WASHINGTON-Only the Republican agenda for small business will ensure the rights and opportunities of U.S. small-business persons, according to three representatives of the ``National Policy Forum,'' a Republican think tank. Those representatives-Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp and businesswoman Michele Dyson-presented that agenda at a June 7 press conference.
Among the items on the GOP wish-list for small business are:
Tax reform, including lower tax rates, reductions in inheritance and capital gains taxes and elimination of taxes on capital and equipment purchases;
Repealing banking regulations that hamper small businesses' access to capital;
Regulatory reform including paperwork reduction, risk assessment, cost-benefit analyses, regulatory flexibility and reduced recordkeeping;
National product liability reform; and
Elimination of the Davis-Bacon Act, which forces contractors and subcontractors in federal construction projects to pay union wages.
Paperwork reduction already has become law, and the other items are a high priority in the Republicans' ``Contract with America.''
Mr. Kemp and Ms. Dyson are co-chairs of the NPF Policy Council on Stimulating Economic Growth and Entrepreneurship, the chief Republican forum for exchanging and formulating ideas on ways to help small business.
The Republican Party is now the party of small business and minority entrepreneurs, according to Mr. Kemp, whereas Democratic tax and regulatory policies favor the rich.
``The Tax Code is biased toward big business and against small business,'' he said. ``The No. 1 problem of minority businesses is getting access to capital. We're interested not in helping the rich, but in restoring the American Dream.''