Thoughts on Small Business

This morning I watched a television interview with Senator John Barrasso, (R-Wyoming), recently elected chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.  He repeated the idea that Congress passes some bi-partisan legislation and that they agree on approximately 80% of the issues, and the 20% on which they disagree gets the media attention conveying an image of a divided body.

Someone recently posted an article that showed the comparative liberal and conservative ratings of members of Congress as determined by the liberal and conservative watchdog organizations who identify legislation as liberal and conservative.  The Republican Party is more conservative than any time in recent history, and the Democratic Party continues to embrace the civil rights and anti-war ideology of the sixties.  The resulting phenomenon is that the most liberal Republican in Congress is more conservative than the most conservative Democrat, and the most conservative Democratic is less conservative than any Republican. We now tend to vote along liberal and conservative lines which dictates that candidates in party primaries are forced to position themselves as far right and as far left as possible for being nominated.  Consequently, we then have to choose between a far right and a far left candidate.  There seems to be no middle ground.

The interview that I watched this morning illustrated something to which I have given much thought.  Senator Barrasso spoke on behalf of the small business man or woman.  He portrayed the small business person as someone who was the job creator who saw the government as a heavy handed regulator and job killer, anti-business, anti-capitalist.

I was a small business owner from 1962 until 2003.  Being a Main Street retail entrepreneur is not just a career; it is life style.  I did not find the government to be my enemy.  I never felt oppressed by any regulation, or taxation, coming from government.  Most of that time, I felt that government protected me from unfair competition and abuses of business practices.  It was important that I could buy merchandise at the same price as larger retailers.  I knew that my clothing was manufactured in plants in America by adult men and women who worked under safe conditions making a living wage.  Government in many ways had helped create a better business atmosphere.  I borrowed money from banks that had Harpeth or Williamson in their corporate names.  The money I deposited at the close of the business day was protected by the FDIC and the banks were regulated to protect depositors.

I realize we live in a different time, and small banks and small retailers do not fare well in the current business environment.  If I were again 26 years old, I can’t imagine walking into the Harpeth National Bank, asking for money to purchase 10% of men’s clothing store.  The nemesis of small business is big business and big banks, not government.

More importantly, it bothers me that a conservative political party would assume that a Main Street small business person would embrace the social and cultural ideology of a conservative political party.  Why would the chairman of the policy committee think that a small business person would be attracted to the “faith and values” of the Religious Right?  Why would he think a small business person, by demographic profile, would oppose aid to families with dependent children, food stamps, unemployment insurance, health care reform, Planned Parenthood, gun regulation, don’t ask don’t tell, same-sex marriage, and Social Security.   Why would he assume that my children would attend private schools or are home-schooled and I would believe that public school teachers are overpaid and teach our children to be non-religious and unpatriotic?   Why would a small business person want “corporate strict-constructionist” Supreme Court justices rather than “socially activist” justices?  Why would a small business person care if same-sex people love each other, of if people file bankruptcy because their private insurer drops their coverage?  Should we support invading two sovereign countries for no logical reason, or care if evolution is taught in the science classroom, or if a woman has an unwanted pregnancy, or if government provides funding for breast cancer screenings, or if we have contaminated drinking water, or food with e-coli?  Should we be concerned about Wall Street, or financial bailouts, or stimulus packages, or jobs at General Motors, or a two-state solution in the Middle East, or religious and ethnic tolerance?

As a small business person, I was fortunate to be a retailer on the corner of 4^th and Main in Historic Downtown.  The small business owner was, and still is, highly respected by the community, not because he or she is successful, but because of what that person contributes to the people of the total community.  For some reason, I don’t feel that this Republican Party and their candidates for president understand or speak for the conscience of the Main Street small business owner, at least not for me.

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Tags: Franklin, Main Street, retail, Tennessee

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