How Obama Turned U.S. Economy into “Hostile Work Environment”

As Published at TownHall.com

By Wayne Allyn Root

The Presidential debates were Exhibit A for Obama’s habit of “misplacing the truth” (ie lying). Obama told lots of hard-to-believe whoppers about his support of guns; his love of the oil, gas and coal industries; his unshakeable loyalty to Israel; and of course his response to the Libya Embassy attack. Boy can this guy misplace facts.

Only a lawyer could say stuff like that with a straight face.

But the biggest whopper of all was when Obama claimed to be a champion of small business. He stressed this misguided storyline in all three nationally-televised debates. Obama even made a specific claim to back it up in the second debate- he claimed to have cut taxes 18 times for small business. This storyline attracted my attention because I am a small businessman. I’ve spent my whole life as a small businessman. I know how important small business is to the American economy. Small business is the economic engine of America, and the heart of all job creation.

And what I know to be the truth is that President Obama has turned the entire U.S. economy into a “Hostile Work Environment.”
Small business owners like me are struggling to survive under this President. Obama may be a champion, but he’s a champion of taxes, regulations, bureaucrats, and lawyers- not a champion of small business.

I am the son of a small businessman- my dad worked for 20 years as a butcher to save up enough money to eventually start his own butcher store. I am also the grandson of a small businessman. My grandfather (an immigrant), spent 20 years working as a butcher to eventually save up the money to start his own butcher store. Several of my uncles were given money by my grandfather to immigrate to America and they too eventually started their own butcher stores- after years of hard work and sacrifice.

We built our own businesses. We never had help from government. Government didn’t put up the risk money to start our businesses. Government wasn’t by our side when we worked 16-hour days. Government had nothing to do with the marketing and advertising of our businesses. Government didn’t help us land clients. WE WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO BUILT THOSE BUSINESSES.

Yet here was President Obama in front of the nation in three separate debates…the man who has demonized business owners for 4 years…the man who has threatened us with onerous new taxes for 4 years…claiming on national TV that he’s the biggest supporter of small business. And claiming to have given small businessmen and women (like me) 18 tax cuts.

What tax cuts? I have never heard of any Obama tax cuts for small business. Since I own multiple small businesses, isn’t that strange?

What I do know is that if you claim to be a champion of small business, first “Do no harm.” A champion of small business would not demonize or denigrate us. He wouldn’t kill our enthusiasm or motivation by saying “You Didn’t Build That.” Who would want to work for a boss like that? That’s verbal abuse. This is akin to a husband beating his wife, then claiming to be “the husband of the year.”

Obama has created a “Hostile Work Environment” and now he’s taking credit for saving us. Now that’s audacity. The only person we need protecting from is…Obama.

Life isn’t just about money, or profits. How you feel, how you’re treated, whether you like to get up in the morning, is more important than money. Obama has destroyed the enthusiasm of small business owners. Obama’s verbal abuse and “hostile work environment” has killed our will to do more. Why would anyone work harder, or take more financial risk, for someone so negative and unappreciative? Hence the horrible Obama economy and miserable unemployment numbers. Don’t expect any improvement until Obama is gone.

Now to those 18 small business tax cuts that Obama claimed. I did a little research. They are small; obscure; most were renewals of tax breaks from previous administrations; many have already expired; and worst of all- Obama double counted them. Any time a tax cut was renewed, Obama counted that as two tax breaks. The lawyer’s lips are moving again.

The real story of small business under Obama is tax raises. Coming this January, Obama will unleash a torrent of punishing taxes on small business. We face the most massive income tax increase in history (remember we file taxes as individuals). We face the greatest expansion of big government in history with Obamacare. We face massive Obamacare tax increases on income, Medicare taxes, the sale of our business, the sale of stocks, the sale of our homes. We face onerous Obamacare mandates.

And that’s all just a start. Based on the mountains of debt Obama has already created, and the mountains of spending he promises in the coming years, we can expect many more massive tax increases on income, capital gains, a national VAT tax (sales tax), removal of legal tax deductions, and worst of all- an attempt to remove the cap on FICA (Social Security) taxes. If this came to pass, I’d lose my businesses. This small businessman cannot survive another 4 more years of Obama.

I have a message for President Obama. Mr. President, please stop “saving” us. We can’t take it anymore.

And I have a message for small business owners. We need to sue. It’s time for all small businesses to file a class-action lawsuit against President Obama and the federal government for creating a “Hostile Work Environment” that terrorizes us and prevents us from earning a living. Now that’s a message even a lawyer can understand!

Wayne Allyn Root is a Capitalist Evangelist, entrepreneur, and Tea Party Libertarian Republican. He is a former Libertarian vice presidential nominee. He is the best-selling author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts.” His web site: www.ROOTforAmerica.com