Do you feel it's likely that even small businessess are ?

[blues90]

Taking their example from the government and large corporations in as far as if the big guys can get away with cheating and lies and screw their employee's then why not us. This is not to say that all do but it could be part of the trickle down effect.

Small businessess did buy into the HMO lie and went for the cheap which is part of the reason Big Pharma exists today and the medical industrial complex got their foot hold.

[Deja Q]

1. Dunno. Anything is technically possible.

After all, there are plenty of businesses that actually are ethical. Therefore there are small ones who won't be ethical. Maybe that's how small ones get big... but I refuse to be cynical.

[customerserviceguy]

2. I'd say that our current Secretary of the Treasury

just by being where he is, no matter what his history, has encouraged just that.

I'll bet they're pulling in their horns like crazy, and they are especially tempted to work off the books if at all possible.

[SmileyRose]

3. Er - I work for a small business that offers an HMO.

It's my humble opinion that Kaiser should be the template for private delivery of single payer healthcare. At least the way they function here in Atlanta. If the non-profits had the clout Big pharm would be neutered but fast.

I know A LOT of small business folks in and around Atlanta. I don't know a single one of them who ever has or ever will scheme to screw their own employees or the taxpayers. A small business is hands on - by it's nature employees are your biggest asset. By their nature, small business owners tend to be independent and only want a fair shake from government, not a handout. There are bound to be exceptions, of course, but by and large small business owners are and will continue to be the backbone of the this country.

[blues90]

5. I've worked for and dealt with only small business

And I've found the ones I'ver worked for which were all in the auto repair business and most for one of the big three were far more concerned with the bottom line than the employee's or the customers. I was honest as a tech and because of this I was told I was not making them as many hours of work which is based on what you recommend to be done to the car or truck because I would not say the car needed something if it did not and the management knew most other techs did and when the customer found out they got their money back but never came back but this was never discouraged. I became the quality control and assistent service manager later and dealt with this time and time again. I also worked as a service advisor and knew how techs padded a repair ticket and only sold what the customer needed and what they needed now and all returned for the other work later = re-turn customers.

Being this way when I needed a new computer I went for a used one and the owner there told me what I wanted to hear so I got a used old tower and it worked but was somehow loaded with viruses and quit , I took it back under the 30 day warrenty and he charged me $50 and only put back the missing program files but never even told me about the viruses and I had a anti virus program on it and he just hung up on me . I was told by him he would clean it and he also said he re-installed the windows OP system from scratch , none of which he did.

Perhaps a small town is a better place to build trust. Not here .

[rwheeler31]

4. If business people would wake up and treat their employees,

and customers decently they might have more business. Too many have bought the Gop line.

[BR_Parkway]

6. Pretty broad brush - we have several small businesses and have

no problem recruiting because we treat our employees so well. Taxes are filed and paid pretty timely - as a small biz owner there's alot of hats we wear because we can't afford all these staff positions to do this or that sometimes.

One of the biggest reasons we run our own show is that we're pretty unlikely to fire ourselves for being gay - in a state that would be perfectly legal to do so.

Since the State and Feds have absolutely said that my relationship with my business (and life) partner can not be looked at as anything the resembles marriage, then every time we go out to eat, it's a business meeting - and we damn sure deduct it in complete accordance with the law. Same for any 'team building' business trips we take together. I can't see that as tax cheating when these laws were passed to specifically say that the government won't recognize us as anything else because we're not 'one man, one woman'

Someday, when those inequities are cleared up and we're treated like full citizens - I plan on writing folks like James Dobson and the other professional haters to let them know how their tax dollars subsidized my 'sinful' life.