I’ll have to confess to you that one of the highlights of my week was viewing the spectacle of punchy Congresspersons conducting their telecommunications competition hearing. It sort of defies description but, if you want a treat and have a couple of hours to spare, visit the hearing archive, which is linked below.

There aren’t very many microbusinesses to be found among broadband providers but I cover stories like this primarily to illustrate to you the kinds of attitudes you encounter when you take a look at the folks on Capitol Hill.

I think those illustrations provide salutary lessons about what it’s reasonable to expect from them. And I think that’s worth knowing … especially in an election year.

After taking a look at the Tax Policy’s analysis of the presidential candidates’ tax plans, you have to hope Congress rides herd on whichever of them gets elected and reasserts tax simplification as a priority. That remains one of the biggest favors anybody could do for microbusinesses (along with inserting a bit more fairness into the code, in terms of tax treatment of large corporations versus the self-employed). Neither candidate appears to have picked up on that.

For more information:

An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans
The Conference Board
National Federation of Independent Business
U.S. Department of Commerce
Hearing Archive: Issues in Telecommunications Competition