Tax Hike Raises Ire of Small Manufacturers

Small-business owners aren’t big fans of President Obama’s plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011, and they’re making themselves heard on Capitol Hill, Politico reports. Many small businesses file taxes as individuals, and they fall well beyond the $250,000 income threshold. The White House says the increase will hit only the top 3%, but that fraction includes most of America’s small manufacturers.

“The businesses that are most likely to be hit by this tax increase employ about a quarter of the US work force,” says one small business lawyer. A whopping 68% of American manufacturers file as individuals, with an average income of $570,000. But owners say they reinvest profits, making their net much lower. “I don’t drive a BMW,” said one man who employs 320 people at three plants. “The entrepreneurial class is being exhausted.” (More Barack Obama stories.)