Small Busineses Give Palin Two Thumbs Up

Published Saturday, August 30th, 2008 in Culture & Society

We have heard from political analysts about Sen. John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. What do small businesses think? At least one national small business advocacy group is applauding the appointment.

“John McCain needed an outside-the-box choice to really up the ante in this presidential campaign season.  Sarah Palin is that, and more,” says Andrew Langer, President of the Institute for Liberty, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC.  It studies the impact of federal executive branch policies on small business and entrepreneurship.

“She’s got an exceptional record of support for small business, and has worked hard to shake up the corrupt elements preying on Alaska’s state government,” Langer says.  When it comes to making choices this fall, the American people are going to be looking at what the candidates have actually done in their public service careers, not the empty rhetoric of campaign promises.”

According to surveys conducted by a wide variety of small business organizations, energy, health care, taxes, and regulation rank as the most serious problems facing small business today.

In reviewing the proposals laid out by the Obama campaign, IFL sees them as coming up short, containing no workable ideas for reducing energy costs in the short term, no ideas for reducing health care costs without significantly increasing taxes and forcing small business into a government plan, and absolutely nothing on the regulatory front.

Regulations cost the American economy more than a trillion dollars annually—translating into a nearly $8,000 per employee, per year cost for America’s smallest businesses.

As Langer sees it, the Democrats have paid lip service to the issues of small business and government reform in the past. Both McCain and Palin have focused squarely on the issues of ethics in government service, producing real results while Democrats throughout the nation have ignored ethical problems in their own camp, he says.

“Jack Abramoff went to jail because of John McCain’s dogged efforts, while the Democrats have allowed William Jefferson to remain in Congress. Sarah Palin fits the mold of someone who shares John McCain’s values, and her policy positions fit solidly within those of the Republican base,” Langer says.

IFL Senior Vice President for Policy Kerri Houston added to Langer’s enthusiasm, saying the choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin throws McCain right over the goal line.

“She is the whole package—a solid yet gentle, gun defending, tax cutting, pro energy, pro life Mom with a solid supportive husband, and a son in the Army.  Democrat and Independent women will crossover, Catholics who can’t bear the double pro-choice democrat ticket with crossover; and evangelicals show up. Palin’s pick changes everything,” Houston says. “ Obama did his thing in the Pepsi Arena—Palin is the real thing.”