I just returned from a week in Washington, D.C.  As usual, I am always amazed at the enormous waste of spending that goes on in the halls of Congress.  When I walk those halls, I am proud of our country yet see things going on there that astounds me.  For example, lobbyists hanging  around in every congressional doorway, youngsters making decisions on pieces of legislation that impact all of us, and hundreds of government employees scurrying about to conduct the nation's business.  One of my most enjoyable times when I am there is talking to taxi cab drivers.  They can tell you what is really going on!  They tell me times are slow, they are much more aggressive in their marketing, they are worldly and can voice their opinion on just about any world topic and seem to have a grasp on all the dynamics in Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan.  Many are very intelligent.

While in the District, I met with the media, congressional aides, and academia.  They asked me on several occasions, "what do small business owners want and why aren't small business owners using their voices more to articulate their needs and wants."  I told them that most small business owners I speak to want to be left alone to build their businesses and innovate and create new jobs.  Their response to me?  Then, why aren't they using their voices more on these critical issues that congress is discussing which will have a profound effect on their businesses?  I have always believed that change can happen if 24 million small business owners come together with one voice!  But that is a tough coalition to organize.  If you run a business and you're not involved in public policy; then public policy will run your business.  There are a lot of issues being pushed right now.  Small business owners need to weigh in on these issues and voice their opinion.  They have enough clout to make a difference!

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Congress left Washington, D.C. this week for the July Fourth recess without a deal on health care reform.  In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said he has developed a way to pay for the legislation that would cost less than $1 trillion.  Whew, that makes me feel better!

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The health care debate hit a speed bump on Capitol Hill last week as policy makers tried to get their arms around the trillion dollar price tag of the President's plan.  Slowing down the process is not a bad thing, change this big is going to require more thought, debate and input from the people who are going to be most impacted including consumers, small businesses, medical professionals, insurance carriers, and large companies.

In an effort to prop up the President's plan to provide health care coverage for all, through a massive government run system, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber released a study that argues the President's government run plan will benefit small to midsize businesses http://www.smallbusinessmajority.com/.

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What will it be?  A federal soda pop tax? Taxing some health insurance benefits?  Higher fees on beer, wine and hard liquor?  These are just some of the options being tossed around in the Senate.

How do we pay for expanding coverage to over 40 million uninsured people?  The Senate Finance Committee recently released 40 pages of revenue raising options.  They include cuts to providers and new taxes.   

The Finance Committee report says, "Many proposals expected to reduce health spending in the long run may not produce sufficient savings in the short run to finance reform.  Other proposals to generate revenue for health care reform could include taxes that affect lifestyle choices and taxes that generally target loopholes.

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Health care is going to be debated in Congress throughout the summer.  There is a lot at stake and most of the focus is around either we have a government run system or we don't.  Instead, I hope we can broaden the debate and focus on some other ideas such as: 

Controlling costs.  This month in a meeting with the President, key health care groups pledged to slow the growth of health care spending by 1.5% a year over the next ten years which is estimated to save about $2 trillion.  This is a good first step because any health care plan must address the rising cost of care.

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ATTENTION:  Are you awake out there?  Do you want your access to health care or lack of health care to be decided by the federal government?  The SHOP Act has been introduced in Congress.  The Small Business Health Options Program Act! 

Here is the background:

• Health and Human Services (HHS) would administer a health insurance program for small businesses and self-employed individuals to purchase health insurance through both state and national insurance pools.
• HHS would work with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to set rating requirement, administrative procedures, and standards of external and internal review.
• It prohibits the use of health status and claims experience for small groups, subject to the same pitfalls of community rating and guaranteed issue requirements that increase costs for everyone and discourage participation from younger, healthier groups and individuals.
• States could opt out and apply their own health benefit plans.
• The SHOP Act provides a tax credit to participating small businesses which distorts the market and increases the likelihood of crowding out private insurance, but does nothing to address the rising costs of health care.

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Seems almost everyone has been talking about the "First 100 Days" of the Obama Administration.  How about the "Next 100 Days" and beyond?

President Obama has taken up a lot during his first 100 days and has ambitious plans for where he wants to go in the future.  Here are a few of those plans:

• Card-Check legislation will make it easier for workers to unionize which will provide numerous complications for small businesses. Rather than supporting policies that will hurt small business, Obama should free up workplace regulations so that employees and employers can work out what workplace policies suit them best.
• Expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act and mandated paid sick leave are high on the agenda for President Obama and Congress. Arguments for these policies always allude to increased workplace flexibility and job security for working parents. However, these could have just the opposite effect.
• Creating national health insurance plans will consolidate health decisions in the federal government at the exact time when consumers would prefer more control over their health coverage.

What say you about these issues for the "Next 100 Days"?  How will they impact you, your family, your employees, your lifestyle, your business? Comments encouraged!

Portability can keep families healthy through an unhealthy economy.

In December, 524,000 Americans lost their jobs. These numbers rounded out a full year of job losses, the worst since 1945, in the midst of a recession that began last December as the housing crisis began to spread to the broader economy. As a result, the total number of Americans out of work now stands at 11.1 million people.

For the millions of Americans who are now facing unemployment, there's a genuinely unnerving quality about the idea of waking up on a Monday morning and not knowing when your next paycheck will come or the manner of anxiously checking your voicemail for the callback about your last job interview. Uncertainty abounds, but the bills aren't going anywhere.

As if that idea isn't scary enough, imagine that losing your job also means losing your health insurance.  For the young and healthy, this may be little more than a passing thought, but for the 43.8% of Americans who suffer from at least one chronic condition, losing your job is not only scary,

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Written by Victoria Braden, CEO/President of Braden Benefits Strategies, Inc. "Experts in Small Business Healthcare Funding"    

Small businesses hold your wallet – again!

Government take-over of the healthcare system in the United States could be a disaster for small businesses as they struggle with a difficult economy and now add the concern of even higher healthcare costs.

Under the current government healthcare run system (Medicare, Medicaid and Civil Servants & Military personnel retirement benefits) our government has an unfunded liability of $33.4 trillion for Medicare and Medicaid and another $23 trillion for Civil and Military personnel.[1]  Let me repeat, $56,400,000,000 unfunded liability or $184,499 per citizen.[2]

Are we willing to turn over our entire healthcare system to a government that has proven they cannot provide for the current healthcare system and balance their books?

The State of Hawaii offered Universal Healthcare to children, the only State with such a program, and is dropping the program after just 7 months.  The reason – COST.[3]

How is our government going to both manage and pay for Universal healthcare?  What will the cost be? Are we willing to let government take over 16% of our GNP?  With this track record?

Does the system need a major overhaul?  Yes.  Is the answer getting individuals even farther away from the cost of their medical care? No.  The answer lies in basic American principals – The Free Market System.

[1] Financial Times 1/11/2008

[2] U.S. Census Bureau Current Population 11/19/2008

[3] Fox News 10/17/2008

What mothers REALLY want for Mother's Day

Mothers throughout the country will be receiving flowers, candy and gifts from their loved ones on Mother's Day. But Terry Neese, a Distinguished Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, said there are much better Mother's Day gifts that can be given — ones that have a lasting impact.

"I'm all for treating our moms to nice dinners and a pretty bouquet," Neese said. "But what our moms really want is time and money. It's about making changes in federal law so mothers can keep more of their hard-earned cash in their pocketbooks."

Neese has developed a list of Mother's Day gifts that require less government involvement and create more economic freedom:

•1.    Portable health and retirement benefits… so mothers aren't penalized when they switch jobs

•2.    A level playing field under tax law… so that stay-at-home moms who save for retirement, purchase health insurance, long-term insurance, day care, etc., receive just as much tax relief as people who obtain these benefits at work

•3.    New rules regarding employer-provided benefits… so mothers can freely choose between taxable wages and non-taxed benefits, selecting the combination that best meets their family's needs

•4.    Time… so mothers can work 80 hours over a two-week period in any combination (by changing the 1938 Federal Labor Standards Act)

•5.    Better treatment under Social Security… so shared earnings between spouses could easily be applied to a new system of personal retirement accounts (where payroll tax contributions are divided like community property)

•6.    A new approach to the taxation of Social Security benefits (for grandma)… so marginal tax rates are not raised and there is no earnings penalty for seniors who work.

•7.    The ability to protect assets by buying long-term care insurance… so Medicaid can be utilized only for catastrophic costs

•8.    Personal employment accounts… so moms have more control and ownership, while having unemployment protection. Personal employment accounts could be used during periods of unemployment and any unused funds could add to retirement incomes.

•9.    A fairer tax system for two-earner couples… so both spouses are able to file completely separate tax returns without penalty. Mothers and grandmothers also want to bury the estate tax for life.

•10.  Affordable health care… so women and families can feel secure. Small businesses should be allowed to band together across state lines, creating an economy of scale, as they seek to purchase reasonably priced health insurance.