In my last post I gave two reasons why the government is not a friend to small business (and yes, there are many more than two). So here is the simple, but not easy, way for government to stop turning to us to raise their revenue: cut spending. Yup, that’s it. If governments cut spending, they won’t need to consider businesses and business owners the place to turn to for more cash. Now I am not advocating a big cut in necessary services like education and law enforcement, etc. I am talking about hunkering down. Allow me to provide some food-for-thought.
If you were like most businesses this year, you cut expenses. You trimmed where you could and then you went back and cut some more. It was painful. Some people were let go. Some resources were eliminated and people worked harder. But most of us survived.
Government spends billions of dollars each year. And we know there is plenty of fat. The number of government agencies that are well-run and lean can be counted on one hand.
Now, I am not saying it will be easy. For starters, we need politicians that are willing to take some risks because the unions and other advocacy groups are going to fight the cutbacks (and they can fight better than anyone). But if our governments don’t take action, two things will happen that no one wants: 1) our governments will run out of cash and services will stop and 2) they will continue to go after small businesses for money and that will inhibit economic growth.
Bonus suggestion: in addition to cuts, let’s not create any more work for the government to do (like government-run health care). As Norm Brodsky says, “When was the last time that government did anything right?”
NY Report contributor John R. Rathgeber, president and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), explains how to get more involved in government in a recent “Buck Stops Here” article.
