NFIB: Give America?s small businesses the opportunity to compete

Americans are by nature dreamers and optimists. They believe in hard work and simply want the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their family. Americans want the chance to, as the old saying goes, ?pull themselves up by their bootstraps.?

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However, these days our country?s competitiveness is faced with some very real challenges. Challenges not from China, India, Brazil or other emerging markets, but rather from our own government?s web of regulations, rules and taxes. {{more}}

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Our burdensome regulatory environment advanced by years of high taxes and endless government directives has left small businesses unable to vigorously compete in the global marketplace. These government-imposed impediments are very real for America?s hardworking small business owners who want to increase their revenues, expand their business, create new jobs and give back to their local community.

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Yet each year thousands of new regulations are proposed by our government, costing the U.S. economy jobs and untold amounts of revenue. Today there are more than 4,000 federal regulations in the pipeline, 854 of which that directly impact small businesses. So it should come as no surprise that American small businesses are actually less concerned about foreign competition than they are about federal government regulations hindering their ability compete.

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This is why 90 percent of small business owners support reforming the current regulatory system, according to a 2012 NFIB survey. America?s small businesses and the American people have had enough of the political inertia. President Obama, Congress, Democrats and Republicans all share some of blame for the slow economic recovery and the red tape our businesses face each day.

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In January of 2011 President Obama said his Administration was ?firmly committed to eliminating excessive and unjustified burdens on small businesses, and to ensuring that regulations are designed with careful consideration of their effects, including their cumulative effects, on small businesses.? If only President Obama?s rhetoric matched the current reality for the small business community. The fact is the majority of small business owners and manufacturers agree that the United States? own laws, regulations, rules, taxes, and fees are more harmful to their business than competition from abroad.

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Fortunately, people are realizing that our current quagmire cannot continue, and America must act in order to move our economy forward. Nearly three out of every four voters in the U.S. believe that businesses and consumers are over-regulated. They know that America needs greater transparency, objectivity and accountability in our federal regulatory process. They know that the results of smart and substantial regulatory reform would be a huge boon to our economy. They understand that America would experience increased investment, greater economic growth, improved employment and most importantly, a brighter future for all.

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It?s time to address the serious problems Washington bureaucracy has created in recent years. This starts with the public forcefully voicing their concerns, and hopefully it ends with our policymakers in Washington enacting sensible regulatory reforms. Putting more pressure on our elected officials to act is the only way to create a level playing field in a globalized economy.

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The time has come for President Obama and Congress to listen to the public and show some genuine leadership on this issue. Our public officials must have the courage to ignore the entrenched special interest groups in Washington and finally do what?s best for America?s small businesses.

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Andy Ellard

NFIB/Texas Leadership Council
Vice President of Manda Machine (Dallas, TX)