Small businesses’ success comes as a result of their own hard work and perseverance, often in spite of hurdles put in their way by federal agencies, Sensible Regulations member Eric Tucker writes in the Delaware County Daily Times. He notes that the President’s comments earlier this year – that small business owners “didn’t build that” - stands as a real affront to the community that creates the most jobs here at home annually:
Earlier this month, when the president claimed, “If you own a small business, you didn’t build that,” he seemed to imply that small businesses are dependent on federal assistance for their success. My great grandfather started Beatty Lumber here in Delaware Valley – and while I didn’t start it, I’m proud to carry on our family’s business. To me, the President’s comments were disparaging to the entire small business community. Not only has our success come on the shoulders of our own hard work, we’ve had to fight through hurdles federal agencies put in our way.
Sadly, this Administration’s policies reflect its belief that agencies know what’s good for the business community better than the folks working in it. At every turn bureaucrats have mandated new rules and consistently changed those already on the books. Today, there are over 4,000 federal regulations bottlenecked in Washington. If implemented, those will cost over $500 billion. The effects will affect every industry across the board and ultimately many of the costs will get passed on to consumers. Small businesses, which generally don’t have spare resources, will be among the hardest hit.