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In GOP Congress, Small Businesses Under Attack

September 23, 2015
Blog Post
Small businesses are the engines of our economy and the backbone of American jobs, growth and innovation.  But in the GOP Congress, Republican manufactured crises are making it harder and harder for small businesses to succeed.

Take the radical House Republican shutdown of the job-creating Ex-Im Bank.  CNBC reports today on how Republican extremism is standing in the way of American small businesses fighting to compete in the global marketplace:

CNBC: Main Street awaits fate of Ex-Im Bank, key lender

The fate of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a key lender for many small companies that do business overseas, again hangs in the balance.

Known as "Ex-Im" for short, the bank is a financial lifeline and safety net for many small businesses that export goods in foreign markets than can be risky. The bank provides loans and insurance to support exports…

For small business owners such as Mary Howe, the potential closure could reduce her access to working capital. Howe's family business, Howe Corp. in Chicago, exports up to 40 percent of its industrial refrigeration equipment to places including Central America and Canada.

And if the Ex-Im Bank's funding isn't renewed? "Our backup plan is to self-fund; it's going to get tight," Howe said.

the future of the bank is a "huge issue" for small companies, according to Morrison Textile Machinery Co. in Fort Lawn, South Carolina. President Jay White says Ex-Im allows the company, which designs, manufactures and installs textile machinery globally, to insure its overseas business on a rolling basis.

But that's not all.  House Republicans are also threatening to shut down the entire government – again – just to advance their radical agenda.  During the #GOPshutdown of 2013, American entrepreneurs and small businesses were cut off from millions of dollars in SBA loans – and small businesses with government contracts faced abrupt payment delays and cutbacks.  Republicans are threatening small businesses with another shutdown, and small business owners aren't pleased.  From Inc.:

Government shutdowns are always painful, and they're really bad for the economy, whether your business is directly affected or not.

That's the sentiment of numerous entrepreneurs, as they reacted to the prospect of yet another, looming budget crisis…

…Here's a look at five businesses, some of which went through the previous government shutdown, and how they expect the current stalemate over the budget will affect them.

  1. Lumi Organics: "Government shutdowns very definitely have a negative impact on businesses of all sizes across the U.S.," [owner] Lewis says…
  2. Knox Payments: "When there's a shutdown, everyone shuts their engines off, and then you have to ramp back up," [owner] Eide says….
  3. BNL: "It is absurd our lawmakers would hold our country hostage to their inability to make decisions, and come together as a caucus," [owner] Miller says. "I am embarrassed as a Republican."…
  4. Five Stones Research: "Regardless of political party, there is a disconnect between what happens on a daily basis, with working everyday Americans, and what happens in the Beltway, where politicians seem to live in a bubble," [owner] Green says…
  5. LaSalle Network: "The fact they would shut down the government over funding Planned Parenthood, which would primarily affect lower income people, is a joke," Gimbel says. "And they should be ashamed of the way that affects us as entrepreneurs and workers and parents, and as Americans."

House Republicans continue to govern by crisis and threaten the success of America's small businesses.  It's time the GOP put an end to the self-destructive attacks on our economy.