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 Venus Says
The job of being President of the United States is going to be a very stressful one. I do believe President Obama feels that he can make big
changes and give us all tax breaks while giving out money to those in need. I am not a Harvard graduate, though, but without additional tax money coming in, it is going to be impossible to give all that money out. At least that is how most of our budgets work, but we don’t have
the luxury to print money in our basements, as does our government.
I think the first thing he should do is to forbid newscasters from discussing the negative state of the economy. He should also forbid them from predicting how long the recession is going to last. It is all doom and gloom and a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think we have too much access to real-time information. I feel that the press reminds
everyone that home values will drop 20 percent or more and as a result, everyone is waiting for the big drop to buy a home. The new tax incentive of a $7,500 credit has not helped for two reasons: (1) it has to be paid back, and most first-time home buyers really don’t understand how little that will impact them and (2) the income limits are too low and most people need to earn more than $75,000 a year to purchase a home in the Northeast. I feel that the income limit is just plain stupid. If they eliminate just the income limits people can begin to buy a family-size home instead of a one-bedroom condo.
We need to increase home sales to get the economy moving again. Consumers would feel more confident spending money if they knew their largest investment (their home) was increasing in value again. With the new underwriting guidelines for home mortgages, only those who can afford to pay their mortgage payment will be able to buy. I do realize President Obama really can’t shut down the media (and a little
thing like the re-writing of the Constitution would have to take place) but a girl can still dream.
On a more realistic note, I feel that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. The large bailout to banks should have come with stipulations that they must continue to loan these funds out to small business to keep them afloat. Too many times I hear small business operators say that their bank has closed or reduced their lines of credit. We cannot survive if we can’t get the financing we need to improve or continue our businesses. If banks take our hard tax paying money to pay for their greed and mismanagement mistakes, they should not be able to keep it as their own savings. We need our
new president to put pressure on the banks to loan money or our economy will continue to struggle.
The new president is going to have a tough job to jump-start our economy. We can only pray that he makes good decisions and thinks of us small businesspeople when making these decisions.
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Mars Says
Well, here we are in a new year, a new carwash season is upon us and we have a new president. Most of us in this business are likely
welcoming the New Year and the new season. As far as the new president goes, you may or may not be so hospitable. We are coming
out of a presidency that has left our economy in a whirlwind. Although President Bush has been a fan of the small business through tax cuts, his presidency ends with small business in a state of misery.
The election of Barack Obama has many small business owners wondering what effect he will have on them. With the Democrats holding the majority in both the Senate and Congress, many fear that
Obama’s idea of big government will run them out of business. I followed the campaign pretty closely and I have to say I don’t ever remember him saying directly or indirectly that he wants to burden small business. If you are the CEO of a large corporation or among the
5 percent of the country making more than $250,000 per year, then you are probably among the ones who did not vote for him.
In any event, we have a new president now and we need to have faith that he is going to make the country a better place here and abroad. As far as what I would like him to do first as president, I would have to say that would be to have him fix the weather. I would
like to see him launch some type of satellite that would guarantee sunshine six days a week and never rain on the weekends. If he could do that I believe we would all overlook any tax increase that might
come our way! At the very least, if he could get the weather people to do away with the seven and now 10-day forecasts I would be happy with that.
In all seriousness, though, what I think the President’s first priority for the small businessperson should be is to work on restoring consumer confidence. Whatever he can do to get people back into the stores spending money again would be phenomenal. A lot of the problem is state of mind and people are just scared of what’s to come. This economy needs a boost and I think it needs to come from within. There are only so many bailouts the government can give. Our president needs to act as a cheerleader and remove the fear from the consumer’s mind and let them do the rest.
I look forward to the years to come and I hope our president lives up to his word about helping the middle class. In addition to business and money, I really hope our president continues to keep us safe here at home. I hope he can figure out a way to bring our troops home without compromising a victory. And lastly, I hope he can give our country a more positive reputation around the world.
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