Obama proposes tax cuts for small businesses

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama proposed on Tuesday small business tax cuts, fresh infrastructure spending and energy efficiency rebates to boost jobs, but there were few details on the scale or cost of the measures.

Battling public dismay over double-digit U.S. unemployment, Obama also called for an extension of unemployment and health insurance benefits for the more than 15 million out-of-work Americans, and stressed that boosting jobs was the best way to tackle the deficit.

"There are those who claim we have to choose between paying down our deficits on the one hand, and investing in job creation and economic growth on the other. But this is a false choice," Obama said in a speech.

A senior administration official said around $50 billion of fresh money would be earmarked for spending on roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure, and the money would be spent over the course of a year.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091208/pl_nm/us_obama_economy

[Le Taz Hot]

1. And the age-old question will now raise it's head.

Define "small business." As usual, big on hype, short on details.

[WriteDown]

2. Mattel?

Barbies are pretty small.

[Oregone]

5. Its a form of pandering most often

Giving breaks to small businesses is suppossed to evoke images of those little ma and pop shops that are struggling to make it.

In the end, only profits are taxed though, so any business that will be feeling this will not be in the red. The owners/shareholders will simply be walking away with a bigger dividend check. Will giving old money more money stimulate jobs? Ask a Republican

[meow2u3]

15. I define "small business" as independent sole proprietorships or partnerships

which net from $75K-$250K a year. No corporate subsidiaries or big businesses which hide their assets overseas need apply for "small business" tax cuts.

Examples of small businesses: your neighborhood corner store; an independent auto repair shop.

Examples of what are not small businesses: Big corporations or any business which incorporates.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. The problem is what you or I

define as small business can be completely different from what the government says is a small business. In the past, they've defined small business as any business with under 1,000 employees. It's all subjective which, of course, was my original point.

[Democrats_win]

3. Doesn't make economic sense. Give the money to we the people.

If small businesses don't have customers, they won't survive even if there are good SB loans.

[gateley]

9. +1 nt

[SandWalker1984]

4. Banks in my area aren't loaning to small businesses

So how are they going to stay in business long enough to get those government stimulus jobs?


One other question -- will they define the participating companies in this program as American owned? Or will Chinese companies be paving the roads?

Don't laugh, do you know how much TARP money went overseas?

[doodadem]

6. Oh, brother

Tax cuts? If we small businesses don't have anything in our accounts receivable, tax cuts don't much matter, now do they?

I don't need tax cuts right now--I need money to pay my mortgage.

[BR_Parkway]

8. + 1

[safeinOhio]

7. energy efficiency rebates

Yes, great for everyone, mostly me. I signed up for a class in Energy auditing and plan to start up a small business. Now I need a cheap loan for the thermal imaging camera.
I only wanted a part time job because I'm going crazy in my retirement. No one will hire me and I don't want to take a job from some one that needs it way more than me. Hope I can do well and hire others.

[glitch]

10. Who will be your customers with thermal energy camera? sounds interesting. nt

[safeinOhio]

16. Would be residential home owners.

The camera detect small temp changes to locate spots that need insulation like windows, roofs, attics, walls and foundations. Save a ton of money by only doing what is cost effective. Very green type job. I live in a town with lots of old victorian homes that waste heat and air conditioning. Possible to cut energy cost in half. The local CC is offering a 40 hr. class that takes 2 days a week for 10 weeks for $500. It all sounds very doable to me.

[glitch]

17. Very good. I'll pass the info on to my brother who was laid off almost a year ago.

And not having any luck. Thanks!

[Algorem]

11. possessed by Reagan maybe?

should've had ghostbusters clear the white house before he moved in

[Algorem]

12. why has Dow sunk today?

[Iowa]

13. This guy sounds more like a Republican every day...

He rushes to the aid of Wall Street and the MIC like it is a three-alarm fire, with no limits on the amount of our money he's willing to commit to them. And now, when it comes to health-care and jobs...he bends over backwards to funnel the lion's share to the corps.

I learned, under 8 long years of Tom Vilsack as governor of Iowa, that whenever a Republican-lite DLCer like Obama or Vilsack utters the words "jobs" and "small-business", it's code for "trickle-down" corporate welfare.

[Algorem]

14. Obama's planning on getting a lot of the "right" votes next time.

a lot of the people that voted for him last time just aren't "right"

[totodeinhere]

19. I'm against this.

If I understand the tax laws correctly, if a small business loses money then it wouldn't be liable for income taxes anyway. But if they are making money then they should pay their fair share just like anyone else does.

[eilen]

20. It is the state taxes and fees that cripple small business in NY

that and most sb owners can't get any business loans or grants to save their lives. I know a great person who is having such a hard time trying to get a $17,000 loan -- mainly because she made a habit of not using credit. She had a loan for $67,000 two years a go and paid it off within a year-- other than that, she has no credit history as she likes to practice cash only. She employed about a dozen people in her diner until she had to close when her landlord demanded terms that were unreasonable (basically signing all her equipment over to him for a lease). She needs a loan for first/last/security, first payroll, first food order. She has all her equipment (banks didn't like that it was used). And she can't find anyone willing to lend to her!