As Herman Cain reminded us yesterday it is unfortunately not enough for our small business owners to be engaged with their customers and employees, they also have to deal with the government. The Chamber is the voice of business in Washington, but we are only as loud as our members are engaged, as Bruce Josten reminded them:

“Every success that the Chamber achieves is made possible by members like you.  We not only appreciate all you do; we know our success depends on your involvement.”

Bruce then covered the key issues facing America’s small businesses.

The Chamber has long supported reforming the health system, to lower health care costs, but we had to oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, because we believe it will actually increase costs. With our member’s help we did get a few victories but with the enactment of the bill big changes are coming in the next few months, bigger changes will come in January and the biggest changes will come in 2014 and 2018.  Some of these provisions may never happen – 2018 is 4 Congressional elections and 2 Presidential elections away. For us, health reform is not over.

Bruce talked about the requirement Karen Kerrigan mentioned yesterday, in 2012 companies of all sizes will have to file a 1099 form with the IRS for business-to-business transactions aggregating $600 or more for the purchase of goods and services – a big burden on small businesses.  We support repeal of this provision and owners should talk about it when on Capitol Hill tomorrow.

Beyond healthcare we are facing uncontrolled and unsustainable deficits result in a crushing mountain of federal debt. The debt-to-GDP ratio rises from almost 63% this year to nearly 90% by 2020. These debt levels will weaken the dollar, lead to higher interest rates, rising inflation, lower job growth, and ultimately, a lower standard of living.

There are proposals that would raise the marginal rate on the upper income brackets, and raise the rates on capital gains and dividends, all of which are likely to reduce savings and consumption. When you hear “raise taxes on the rich” hear “raise taxes on small business owners whose enterprises are structured as a pass through entity.” Or in Bruce’s words “the very people we are looking to create jobs and drive the economic recovery. “

One example is a proposal that would significantly increase payroll taxes paid by S corporation shareholders. The tax would: apply to capital investments made by businesses engaged in the service sector, hurting their ability to invest and create jobs; add to the tax code’s complexity by creating new categories of business activity that will have to be defined and litigated; and set the stage for future increases in payroll taxes on more capital-intensive sectors as Congress endlessly searches for new streams of revenue. This proposal would unfairly increase taxes on small and family-owned businesses and is, unfortunately, just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to looming tax proposals.

Bruce then talked about trade – see here – and closed with the positive note that organized labor’s top priority “Card Check” has not been passed by Congress, “But, we must remain vigilant and be prepared to fight this fight on other fronts as labor leaders turn to the National Labor Relations Board to accomplish what they couldn’t through legislation.”

So on this, and every other issue, stay tuned.