“The essence of the American economic system of private enterprise is free competition.  Only through full and free competition can free markets, free entry into business, and opportunities for the expression and growth of personal initiation and individual judgment be assured.”

No, that statement wasn’t from a recent Tea Party rally.

That statement was from a report entitled, the FUTURE OF SMALL BUSINESS IN AMERICA published on November 9, 1978 by the 95th Congress of the House of Representatives of the United States of America (Report No. 95-1810).  Among the specific recommendations from the FUTURE report was that tax legislation should be passed which further graduates the corporate tax rates and specifically targets small business as receiving “preferential capital gains treatment.”

The report also noted that “small business is one sector of our economy capable of resolving the unemployment problem and providing benefits rather than additional tax burdens to the consumer.”  Highlighted throughout the report was the relationship between free enterprise and personal responsibility.  We as small businessmen and women take responsibility for our own behavior: our success depends upon it.  This has traditionally been the “American way, the American Spirit.”

The future of small business in America is right now!  What was written back in 1978 was prophetic and I believe the future of our way of life depends upon the success of small business.  The two are totally interconnected… Small Business is the Essence America!

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(C)  2012 Steven M. Stroum