Senate Proceeding on Apr 23rd, 2009 :: 6:36:00 to 6:50:50
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6:35:49 to 6:36:10( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: much time would certainly, 10 minutes to senator wyden mr. gregg: coming off your time? mr. conrad: i will be -- well, i think senator should probably come off your time. hey, i'd always be happy to give senator grassley time off mine. mr. grassley: and i'll take it off your time.

6:36:00 to 6:50:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Chuck Grassley

6:36:11 to 6:36:32( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: mr. conrad: i'm sure you would. the presiding officer: witut objection. mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: pretty soon we're going to have a motion dealing with small business, and i want to address that issue now so that i get it addressed properly, as senior member of the senate finance committee. everyone in this body knows that small businesses are an

6:36:33 to 6:36:56( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: extremely important and dynamic part of the u.s. economy. i'd do -- that small business is the employment machi economy. president obama agrees that small businesses have generated 70% of the net increase in jobs in the united states period of time.

6:36:57 to 6:37:17( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: three weeks ago we debated during the budget resolution debate on this during the debate, spoke on this point because senator cornyn had a small business tax relief amendment. that amendment passed by an overwhelming vote, 82-16.

6:37:18 to 6:37:39( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: america's small businesses have been suffering during this recession. if you go back to your states frequently, like i do, you'll hear about it from your small businesses very, very directly. a

6:37:40 to 6:38:01( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: landrieu hearing on the crunch hitting small businesses. they found that big banks have been small businesses. at a time that we're putting more money into big banks. why? i don't know that we got an explanation. i've been trying to get answers out of treasury whether banks

6:38:02 to 6:38:23( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: receiving the been similarly squeezing out small business customers. i'still waiting for answers from our treasury department. a very good source of answers, though -- so we turning elsewhere -- answers about the environment of small found in the monthly surveys small business conducted by the national federation of

6:38:24 to 6:38:44( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: independent businesses. we all know about the nfib, the largest small business ganization nfib has been surveys now for 35 years. the membership of that organization includes hundreds of thousands of small businesses

6:38:45 to 6:39:05( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: all you can find the survey on nfib's web site, i'd like to encourage every member to check it out -- this month' survey, because i'm going to be referring to i charts i have the survey shows some extremely

6:39:06 to 6:39:29( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: disturbing trends. on credit availability, small businesses depend on small businesses are getting squeezed very hard. -- ayou can see, the chart shows the availability of the loans has fallen off the cliff

6:39:30 to 6:39:50( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: as late as 2007 and worse as you get into 2009. so you see the chart the sharp downtn, evidence of small business to get loans. now, well as other factors, have

6:39:51 to 6:40:12( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: contributed to the low in the nfib's index of small business opposition -- optimism. i'd like to have you view this something like we the universi monthly index on consumer confidence.

6:40:13 to 6:40:35( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: so, the nfib takes surveys regularly. so this chart shows that small business owners are turning extremely the last couple of years. and you can see right end of the chart.

6:40:36 to 6:40:56( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: what you see here attitude of decision-makers in small business of america, the people that create the jobs. those are the decision-makers for businesses obama and we in the congress agree are most likely to grow or

6:40:57 to 6:41:20( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: contract jocks. -- or contract jobs. the pessimism evident on this chart is at its second-lowest point in the 35-year survey. this data should concern every policy-maker in this bod as bad as the two sets of charts are, i another chart -- this chart

6:41:21 to 6:41:43( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: shows the net increase or decrease in small business hiring pla the survey asked business owners simply whether he or she plans t the one hand, or contract, on the other hand, emplo the next three months. as you can dramatically -- look at the left

6:41:44 to 6:42:04( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: -- or, right here. if i said on those other ones to the left hand, in each case i was talking about hand. i do know the dins. but as you can see, even more dramatically than the other two charts, this chart shows small

6:42:05 to 6:42:25( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: business activity tremendously. all business hiring plans at their the this survey. again, the right side of the chart. let me repeat because important. this goes back to 1974, these

6:42:26 to 6:42:47( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: surveys. when nfib started doing them, owners adding workers has never been worse. now, with this environment, we should not be surprised then with job losses for small they have been growing dramatically.

6:42:48 to 6:43:11( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the national employment r recently data processing shows nonfarm private-sector jobs were lost from february to march 2009. of those, 742,000 lost

6:43:14 to 6:43:34( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: of it 614,000 railroad or 83% were from small business. the presid to increase lending to small business sectors are commendable. the centerpiece of his small business plan wilallow the federal government to spend up to $25 billion to purchase the small business loans that are now hindering community banks

6:43:35 to 6:43:57( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: and other lenders. unfortunately, that drop in the bucket. remember, colleagues, small business accounts for about half of moreover, the positives that will come to small business from this loans, which will ultimately and obviously have to be paid

6:43:58 to 6:44:22( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: will be heavily outweighed the president's negative impact of his tax increases. helping small businesses get loans just to take that money back in the form of tax hikes is not helping the recession. it's not helping small b the president's budget proposes to raise the top marginal tax

6:44:23 to 6:44:44( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: rates from 33% and the 35% bracket to 40% and 41% respectively when peps and pees are included. president obama's marginal rate increase would mean proximately 20% increase in the marginal tax rates on small business.

6:44:45 to 6:45:07( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: many of my friends on the other side will say that while they agree that successful small businesses are vital to the success of the u.s. economy, the marginal tax increases for t top two brackets will not have a significant negative impact on small businesses. i take exception to that

6:45:08 to 6:45:31( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: argument. because they use the tax policy center data, and i want to show why that should not be followed. we have proponents of these tax increases minimizing their impact by referring to the policy center data that indicates only about 2% of the

6:45:32 to 6:45:53( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: with those two brackets. in testimony before the senate finance committee, a liberal think tank, senate for budget and priorities used the figures, secretary geithner used that fig unanimity they argued that a small amount of business activity is affected. however there are two

6:45:54 to 6:46:16( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: assumptions in that argument. the first faulty assumption is that the percentage of small business filers is well, the fact is small businesses move in and out of gain or loss status depending on the nature of the business or the business cycle that they have nothing to do with. the nonpartisan joint committee

6:46:17 to 6:46:39( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: on taxion indicated for 2011 about 3% of the small filers will be hit by these higher rates. these statistics compare to the 2007 treasury which showed 7% of pang the top rates. in the latest analysis when the impact of the alternative minimum tax is fully included,

6:46:40 to 6:47:02( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: me. the second fold of the -- faulty assumption is that the level of small business activity including employment is proportionate to the percentage. this is where it makes the argument hog wash.

6:47:03 to 6:47:24( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: according to the of the owners of small businesses workers will fall into the top two brackets. you can can see here in this chart. i've used this chart before in other debate. what i'm talking about. according to the small busin administration about two-thirds of the nation's small

6:47:25 to 6:47:46( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: workers are employed by small businesses workers at right end of the chart, red bar. do we really then want to raise taxes on these small businesses that create new jobs and two-thirds of all small business workers? of course we don't. but that's just exactly what the

6:47:47 to 6:48:08( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: majority's follow the president's lead. with these two small businesses already suffering from credit crunch, do we really think it' a doue whammy of a 20% increase in marginal tax rates? newly developed data joint committee on taxation

6:48:09 to 6:48:30( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: demonstrates that from the small -- from the higher rates will small business owners with incomes over $250,000. this is a conservative number because it flow-through business owners making between $200,000 to to $250,000 at will also be

6:48:31 to 6:48:53( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: hit by these tax hikes. if the proponents of margina rate increases on smaller business owners agree that a 20% tax increase for half of small businesses that two-thirds of all small business workers is should either oppose these tax

6:48:54 to 6:49:17( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: increases or present data that show different for this group of people that small businesses employing two-thirds of the workers. as we prepare for conference on budget resolution, the president and the congressional democratic leadership have an opportunity to change course. they have an

6:49:18 to 6:49:38( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: revisit this heavy taxation, spending heavy, and parts of the budget that were passed just two weeks ago. both budgets would perpetuate the double whammy of constricted credit on the one hand and higher taxes on the other creation machine, small

6:49:39 to 6:49:59( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: so as i at we republicans will continue to try to persuade friends who have all the controls of fiscal policy here inhis body to change course for the benefit of small business that w to have our first concern.

6:50:00 to 6:50:21( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: one way they can is to focus jump-starting the nation's job machine, small business america. we need an upturn in small business optimism that's contrary to what this chart shows. we need to reverse the direction

6:50:22 to 6:50:44( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: of this sharply downward arrow. 30 seconds, could i have 30 seconds? the presiding officer: without mr. grassley: if we ignore this negative environment, we're just kidding ourselves. we need to change we need to reverse this more sharply downward hiring plan arrow referred to here.

6:50:45 to 6:50:51( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: that's where the president and congress agree we need to get more job growth as we take final steps on this budget let's match