THEY are the backbone of the job market and relied upon to lift the economy from the doldrums, but small US businesses say neither Barack Obama nor John McCain has shown clearly what he would do for them. “Small businesses have traditionally been the engine that has driven our economy out of recession,” said Cap Willey of Tofias PC, an accounting and consulting firm in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “We don't get credit for that and neither party seems focused on the interests of small businesses.” Small business owners and workers also complain that the leading presidential candidates are short on details for tackling healthcare - long called small firms' No. 1 problem. They also want a plan to simplify the U.S. tax code for small businesses, and want to know how the candidates would back the Small Business Administration, the federal agency charged with promoting their interests. “So far, there's just not been much in the way of specifics to see where Obama or McCain would go on issues that are important to small business,” said Keith Ashmus, vice chairman of the National Small Business Association (NSBA). This has apparently left many small and medium-sized business owners unenthusiastic about both Republican Sen. McCain and Democratic Sen. Obama. “We're always the adopted children of any campaign,” said Thelma Ablan, owner of Chicago-based consulting firm Stevenson & Associates. “Then, after the campaign, we get put back in the closet for another four years.” Obama seems to be “reaching out to small business,” said Ablan, who favors him. “But his policies are still a little vague.” Sunder Ramani, owner of Penta Resources Inc, a real estate development and construction firm in Southern California, said he favored McCain as he seemed more likely to lower taxes. But he said he was not convinced McCain would promote the interests of small business. “I'm an entrepreneur and I want politicians to stay out of my way so I can get on with my work,” he said. “John McCain will get in my way, but less so than Barack Obama.” According to Census Bureau data, the United States had 112 million paid employees in 2002. About 56.4 million, or about 50 percent, worked at companies with fewer than 500 employees. Small business owners and workers also worry about the economy. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) small business optimism index hit a 28-year low in July. The credit crunch has cut off loans for many of them. According to a quarterly U.S. Federal Reserve survey of senior bank loan officers in August, 65 percent of respondents said they had tightened lending standards for companies with annual sales of less than $50 million, up from 52 percent in April and 30 percent in January. But small firms worry about health care most of all. According to the U.S. Employee Benefit Research Institute, of the 46 million Americans without health insurance at the end of 2006, 28 million - almost 61 percent - were self-employed, the owners of businesses with up to 500 employees, their employees or their dependents. A June NFIB survey showed health care continued its “20-year reign as the number one problem for small business owners,” with 56 percent saying it is a critical problem, and 53 percent deeming it the most important factor in deciding their vote. Obama's health care proposals include tax credits for small businesses, while McCain proposes credits for individuals and families that spokesman Taylor Griffin said would benefit small businesses by helping employees. “Both presidential candidates have said their health care proposals take the needs of small business into account - and that's a good start,” NFIB vice president Dan Danner said. “But we'd like to see more details.” Owners of small companies want the candidates to support the Small Business Administration. “The SBA has almost been wiped out by funding cuts under the current administration,” said Tofias' Willey, a former head of the NSBA. Small firms commonly complain that large corporations enjoy many more tax deductions than they do, in the morass that is the U.S. tax code. Both campaigns promise relief. Obama's proposals include a zero capital gains tax, while McCain proposes cutting the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent “benefiting all firms, including small companies,” Griffin said. Both candidates promise to simplify the tax code and provide incentives for small business to invest in research and development. Obama proposes expanding the SBA's small business loan program; the McCain camp said the agency would be a priority but he does not yet have a specific proposal. – Reuters __
