• Last week, President Obama said the ultimate goal of fiscal cliff negotiations "has to be jobs and growth." 

• Republicans couldn't agree more: any agreement to avert the fiscal cliff should be judged by how it impacts jobs and growth.

• That's why Republicans disagree with the president's proposed tax hike on small businesses, which will actually destroy jobs and slow the economy even more.

• Republicans have sought common ground and outlined a solution to avert the fiscal cliff without sacrificing jobs or the economy.

The Democrats' plan to increase taxes on small businesses would harm jobs and growth:

• President Obama's plan to increase taxes on nearly 1 million small businesses that employ nearly 25 percent of the U.S. workforce is counter to the goal of creating jobs and economic growth.

• The National Federation of Independent Business says raising taxes on small businesses would destroy 700,000 jobs, decrease wages by almost 2 percent, and reduce economic growth by 1.3 percent.

• In addition to the economic harm this tax would cause to our already weak economy, the $68 billion raised from the small business tax hike would only fund the government for a week.

• Just two years ago, the president said it was a bad idea to raise taxes during a weak economy, and 40 sitting Democrat senators agreed and voted to extend the expiring tax rates.

• Economic growth is weaker now than it was in 2010 (average of 1.8 percent so far for 2012 versus 2.4 percent over the same period in 2010).

Republicans have offered a common-sense solution to avert the fiscal cliff without damaging the economy or costing jobs:

• The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that avoiding a tax hike by extending the current tax rates would create nearly 1.8 million new jobs and increase GDP by almost 1.5 percent in 2013.

• The Republican plan to avert the fiscal cliff includes:

• Extending the current tax rates

• Generating revenue by simplifying the tax code by eliminating deductions and loopholes

• Reforming entitlement programs that are causing the national debt to skyrocket

• Making measured spending cuts to reduce our budget deficits

• According to a recent Gallup survey, the vast majority of Americans favor this approach over raising taxes on small businesses.