As he continues his campaign to protect the wealthiest from paying their fair share in taxes, Speaker Boehner repeatedly references a small business mantra that simply isn’t true:

“The problem with raising tax rates on the wealthiest Americans is that more than half of them, are small business owners.” [11/9]

“Raising taxes on the so-called top 2 percent — half of those taxpayers are small business owners who pay their taxes through their personal income tax filing every year.” [11/28]

Today, the Washington Post thoroughly debunks Speaker Boehner’s “misfire” on the small business impact of the wealthiest paying their fair share:

The result, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, is that only 3 percent of all “small businesses” paying taxes would be affected by Obama’s plan to lift marginal tax rates on families making more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000. (See page 25 of the JCT report.)

By any measure, Boehner’s statement last week was incorrect. Only a relatively small percentage of small-business owners would be affected by a tax increase…

There is a huge difference between reporting half of all small-business owners and half of all small-business income. Boehner needs to be much more careful in how he makes his case against higher tax rates. [12/3/12]

The Post’s Glenn Kessler awards the Speaker “3 Pinocchios” and concludes, “By any measure, Boehner’s statement last week was incorrect.”

While Congress and the Obama Administration work on a balanced agreement that will create jobs, grow the economy, and reduce the deficit, we can vote now in the House on the middle class tax cuts in order to give families and small businesses peace of mind and certainty during this holiday season.  If Republicans don’t schedule a vote on the middle tax cuts, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has said she will lead a discharge petition to force them to do so.