The democrats are lying to you…they don’t care about the little guy

Here is yet another example of Democrats kicking the little guy. This time, the evidence comes from Atlanta.

Larry Miller, a former president of the Atlanta Black Vendors Association, and Stanley Hambrick sell souvenirs outside Turner Field in Atlanta, and have been doing so for over 20 years.  To be able to do this, they pay $250 per year to the City of Atlanta for a site from which they can sell their goods.  Over the years, they have done quite well.  As an example, Mr. Hambrick has been able to help send three of his children to college.

That is about to change.

In 2009, former Atlanta Mayor, Shirley Franklin, a Democrat, urged (and received) passage of a city rule that now requires all street vendors to operate solely out of  “government approved” kiosks.  These kiosks are being built by General Growth Properties, a management company based in Chicago.  So, if Messrs. Miller and Hambrick wish to remain in business, they will now have to rent a kiosk.  The cost will range from $500 to $1,600 per month.  The city of Atlanta will get a percentage of that rental income, and the rest gets stuffed in the pockets of General Growth Properties, a “tiny” little company whose shares are sold on the New York Stock Exchange.

Earlier this month the Institute for Justice filed suit to block this insanity claiming that the law,

…interferes with the vendors’ rights to ‘earn an honest living free from unreasonable and anti-competitive government restrictions.’

It’s anyone’s guess as to how this law suit will turn out.  But, before this mandate, Atlanta’s non-food vendors added about $250 million to the Atlanta economy.  Should the law be upheld, it will be only the rich who will be able to sell anything on the streets of Atlanta.

Democrats don’t care about small business.  This is but one example, but you can also look to President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on small businesses.  And, they certainly don’t care about the little guy.  See: Cape Wind.

The sooner the American public realizes this, the better off this country will be.

 

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

21 Comments

  1. Plainvillian on August 22, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    Didn’t people react to the fate of a frustrated fruit vendor in Tunsia?



  2. crystal4 on August 22, 2011 at 2:27 pm

    “but you can also look to?President Obama?s plan to raise?taxes on small businesses” (??)
    Obama is advocating for allowing small businesses to write off 100% of their investments…will the Reps go along with it…doubtful.
    And seriously? The Reps care about the little guy?
    AP reports Republicans are now lining up to raise taxes on nearly half of all Americans.
    The president has called for an extension of the payroll tax holiday set to expire in Jan. 2012 and the same Reps (you know, the ones who were fighting like mad to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy ) are ginning up opposition to this.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/business/economy/11tax.html
    ?
    ?



    • GdavidH on August 22, 2011 at 9:41 pm

      Oh goodie, a New York Times link! This should be impartial.



    • Shared Sacrifice on August 23, 2011 at 2:03 am

      Don’t look at what Comrade Obama says, look at his actions.? He needs slaves to pull his wagon.? He may advocate for a deduction, but that deduction may not be as shovel ready as you thought- but that’s the tea party’s fault, the media needs to be regulated, tax the rich, get in their faces, it they bring a knife you bring a gun, we need a new tone while the opposition can all go straight to hell…



    • Common Man on August 23, 2011 at 11:49 pm

      The payroll tax holiday comes out of Social Security taxes. Obama must know something we don’t if Social Security can do without those extra funds another year. But wasn’t it just announced the SS Disability Fund will run out in 5 years or so?



  3. rachel on August 22, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    Wonder if Ms. Franklin (D) got a kick-back from General Growth Properties?? Is General Growth Properties a union facility?? And if Mr. Hambrick was able to send 3 kids to college by working as a souvenir vendor, then I guess I’m in the wrong business.



  4. sammy22 on August 22, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    In reality, neither the Reps nor the Dems care about the “little guy”.? It’s all about where the money comes from and for whom. crystal4, I am w/ you and this forum is not where constructive dialogue takes place. Partisanship rules!! Though in CT politics being on the Right, as the Borg aptly stated, “resistance is a futile”.



    • Dimsdale on August 22, 2011 at 10:26 pm

      Pols care about themselves first, the party second, and the voters a distant third.



    • Shared Sacrifice on August 23, 2011 at 2:29 am

      You’re Right Sammy! Let’s Go listen to NPR, Pravda has an English version, Radio Havana or Moscow,? we can watch The View or get our news on AOL!? We don’t need these people:)? We’re better than this:)



    • crystal4 on August 23, 2011 at 7:15 am

      I have to agree, Mr. Dimsdale.



    • RoBrDona on August 23, 2011 at 3:58 pm

      Right on Dims – I’m waiting for the O, upon finishing his round of golf in the Vineyard, to blame Bush for the earthquake.



  5. johnboy111 on August 22, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    rinse&repeate??????



  6. Gary J on August 22, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    I am in shock the democrats would pull something like this. Well there’s always welfare? and food stamps for these people that could earn their way through life.



  7. just sayin on August 23, 2011 at 3:58 am

    crystal4, crytal4, crystal4 – Come now, the “…nearly half of all Americans,” that you refer to, “…that Republicans are now lining up to raise taxes on…” are?as reported by the AP article you reference,?those “…46% of Americans who owe no federal income taxes.” ?But carefully re-read the report to see that Charles Babington carefully smithed his words as if the tax raise under consideration?would?strictly target the “nearly half of all Americans…” or “…the little guy,” as you say. ?The tax actually applies to the first $106,800 of a(ny) worker’s wages. ?The tax under consideration to be “raised” would actually be a Social Security tax % RESTORATION (deducted as a payroll tax). ?In a 12/10 agreement for one year beginning 1/11,?the?SS tax is reduced from?6.2% to?4.2%. ?To be continued…



    • just sayin on August 23, 2011 at 4:01 am

      Continued… crystal4 – Consider more carefully that this was a temporary tax RELIEF and affected workers, only (employers continued to pay their unchanged rate of 6.2%) and that this is a tax needed to fund the Social Security program. ?Continue the thought to what the ramifications are in continuing to reduce the funding of SS. ?As the AP article states, “The 12-month tax reduction will cost the government about $120 billion this year, and a similar amount next year if it’s renewed.” ?People can’t necessarily take at first reading what the AP says – just as people have to be careful with Mr. O’s rhetoric as exemplified in the same article by this: “We can cut payroll taxes again, so families have an extra $1,000 to spend.” ?Too many are too ready to drink the Kool-Aid when he speaks his rhetoric… The consideration is not about AGAIN cutting payroll tax (to be clear, it’s the SS tax); it is about continuing the cut. ?And as a result of the cut, it’s not about (all) families having an extra (on top of the existing) $1,000 to spend. ?And certainly, as I already said, consideration must be given to the ramifications if reduced funding of SS continues for another year.



  8. Lynn on August 23, 2011 at 7:48 am

    Thanks, Just sayin, great information, clear and concise.? As Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet, “Just the facts, Ma’am (or sir as the case my be).



  9. Anne-EH on August 23, 2011 at 8:20 am

    How true SOS, the Dems simply ARE NOT for the “little people”.



  10. sammy22 on August 23, 2011 at 11:59 am

    BUT, any tax reduction will have ramifications! Or are we to argue now that some tax reductions are good and some are not? Wait…..some disclaimer is coming.



    • Dimsdale on August 23, 2011 at 12:38 pm

      The ramifications of a tax reduction/deduction are almost entirely dependent on how vindictive the controlling pols are.? You know the screed: “we will have to cut police, fire and teachers etc., etc., etc.” (but never administrators or the salaries of pols).



  11. PatRiot on August 23, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Meanwhile? – back on topic – when the gov’t tells you who you have to do business with and how much you will pay, nothing good will come from it.?
    -? Is this the Atlanta vendor’s version of Obamacare?
    -? Is Ms. Franklin now higher up in the progressive party for imposing oppressive gov’t on her constituents?
    It appears that the Democratic party has outdone the Catholic church.? The church claimed the earth was the center of the universe.?? The Democrats have narrowed it down to Chicago.? And you can bet they will not let the facts get in the way of that.



  12. Moe on August 23, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    “They ain’t people…They’re Democrats”.



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