Articles

By Eric Dash; New York Times The Federal Reserve, fulfilling a Congressional order to examine whether merchants were being charged excessive fees to process debit card transactions, proposed new rules on Thursday that analysts said could cut those fees as much as 90 percent. The Fed’s report went much further than the 50 percent reduction that Wall Street analysts had expected. Shares of Visa and ... Read more »

By Sarah Needleman; Wall Street Journal President Obama's newly proposed tax package is being praised, though with cautious optimism, by several of the nation's most prominent small-business advocacy groups. The Republican-backed deal with its temporary extension of Bush-era income tax cuts would have a direct impact on a large segment of entrepreneurs, whose small-business income falls into top t... Read more »

By John Waggoner and Paul Davidson; USA Today The sweeping tax deal between the White House and Republicans would help prevent the economy from lapsing back into recession — and may give the recovery the jolt it needs to become self-sustaining, economists say. The agreement, announced Monday, has all the hallmarks of a compromise: No one is entirely happy, but individuals, businesses and investors... Read more »

By Ken Newton; St. Joseph News Press Americans might have voted for change in November, but they also wanted certainty, Congressman Sam Graves believes. And an extension of current tax policies before the lame-duck Congress adjourns would have served that purpose, the lawmaker said. “I’d like to see everything kept as it is,” he said Thursday morning. “I think that would do more for the economy th... Read more »

By Sarah Needleman; Wall Street Journal When it comes to hiring, Main Street remains reluctant to fully open its doors. U.S. small businesses continued to hire in November, this time adding the most jobs in a month's time in nearly three years, according to payroll company Automatic Data Processing Inc. But job growth remains modest compared with prerecession years, and many entrepreneurs say they... Read more »

By Investor's Business Daily Tax Policy: The only issue in this week's talks between President Obama and congressional Republicans is whether to extend all the Bush tax cuts or just those on the middle class. Anything less than all will be a failure. Tuesday's two-hour meeting produced no agreement. Obama tried to sound chipper, calling the meeting "civil." But he warned, "There's no doubt ... dif... Read more »

By Free Enterprise Congress should provide small business owners with certainty and extend the Bush tax rates for everyone, according to House Small Business Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO). “What the American people want is certainty, including dealing with the 2001-2003 tax policy,” Graves told members of the U.S. Chamber’s Small Business Council on November 16. “Hopefully, we’ll get that done ... Read more »

By John Tozzi; Bloomberg Business Week The recovery that began in the middle of last year hasn't reached small businesses yet. While corporate profits approach pre-recession levels, income at small private companies is recovering much more slowly, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Proprietors' income—the profits of unincorporated businesses such as partnerships or individuals... Read more »

By John Engler and Jerry Howard; Wall Street Journal Speaking at his first cabinet meeting after the midterm election, President Obama repeated his familiar call for extending the current tax rates for middle-class families. He also vowed to support business. "We've got to provide businesses some certainty about what their tax landscape is going to look like, and we've got to provide families cert... Read more »

By Steve Rosenbush; Portfolio Conservative lawmakers and economists are pressing the Federal Reserve to drop its monetary-driven agenda for promoting economic growth in favor of the small-business platform of lower taxes and less regulation. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that a growing movement, which includes conservative luminaries, such as former Bear Stearns economist and ex-New York... Read more »