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Entrepreneurship and the 2016 Election (Blog Post) (view source)
Revision as of 16:06, 26 October 2016
, 16:06, 26 October 2016no edit summary
|Audience= General Public
|Skills Needed= Writing I
|Keywords= Clinton, DrumpfTrump, Election, Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Healthcare, Immigration, Regulation, Policy, Obamacare, Affordable Care Act
|Primary Billing=AccMcNair01
|Priority=3
==Abstract==
Neither of the presumptive candidates, Drumpf Trump and Clinton, have done a great job outlining their plans for small business and entrepreneurship. Rather than dig through past statements, this blog post links entrepreneurship to health care, government regulation, and immigration, and indirectly analyzes the candidates support for small business from there.
==Text==
:After a powerful 60-40 victory over fellow Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders in Puerto Rico this past Monday, supplemented with an additional wave of support from superdelegates, [http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/politics/hillary-clinton-nomination-2016/ CNN] declared Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party. She now joins presumptive Republican nominee Donald Drumpf Trump on still highly-contested and now highly predictable November 2016 presidential ballot. Over the course of the election, both presumptive candidates have remained, with the exception of Hillary's recent and non-specific [https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/small-business/ issue webpage] on small business, silent and non-committal on the topics of entrepreneurship and small business policy.
:In light of this information deficit, growing concerns over the future of entrepreneurship have been amassing, as demonstrated at the Kauffman Foundation's 2016 State of Entrepreneurship [http://www.gvhlive.com/gvh-daily/2016/2/23/is-entrepreneurship-at-risk-in-the-2016-election Address]. While specific candidate platforms have not been announced in regards to entrepreneurship, three of the main policy areas discussed in the election; health care, economic regulation, and immigration, all directly relate to the prosperity of an American entrepreneurship ecosystem. Through an analysis of Clinton and DrumpfTrump's statements in these three topic areas, a better understanding of the potential post-2016 futures of entrepreneurship may come to light.
:Health Care regulation, specifically the [[Affordable Care Act|Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]], also known as "Obamacare," has been accused of [http://www.investors.com/liberal-study-finds-obamanomics-killed-the-american-entrepreneur/ "killing"] small business. A 2012 [http://www.gallup.com/poll/152654/health-costs-gov-regulations-curb-small-business-hiring.aspx Gallup] poll of small business owners found that nearly half of small business owners point to potential healthcare costs (48%) and government regulations (46%) as reasons why they are NOT hiring new employees. In spite of this survey, the 2009-2015 head of the Congressional Budget Office, [http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-small-business/ Douglas Elmendorf], and [http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-small-business/ John Arensmeyer], founder and CEO of the Small Business Majority, have both released statements questioning any long-term negative effects of the Affordable Care Act and have even suggested that there will be benefits. Little conclusive evidence has been found on the effects of the Affordable Care Act on small business one way or the other.
:Returning to the presumptive Drumpf v.s. Clinton ballot awaiting America in the Fall, it is imperative to review the two candidate's positions across these three areas. Hillary Clinton, whose website claims she will "be the small business president," takes a strong stance on healthcare, [https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/health-care/ vowing] to defend the Affordable Care Act and strengthen its benefits while minimizing its detriments in regards to small business. A position which reflects the ACA's seemingly sometimes positive, sometimes negative relationship with small business. In regards to economic regulation, Clinton does not appear to be shy, [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-time-raise-incomes-hard-working-americans-hillary-clinton supporting] paid family leave, higher minimum wage, stronger unions, equal pay and 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. Her [https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/small-business/ small business web page] also claims that she supports reducing regulation and red tape on entrepreneurs however, once again reflecting both sides of an issue that academia has yet to find compelling evidence in. Finally, on immigration, Clinton [https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/immigration-reform/ proposes] comprehensive reform promoting immigration and integration with a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and in defense of the many steps President Obama has made towards reform. On this issue Hillary Clinton seems to strongly support a healthy entrepreneurship ecosystem for the future.
:On the other side of the aisle, Donald Drumpf Trump wholly [https://www.donaldjdrumpfdonaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform opposes] the Affordable Care Act, stating that he will request a congressional repeal of the act on his first day in office. Furthermore, Drumpf Trump proposes an absolute free-market approach to healthcare from there on out, a proposal that would have seemingly mixed results for small business. Drumpf Trump has spoke out sweepingly against economic regulations and government interference as early as [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/no-ones-apprentice/ 2012]. While vehemently against economic regulation, Drumpf Trump strongly [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/265269/trumped-daniel-foster?utm_source=jolt&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Jolt&utm_campaign=Jolt06232015 supports] the 2005 'Kelo v. City of New London' Supreme Court decision which allows for imminent domain to be invoked in cases where the government would generate more tax revenue. This record on government regulation would once again seem to indicate mixed results for small business. Finally, Drumpf Trump has aggressively opposed immigration throughout the campaign, proposing to "[https://www.donaldjdrumpfdonaldjtrump.com/positions/pay-for-the-wall build a wall] between the United States and Mexico as well as [http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/ banning] Muslim travel to the U.S.. Drumpf Trump then, seems squarely against promoting a healthy entrepreneurship ecosystem on the issue of immigration.
:Regardless of who ends up sitting in the Oval Office come 2017, entrepreneurship will continue in the United States. Across the areas of health care, economic regulation, and immigration, Donald Drumpf Trump and Hillary Clinton differ greatly. While it may be difficult to determine the empirical effects of the Affordable Care Act and government regulation on small business at this time, Clinton appears to have the more flexible and entrepreneurship-focused stance on these issues. The fact that she is the only one of the two candidates to have an "issues" page on small business is a further testament to this. In the area of immigration, support for immigrants, both socially and politically, seems to bolster a healthy entrepreneurship ecosystem. In this issue and in the previous two Clinton seems to support this ecosystem better than DrumpfTrump.
==References==
