President Obama's Jobs Plan May Help Small Business

Small business owners not mad at Obama's proposal

While everybody has something to say about President Obama's speech from last night, small business owners listened real hard and actually heard some things they liked, although they're still cautious and don't really expect for Republicans to accept his $447 billion proposal.

L.A. Times reports:

Obama's package prompted comparisons to the $787-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in early 2009. That stimulus package, analysts said, helped pull the economy out of recession, but was seen as too complicated and producing too little bang for buck — a perception fostered in part by the administration's inaccurate forecasts about how high unemployment would go.

Obama's new plan was designed to be much simpler.

The plan offers about $245 billion in tax relief for individuals and businesses, going well beyond the payroll tax holiday Congress enacted last year. Obama would expand that cut for workers, providing a $1,500 tax savings to the typical American family that saw a cut of $1,000 in the first round.

The proposal would also slash the payroll tax in half for businesses with payrolls of up to $5 million, and declare a complete payroll tax "holiday" for employers who hire new workers or give wage increases to current employees. All companies would be eligible, but the break would be limited to the first $50 million in new payroll spending.

They also spoke with local business owner Kim Megonigal, chairman of Kimco Staffing Services who said, "I love it from my standpoint, but looking at it from the government's standpoint, can they afford to do that?"

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, a research and forecasting firm added:

"...Obama's new ideas, if adopted in their entirety, would add 2 million additional net jobs in 2012 and bring the unemployment rate to about 8% by election time next year, down from 9% if there was no policy change."