Poll: Who Is To Blame For Small Business Woes?

Small businesses owners, despair!

Last week, we posted about Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s plans to sue Mayor Michael Bloomberg in order to force him to release information regarding fines distributed to small businesses. De Blasio claims that the city is doling out fines irresponsibly to fill city coffers, and the results are hurting neighborhood commerce.

Now, another local politician, Congressman Bob Turner, is calling out President Barack Obama, saying federal taxes and regulations are fueling local unemployment rates.

Turner held a “Stop the Tax Hike” event on Friday, teaming up with the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District and small business owners to speak about the economy and how tax increases affect their businesses and unemployment.

After speaking with several small business owners in the area, Turner claimed that, for the first time in almost three years, business owners say that taxes – as opposed to poor sales – is the most serious issue they are struggling with today.

But while de Blasio blames the city, and Turner blames the fed, Bensonhurst-Bay Ridge Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis is blaming the state. In April, Malliotakis held an event with Bay Ridge business owners, telling them that, though there were some pro-business accomplishments in Albany this year, the state is still hurting local businesses with excessive regulations and paperwork, taxes hidden in utility bills, and fees devised to pay off the state’s debt.

So which is hurting small business owner the most? Federal government, state government, or city government? Or are small business woes simply the result of the sluggish economy?