A survey of small business owners found almost half believe a second term for President Joe Biden would be the iceberg that would send their enterprise to the bottom.
Forty-nine percent of those who responded to the PublicSquare/RedBalloon poll said their businesses “definitely” or “probably” would not make it through four more years of Biden.
Seven in 10 business owners said they were holding off on adding staff and six in 10 said they expected stagflation — when prices rise but the economy does not grow.
The survey, published in mid-May, found cash flow was so bad that 40 percent of those responding said they had stalled paying bills.
“It’s been a difficult three years for America’s small businesses,” PublicSquare CEO Michael Seifert CEO said in a statement. “While many inside the Beltway may feel like things are good, that isn’t translating to Main Street America — the frontlines of our small business economy.”
RedBalloon CEO Andrew Crapuchettes added, “All of the government reports and happy-talk from Washington DC doesn’t change that Americans continue wrestling with inflation, and a majority of small business owners now predict we’ll slip into stagflation.”
The survey of 754 small business owners took place from April 30 to May 10 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses Small Business Optimism Index remains mired below its historical average, according to an NFIB news release on Tuesday.
Although June’s score of 91.5 was 1 percentage point higher than May’s, the average has been well below its historic level of 98 for 30 months, the group said.
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“Main Street remains pessimistic about the economy for the balance of the year,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement.
“Increasing compensation costs has led to higher prices all around,” Dunkelberg said. “Meanwhile, no relief from inflation is in sight for small business owners as they prepare for the uncertain months ahead.”
In an Op-Ed published Wednesday in the Washington Examiner, Republican Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas argued that cutting federal spending is the only salvation for America’s economy.
“If we are going to bring down inflation and interest rates, lift our economy, and strengthen our nation’s balance sheet, we must reduce spending and grow the economy,” he wrote.
Arrington said Bidenomics has crushed America.
“The economy is sagging under the weight of all these misguided policies, with GDP growth dropping significantly from 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 to a paltry 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2024,” the congressman wrote.
“The public has taken notice. Consumer confidence is on the decline, and for the past five months, the Expectations Index, which measures consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, was low enough to indicate consumers believe a recession lies ahead,” Arrington said.
“With wages unable to keep up with inflation, total household debt has increased 21% since January 2021, amounting to a record $17.69 trillion. Credit card debt alone sits at an unheard-of $1.12 trillion, having nearly doubled under Biden’s watch,” he wrote.
In sum, Arrington said, Biden has overseen a “cruel and unforgiving financial reality for most people.”
