By Walter Alarkon; The Hill
The U.S. economy faces a “lost decade” like the one Japan suffered through in the 1990s if the government continues to spend and rack up debt, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Monday.
Ryan, one of the GOP’s leading voices on the economy, said the White House and congressional Democrats have spent too much and pushed policies that have created too much… Read more »
By David Lerman and Liz Smith; Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Sales are off by 20 percent this year at Image Computer, which repairs printers in suburban Detroit. So President Steve Olis is worried about whether he can continue paying the $71,000 a year it costs him to provide health insurance for his employees.
The Obama Administration's answer for Olis and other small-business owners: a… Read more »
Dear Friends:
According to a recent CBS poll, more than 80 percent of Americans think the economy is in bad shape and 34 percent believe things are going to get even worse. Fears of a “double-dip” recession are gaining momentum, particularly as we learn that economic growth shrank during the second quarter and housing sales collapsed in July. It is now clearer than ever that the… Read more »
By Martin Vaughan and Corey Boles; Wall Street Journal
Karen Port of St. Louis fears that President Barack Obama's plan to let tax rates rise for top earners will be a double whammy for her hot-tub dealership.
Not only would the company—which takes in between $1 million and $3 million annually in gross sales—pay taxes at a higher rate, but the tax increases could leave less money… Read more »
By George Melloan; Wall Street Journal
A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last week showed that consumers are having difficulty climbing out of the debt hole they dug for themselves before the credit bubble began to deflate in late 2007. The report gives support to the fears of those asset managers and economists who believe the U.S. is facing deflation.
Bill Gross,… Read more »
By Brent Martin; MissouriNet
A member of Missouri’s Congressional delegation would like to see Congress extend the tax cuts enacted by President Bush, but doesn’t see that happening.
Northeast Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer says he has been traveling throughout his Congressional district, which actually extends all the way south to Osage Beach with a portion even below I-44.… Read more »
By William Seay; The St. Joe Channel
U.S. Representative Sam Graves was in St. Joseph today at American Family Insurance.
The Congressman toured the American Family building, and met with business leaders who wanted to voice concerns about the American economy.
Congressman Graves says that visits like his today are vitally important when he has any downtime from his job in Washington,… Read more »
Iowa’s small business owners, farmers, community leaders and concerned citizens have until Aug. 20 to register for Iowa Congressman Tom Latham’s 2010 Iowa Community Conference.
This year's community conference, scheduled for Aug. 26 in the Scheman Building on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, will focus on topics related to small businesses and job growth for Iowa… Read more »
By Doug Wilson; Quincy Herald Whig
U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer said the business owners he was scheduled to visit in Northeast Missouri today are better suited to create jobs and heal the U.S. economy than members of Congress.
On Tuesday, Luetkemeyer voted against what is being touted as a jobs bill by Congress. The legislation, which passed and was signed into law by President… Read more »
Wall Street Journal
President Obama has been trying to rebut the claim that he's antibusiness by promoting something called the Small Business Jobs Act, which would provide loans and temporary tax cuts to small businesses. If you've been paying attention over the last 18 months, you're probably asking, what's the catch?
And sure enough, most of the tax cuts are so narrowly targeted as… Read more »
