Small business owners not sold on the candidates

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(CNN) -- Mary Gibson and Mary Grech started their small businesses with big dreams.
Mary Gibson runs Gibson's Goodies, which makes homemade ice cream in Wilmington, Ohio.

Mary Gibson runs Gibson's Goodies, which makes homemade ice cream in Wilmington, Ohio.

Both are looking for a president who will help mom-and-pop companies reach their goals, but their opinions differ on which candidate is best for the job.

Gibson runs Gibson's Goodies, a small ice cream shop in Wilmington, Ohio, that's been around since World War II. She leans toward Barack Obama because "he is looking at the middle class a little more so."

A 20-mile stretch of road decorated with more political signs than pumpkins stands between Gibson's Goodies and Francis Kennels. The kennel is housed in a large red building that looks like a barn and serves as a one-stop shop for grooming, boarding and obedience training.

The thought of voting for Obama does not sit well with kennel owners Mary and Steve Grech. They are both voting for John McCain, but only by "process of elimination."

"Barack Obama's whole 'I'm going to take from the rich and give to the poor' Robin Hood attitude ... I am very offended by that. It smacks of socialism, so it definitely won't be Barack," said Mary Grech, who works in Xenia, Ohio. Fact check: Obama's tax plan for small businesses

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@Woiyo9,

howsabout popping in that factcheck referenced at the bottom of what you've posted?

or the link?

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/28/ohio.small.business/index.html

Happy Now?

1 Reply

@Woiyo9,

Thank you.

Specifically or generally?

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@Woiyo9,

This is a pretty good testimony of what I'm hearing from a lot of small business owners too. They are bothered by McCain admission (and demonstration) that he doesn't understand the economy very well, but they do agree with his basic concepts of lower taxes and encouragement of growth in the private sector as the way to go. They don't think Obama knows any more about the economy than McCain does (and I think they would be right about that) but he is smoother, slicker, more calculated, and covers that up pretty well. McCain doesn't even try to.

They (the small business owners) are highly offended by Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth.

The one line in the article that showed me that the lady is going more by perception than on facts, however, is when she put more faith in Congress! That's the last place I would look for competence these days.

4 Replies

@Foxfyre,

Foxfyre wrote:

This is a pretty good testimony of what I'm hearing from a lot of small business owners too. They are bothered by McCain admission (and demonstration) that he doesn't understand the economy very well, but they do agree with his basic concepts of lower taxes and encouragement of growth in the private sector as the way to go. They don't think Obama knows any more about the economy than McCain does (and I think they would be right about that) but he is smoother, slicker, more calculated, and covers that up pretty well. McCain doesn't even try to.

They (the small business owners) are highly offended by Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth.

The one line in the article that showed me that the lady is going more by perception than on facts, however, is when she put more faith in Congress! That's the last place I would look for competence these days.

What a bunch of idiocy. It's not 'marxist' to have a graduated tax system. It's the way our system has worked for a century...

Cycloptichorn

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@Foxfyre,

Obama is a slick talking empty suit and many objective, hard working Americans are concerned about his policies. Sole Props, S-Corps, LLC's, FLP's employ more American workers and generate the majority of revenue in this Nation.

Perception is reality to those who perceive it to be true. I agree with you that many business owners should be concerned about Obama and his tax plan.

With this Congress, it is also realistic to assume the 250K benchmark will go lower. Pelosi and Reid need the money to re-distribute.

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@Foxfyre,

Quote:

They (the small business owners) are highly offended by Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth.

Not much on hyperbole there fox? I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse.

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@Foxfyre,

Foxfyre wrote:

They (the small business owners) are highly offended by Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth.

What are "Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth"? Specifically?

1 Reply

Well, as a small business owner I can speak for myself. Obama is smarter than McCain, knows more about economics, has better education plans, health care plans, economic rebuilding plans and a better, more fair tax plan. He's going to make a fine president.

1 Reply

@rosborne979,

Ditto. And I'll add that taking care of the health care issue would be a big relief to our family business, and probably many others.

1 Reply

@FreeDuck,

What exactly will Obama's "Health Care Plan" do to lower your cost of health care for you and your employees (if you have any)?

1 Reply

@Woiyo9,

We are very small and have no employees and cannot afford to buy health insurance independently. So I keep a job that I hate in order to keep us insured while busting my ass in every free moment (ok, not every, I'm posting here aren't I) to help keep it running. The ability to purchase affordable health insurance not through an employer would be a huge help to us as it would allow me to quit and work full time toward building our business. For others who do have employees and do provide health benefits, it will reduce their costs. That's the plan, anyway.

1 Reply

@FreeDuck,

Understood. However, I really do not recall HOW Obama's plan will reduce the cost. Portability yes, somewhat privatize, yes.

How does Obama's plan make it "more affordable"?

(Not suggesting McCain has a better plan)

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@old europe,

old europe wrote:

Foxfyre wrote:
They (the small business owners) are highly offended by Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth.

What are "Obama's Marxist notions of redistribution of wealth"? Specifically?

Simple. When some have a lot and others have little, the right thing to do is for the government to have authority to take property and power from the rich and give to the poor so that everyone will be more equal. This is the core principle behind Karl Marx's philosophy. He believed capitalism was necessary for social development, but that the rich would become corrupt and would oppress the poor and it was the duty of government to forcibly correct that situation. Once that was accomplished, then all live happily ever after in peace, justice, prosperity, and equality for all. Obama doesn't phrase it quite like that, but it is all there in his books and in his words in interviews, and in his speeches with the inference that the small business owner making $250,000 or more is among those 'corrupt rich'. It sounds really good in principle. In practice, however, it has never quite worked out according to its billing.

(Probably that is because Marxism had the unexpected effect of making governments more corrupt than the business owners ever were? That's something we might think about sometime.)

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@Foxfyre,

Foxfyre wrote:

When some have a lot and others have little, the right thing to do is for the government to have authority to take property and power from the rich and give to the poor so that everyone will be more equal. This is the core principle behind Karl Marx's philosophy.

I don't think so.

1 Reply

@old europe,

I mean, seriously: if you throw this stuff around, couldn't you at least try to not completely mischaracterize these things? The core principle behind Karl Marx's philosophy is for the government to have authority to take property and power from the rich and give to the poor?

Rolling Eyes

I mean, come on, most people would point to Marx's philosophy of class struggle, his observations about the working class and the capitalist class, about the perpetual struggle these classes were engaged in, to the private ownership of means of production and to the ultimate goal of a classless society.

And hey, a classless society as postulated by Marx is not a society where the rich are taxed more heavily and the money is given to the poor, so that everybody is equal.

2 Replies

@Woiyo9,

Woiyo9 wrote:

Understood. However, I really do not recall HOW Obama's plan will reduce the cost. Portability yes, somewhat privatize, yes.

How does Obama's plan make it "more affordable"?

(Not suggesting McCain has a better plan)

I'll paraphrase, but the idea is that if you are not on an employer sponsored you can buy into other pools, which are more affordable than independent plans. He would also allow us to buy into a public plan. A while back there was a really good analysis of both plans. I'll see if I can find it.

1 Reply

@Woiyo9,

As a small business owner it is crystal clear to me that Obama's economic plan will ruin
many small businesses, increase unemployment and cause consumer prices to rise.
None of what Obama has planned for the country is actually good for this country.

McCain is the better candidate for the small business owner and the health of our economy in general.

1 Reply

@FreeDuck,

Not necessary..

One of the issues with Individual/Group Health Insurance are related to individual States. Obama would need to somehow overcome State Insurance Department bureaucracy, filing and premium differences between the States etc...

My concern here with Obama's plan is it makes very big promises that he probably can not keep.

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Small business owners not sold on the candidates

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