Why Do Conservatives Hate Small Business And The Entrepreneurial Spirit?

Gwen Graham, first 2015 freshman to earn her clown outfit

Yesterday, the House passed Steve Chabot's Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015 (H.R. 527), every single Republican plus 19 conservative Democrats-- overwhelmingly New Dems and Blue Dogs-- making up the 260-163 majority for what they're calling a "bipartisan bill." Two of the worst congressmen from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN) and Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)-- were co-sponsors. These are the Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote with the GOP:

• Pete Aguilar (New Dem-CA)
• Brad Ashford (Blue Dog/New Dem-NE)
• Ami Bera (New Dem-CA)
• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
• Jim Cooper (Blue Dog/New Dem-TN)
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Pete DeFazio (OR)
• John Delaney (New Dem-MD)
• Gwen Graham (Blue Dog/New Dem-FL)
• Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)
• Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)
• Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL)
• Ed Perlmutter (New Dem-CO)
• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog/New Dem-OR)
• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog/New Dem- AZ)
• Tim Walz (MN)

The legislation was designed to pad the bottom line of big political campaign contributors in Big Business. Using "Small Business" in the title is typical Beltway subterfuge meant to mislead the public. Chabot's bill is more in line with GOP priorities-- further deregulating Wall Street, for example-- which are harmful to small businesses. Chabot's bill also seeks to help Big Business get around EPA regulations and to undercut regulations that protect consumers and workers from excessive greed from capitalist sociopaths. The three Democratic freshmen most blatantly in the pockets of Big Business-- Pete Aguilar, Brad Ashford and Gwen Graham-- all backed the bill, signaling the K Street lobbyists their offices are open for business.

Amit Narang of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division wrote that Chabot's bill is vague by design. "The SBRFIA is designed to mislead lawmakers and the public into believing they are helping small businesses, while giving large corporations a free pass on rules designed to hold them accountable and protect the public."

Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan was one of the progressives urging his colleagues to defeat the proposal. "This bill," he told us, "is what America has come to expect from House Republicans-- nothing more than a deregulation bill for Wall Street and big corporate polluters disguised as a small business bill. It would delay or block environmental safety, food safety, workplace safety and consumer product safety regulations even when those regulations don’t apply to small businesses."