More Small Business Owners are Realizing Trump Lied

When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he rode a wave of support that came from a couple distinct groups, including the less highly educated, the religious right and business owners. Three and a half years later, many business owners are coming to the realization that Trump lied to them. They’re also realizing that the election of a “successful” businessman does not automatically mean that success will trickle down — it means that the businessman will try to help himself as much as possible, without regard to his brethren in the business world.

As Helaine Olen, author of “Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry” points out, “In 2016, many small business owners had a thing for Trump. They liked the idea of an entrepreneur like themselves in the White House. They believed his promise to do something about rising health-care costs….

“America’s small businesses, which employ about half of all private-sector workers, have experienced a host of troubles for years. As laws intended to level the playing field between big players and their smaller competitors have fallen by the wayside, small businesses have struggled to keep up. Many are undercapitalized, with a few weeks of spare cash on hand, at most.

“Trump campaigned on a promise to help U.S. business; instead, in line with his entire career, he’s governed as a flim-flam man and smash-and-grab thief. He’s kept few promises. Health care? Don’t make [a cafe owner and former Trump supporter] laugh. He was paying $1,800 per month for an Affordable Care Act exchange plan for his family in 2016. Now, he pays almost $4,000 for him and his wife.

“Trump’s tax “reform” plan showered gains on the wealthiest — not to mention real estate dealers such as himself — but gave crumbs to most almost everyone else. Estimates show that it would take earnings of several hundred thousand dollars annually to significantly benefit from the law’s corporate tax reductions. According to Payscale, the median income of a small-business owner is $69,000 annually….

“But the Paycheck Protection Plan, the main source of government aid for small companies, is riddled with bureaucratic hurdles. Many business owners were hesitant to apply for it, fearing that if they didn’t meet the stringent conditions for debt forgiveness, they could get stuck paying off an unwanted loan. More than half of the aid had to go to payroll, limiting the amount owners can spend on rent, utilities, supplies, insurance and other fixed costs.

“Moreover, because the banks that processed the money were paid based on the size of the loan, they had little incentive to prioritize what most of us consider small businesses — our neighborhood restaurants, the local contractor — and instead allowed larger companies, such as chain restaurants that didn’t have more than 500 employees per location, to go to the front of the line.

“Minority owners found it harder than whites to get approved. At the same time, a full on bevy of household names benefitted. Companies owned by entertainers Kanye West and Reese Witherspoon collected funds. Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist did, too. Private equity funds muscled in. So did a number of business ventures connected to the family of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.”

In the end, the small business owner has gotten squeezed. Much like Art Laffer’s laughable Trickle Down economy theory, the notion that Trump has been good for small business owners is equally as preposterous. Small business owners need to be cognizant of this as election day is but 100 days away.

To read the full article by Olen, click here.