Taxes and regulations are hurting us

The GOP likes to say that high taxes and excessive gov't regulations are hurting small businesses. David Akadjian, writing for Daily Kos, says that what is hurting small business isn't taxes and regulations. What is hurting small business is big business. He counts the ways:

1. A lot of small towns now look like ghost towns. I noticed this in the town where I was born, 15 miles south of Sandusky, Ohio (still have relatives in the area). Nearly all the storefronts along Main Street have signs saying, "Available." On the edge of these ghost towns or in a neighboring town sit WalMart, Home Depot, Best Buy, or Bed Bath & Beyond.

Not only have the local merchants been run out of business, but the big box store owners don't live upstairs. They are not connected to the community, they have no responsibility to the town, and ignore pressure to pay decent wages and not pollute.

2. Technology improves productivity for the owners. The bigger the company the more they can invest in tech. All the worker gets out of it is the gig economy, one or more part-time jobs without benefits. The company gets increased profits, the worker gets all the risks.

3. Globalization is something big companies can do. Small companies then have to compete against cheaper labor costs. The lack of local wage-earners is a lack of customers for the small businesses.

4. Big businesses can afford to buy Congress and do so routinely. What they want out of Congress is tax loopholes and the end of regulations to benefit themselves, those things they claim are hurting small business.

What big businesses are after is more power, more profits, and less responsibility. It is big business that is hurting small business.