Speaker Boehner and House Republican leaders just finished up a meeting with small business owners who will get hit if President Obama raises tax rates instead of cutting spending.  A former small business owner, Boehner kicked off the discussion by outlining the consequences of the president’s tax rate hikes, and Republicans’ responsible efforts to protect jobs:

“These small business owners that are with us today are here to highlight President Obama’s plan to raise tax rates instead of cutting spending.  His plan will hurt nearly a million small businesses around our country, that will affect hundreds of thousands of jobs.  Now this week, we made a reasonable offer to the White House that would avert the fiscal cliff… It’s up to the president to engage in this process, talk to us about where he’d like to go next.” 

The Hill has previously noted that “Republicans hope to contrast their meeting with small business owners to Obama’s recent talks with CEO’s from large corporations.”  Indeed, as Speaker Boehner said on Friday, “Small business owners are regular men and women from all backgrounds, who in today’s economy are facing challenges on a daily basis.”  The House Small Business Committee has collected some of those everyday stories, which go into detail about the hurdles the president’s tax rate hikes presents. 

Small businesses are protected from tax rate hikes in the reasonable and responsible offer Republicans have made to avert the fiscal cliff, calling instead for cutting spending and fixing our tax code – an approach supported by most Americans, and the president himself in 2011. 

For more, be sure to read Speaker Boehner’s latest statement on the status of fiscal cliff talks.