By Dan Danner

Small business has what I’m going to call an opportunity.

I’m not going to say it’s a problem. I’m going to say we have an opportunity to make things better, to hit “reset” and undo the damage that’s been inflicted on small business over the past few years.

Small business is still the engine that drives our economy, but surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business show a lot small business owners still aren’t sure where the economy is going or when it will get there. While things are starting to look up, one in four say their biggest problem is still poor sales, while one in five say it’s government “red tape” or taxes.

So, in the coming year, small business owners have a real opportunity to address these issues by electing a state legislature, a Congress and a president who understand that government doesn’t create jobs, businesses do. They have a chance to take jobs away from politicians who don’t understand how important predictability and certainty are when it comes to taxes and regulations. They can, through political activism, move the country toward a day when small businesses once again have the confidence they need to expand and create jobs as the economy improves.

In the last congressional election, we elected 25 new members of Congress who owned their own small businesses, but we need to elect more. Small business owners need to get involved in this year’s races and encourage others to get involved and support the candidates who will support them, who will back off when it comes to imposing unnecessary rules and regulations.

Since 2005, there’s been a 60 percent increase in major regulations that has taken a $100 million toll on the U.S. economy, and there are about 4,200 more new rules in the pipeline. That’s bad, because small businesses literally can’t afford a bunch of new rules and regulations.

Right now, U.S. businesses spend an average of $10,585 per employee to comply with federal regulations, but according to government statistics, small businesses spend almost 36 percent more per employee on compliance – money they can’t use to expand their operations and create jobs.

Another issue facing small businesses in the coming year will be the disastrous federal health care law.

Small business owners absolutely want health care reform that makes health insurance more affordable and more accessible, but they can’t support the unconstitutional scheme driven by the Obama administration.

That’s why NFIB was the only business association to join 26 states in challenging the constitutionality of the health care law in court. Our case is based on the unconstitutionality of something called the individual mandate – the part of the law that requires every American to purchase health insurance, whether or not they need it or want it. Those who don’t purchase it would be lawbreakers. We don’t believe Congress has the authority to force individuals to buy health insurance or anything else. It would violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and put all Americans at risk of becoming mere subjects instead of citizens.

Our case won at the district and appellate court levels, and the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear our case this spring.

I believe we’ll win, but even if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is struck down, we’ll still need to come up with a plan to fix America’s health care system.

None of this will be easy. It will take a lot of work and perseverance, but small business is strong, small business is powerful, and we’ll seize the opportunities before us and make things right for small-business owners, their employees and their families. 

Dan Danner is president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business.