(This article originally appeared in The Washington Times)
Are small business owners optimistic about the future or are they concerned? Do they approve of President Biden or do they think his policies will hurt them? Are they doing well or not?
That depends on the small business “survey” you’re reading.
For example, if you lean to the left, then you’ll certainly enjoy the survey from a nonprofit organization called Small Business For America’s Future, which claims that small businesses “support” Mr. Biden’s job plans and — if you can believe it — an increase in corporate taxes to “level the playing field.” Gee, who knew so many small business owners support a tax increase? Maybe that shouldn’t be surprising, considering that the Small Business For America’s Future organization is made up of a team of veteran politicos from the Obama and past Democratic institutions.
So I’m sure that this survey was fair and balanced.
Then there’s a survey of small business owners from a company called Alignable that claims that the Democratic-supported PRO Act, which favors unions and — according to some — will discourage the hiring of freelancers, is “anti-small business.” Alignable would like you to believe that because — get ready folks — its platform matches freelancers and businesses. So the PRO Act wouldn’t be so great for Alignable, would it?
Then there’s the Small Business Majority, another left-leaning organization that — surprise, surprise — includes and partners with many of the nonprofits (and people) who also, and not coincidentally, break bread with the good people at the aforementioned Small Business for America’s Future. This organization claims that its members are facing a “looming rent crisis” and that “in order to prevent a new wave of closures among microbusinesses, policymakers must examine ways to provide rent and mortgage relief and additional capital into the hands of these entrepreneurs.”