Recession and Recovery: What About Micros?
Jan 5th, 2009 | By Dawn Rivers Baker | Category: EconomyWalking into a new year, you probably don’t need me to tell you that the economy seems to be a mess. The third quarter of 2008 market the initial contraction in GDP for this recession but something tells me it won’t be the last. Consumer confidence is down again and small and microbusiness owners are worried that broke customers will lead to reduced sales volume. Not even the fact that gas prices have come down so dramatically seems to have the power to penetrate the economic gloom.
President-elect Barack Obama is scheduled to meet today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) to discuss crafting an economic recovery plan that will, they hope, be ready for his signature as soon after Inauguration Day as possible. The plan, as we have all heard in a general sort of way, is a combination of infrastructure spending, aid to cash-strapped states and middle-class tax cuts. One of the big questions is whether there will be any provisions in the package that are directly beneficial to microbusinesses. There is some talk of a temporary reduction in payroll taxes, for example, but no word on whether that will include a similar reduction in self-employment taxes for nonemployers. On the larger question of whether the Obama Administration will continue to ignore the self-employed, it’s probably going to be hard to tell until after Inauguration Day.
