Fun fact of the day: The small business bill that the President signed earlier this week would help far more small businesses than extending the Bush tax cuts for those above $250,000.
The small business bill was opposed by almost all Republicans, while the principle rationale many GOPers (and some conservative Dems) have given for extending the high end tax cuts is that it would help small businesses.
Extending the Bush tax cuts would impact roughly 2.5 percent of small businesses -- some 900,000 of them, according to the Tax Policy Center.
By contrast, the new small business bill, which would create a $30 billion fund to open up lending to small businesses, would directly impact far more of them than extending the high-end tax cuts. According to the White House fact sheet, over one million small businesses are eligible to receive investments this year that could be excluded from capital gains taxation; and millions more will be able to make new investments, because the ceiling has been lifted on the amount that can be written off.
To be clear, there's nothing inconsistent in Republicans supporting the high end tax cut extension, while opposing the small business bill. That's broadly consistent with the overall GOP argument: We must rein in government spending while freeing up private capital to foster economic growth. But the above comparison shows just how heavily invested Republicans are in tax cuts as the cure-all.
Of course, it all depends on if you define a Small Business as (ahem) liberally as the Republicans do.
