The millionaire-defenders in the U.S. Senate once again blocked a proposal to stop a big tax hike on 160 million, mostly middle-class, Americans that will go into effect January 1, 2012. The reason given by the obstructionists once again was that the surtax on income over $1 million to pay for middle-class tax protection would hurt small business owners and stop them from hiring.
I and many small business organizations have railed against this BIG LIE for well over a year. Very, very few small business owners make this kind of income–certainly none that you run into on Main Street.
According to the Tax Policy Center only 1 percent of taxpayers reporting any business income make over $1 million a year. As I pointed out in my blog on October 13th, this means only about 45 South Carolinians could accept the challenge I made two days earlier for any one of these business owners making over $1 million to contact me to discuss this issue.
My challenge, as expected, went unanswered and today NPR released the results of its search for small business owners making over $1 million a year.
We wanted to talk to business owners who would be affected. So, NPR requested help from numerous Republican congressional offices, including House and Senate leadership. They were unable to produce a single millionaire job creator for us to interview.So we went to the business groups that have been lobbying against the surtax. Again, three days after putting in a request, none of them was able to find someone for us to talk to.
Failing to have any of the millionaire-defenders in Congress and the big business organizations pony up the small business millionaires, NPR turned to Facebook. Several responded and talked to NPR on the record. Not one objected to the millionaire surtax and each said that their personal income tax has nothing to do with their business hiring decisions.
Of course Senator John Thune (R-S.D), a member of the millionaire-defender club, said that those business owners talking with NPR “were exceptions to the rule”.
I have news for Senator Thune. If you can’t deliver even one small business owner making over $1 million a year to back up the BIG LIE, then those that do step up are the rule.