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In America, the small business owner has been used to sitting on the sidelines and watching whilst the large corporations dominate all areas of industry. Many small business owners have gone out of business whilst others often struggle to survive. One of the reasons behind this was that the Bush administration tended to offer very little support, instead making tax cuts for the corporate world. With the election campaigns now in full swing, Barack Obama has pledged to help small businesses survive and enable to thrive in the coming years.

Obama has put a number of measures in his manifesto that could help small businesses to take root and grow in the world of business because he fully recognizes that they are the heart of the American economy. Small businesses provide valuable jobs and income to millions of Americans up and down the country and, were they to go out of business, could actually make the economic situation worse. In fact, in some quarters, financial experts are touting the possibility of a recession on the scale of the 1929 Depression. By keeping small businesses alive and healthy, it can strengthen the economy and give Americans everywhere a little security of peace of mind.

Tax Issues

Obama has pledged to help small businesses by putting a series of measures that may help them into place. For example, he has pledged to reduce the burden on the owners of small businesses that may struggle to make ends meet by providing them with a little tax relief. Every small business owner has to pay both employee and business owner taxes, but with the $500 tax credit per worker that Barack Obama is proposing the burden of those payments will lift somewhat. This in turn leaves a little in the coffers to fun expenses like health care, gas prices and energy bills, all of which have risen in the past few years.

There are other tax measures that Barack Obama has proposed, such as the elimination of capital gains tax for new businesses for the first year or so. This eases the burden from day one and would give them a better chance of succeeding. Established small businesses do not miss out though because Obama helped to introduce a measure whereby small businesses receive a tax credit if they actually maintain or increase the level of full time employment from one tax year to the next.

Financial Help

If Obama follows through with his promises for small businesses then there will also be a greater range of help available for start ups and established small businesses that are facing financial difficulties. Obama actually sponsored the Small Business Lending Reauthorization and Improvements Act. The premise of this Act was to actually pave the way to make help available for small businesses. Loans and micro-loans can provide short and long term help for businesses, and with the provision for a simplified process and a wider availability of lenders, small businesses will have a fighting chance of survival in the future.

Barack Obama will try to help small businesses should he get into office, which will hopefully go some way to stabilizing the economy and getting America back on track.