On Monday, a group of NASE Members attended a town hall-style meeting with President Obama, hosted by the cable news network, CNBC. The president mentioned small business often throughout the hour, but spent the majority of his time addressing concerns on the economy, Bush tax cuts and recent business tax cuts.
Read the town hall full transcript here. Read CNBC's analysis of the event here.
NASE Member comments on the event and the message:
- Gwen Moulton of GM Authoring Services in Maryland - The President's message that the economy has stablized is good news, but we need the federal government to focus more on the self-employed, micro-business, and small business community to be sure we continue to thrive as the economy recovers further. I was especially hoping to hear about incentives for community-based small businesses in the renewable energy and sustainability sectors since they offer a potential boon for the self-employed and micro-businesses. Instead, the President tended to address the concerns of larger businesses, Wall Street, and the financial industry. Nonetheless, it was a great experience and a pleasure meeting some of my fellow NASE members.
- Chris Stelzig of Zignatures, Inc. in Maryland - On a personal note, I thought that this kind of event is JUST what the country needs more of. We need our commander in chief out in front on the economy, jobs, growth, taxes, etc. Whether you agree or disagree with his policies, most of us want someone to lead. I support Obama and agree 100% that this economic hole we are in was (a) not his creation, (b) will not be a quick fix. The US economy is the proverbial battleship and does not turn on a dime. All too often we get wrapped up in our own self-interests. “How does this help me?” we ask. Instead, shouldn’t we be asking “how does this help us all?” We are one nation, and if we’re to remain as such, we need to act in national self-interests, not personal ones. (I’ve got a hundred cliché’s I can throw in here, like the chain being only as strong as the weakest link, etc) but let’s just leave it at this – the more we act in the common good, the better it is for all.
- Kimberly Gladis of CorePerformX Advisory Group in Maryland - Bottom line is that people in America are going to need to adjust to a new reality. The state of our country is a result of 10 years of destruction and it can not be fixed overnight. Regardless of who took office this past term, he/she would have been faced with the same dilemma, and choices have to be made. Those choices will not be popular with everyone, but people need to look at it objectively and trust that there are a lot of smart people working with President Obama and his team to make the best decisions possible. As President Obama said, “The numbers just don’t work.” So people are going to need to make tradeoffs for the good of our country if we hope to recover, and then accept a new equilibrium as reality. The American dream is not dead, it is different. And change is not a bad thing.