence in Democrats and Republicans is now virtually deadlocked at 23%."
I was pretty disturbed to see the results of the latest small business survey by MerchantCircle showing the surge in support for the Tea Party amongst small business owners.
According to the press release announcing the findings:
"16% of merchants believe that the Tea Party is the most supportive political party of small business interests, while confidence in Democrats and Republicans is now virtually deadlocked at 23%."
... and more troubling still:
"The majority of merchants rated today's economy as weaker than it has been over the past 12 months, and 50% say they would not start their business again in today's economic climate, an 18% increase year-over-year."
I find it baffling that small business owners think the party that got us into this economic mess is best qualified to get us out. As a former small business owner myself during both the Bush and Obama administrations, I don't see much change in the tax and regulatory environment - frankly, it was always more difficult for my company to deal with this at the local level. Access to capital is tight, but this is due to the housing market crash which originated on W's watch. As for the general economic picture, aren't we better off now than in the economic free-fall we were facing at when Obama took office? I'll take a plodding-along economy over free fall any day.
I encourage small business owners to put the current economic climate in the context of where we were headed in 2009. We're still seeing the impact of eight years of economic neglect, and it will take time to recover. Don't lose faith!