On Friday it was announced that the payroll tax cut will be extended for the remainder of the 2012 year.  Instead of the normal 6.2 percent level, Congress has decided to keep the Social Security payroll tax at its lower 4.2 percent rate and to extend unemployment benefits.  While this is a short term solution to increasing the cash flow in the economy by providing 160 million working Americans with a slightly larger paycheck -approximately $1000 per year on a $50k salary- the Congressional Budget Office said that the bill would increase federal deficits by $89.3 billion over the next ten years.  They will account for the lost revenue for Social Security benefits by pulling from general tax revenue, which will ultimately add to the budget deficit... 

For those of you using Google today, you may notice that the logo has been blacked out. When you hover over the logo, a message appears: “Tell Congress: Don’t censor the web!”  If you head over to Wikipedia.com the page comes up as usual, but enter a search term and you’ll get a message from Wiki, “Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge. For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.” You can click the link that Wikipedia offers to learn more about why the site has been blacked out... 

I recently had the opportunity to appear on the JP Godsey radio show with JP “Gus” Godsey.  We talked about everything from the incoming Republican Congress, recent Basso on Business episodes to the survival of the American Dream. Check out my appearance on one of JP’s last show’s.

Fox Business Network asked me to share my thoughts on the latest legislation passed by Congress, and whether or not it’s simply another bailout, or if it would have the power to actually boost our small businesses and our economy.  Check out the video for my thoughts and don’t forget to comment.   I want to know what you are thinking.

http://www.bassoonbusiness.com/TheBassoNewsroom.aspx

Recently I had the opportunity to go on Fox news and talk about the potential results of the new small business legislation that was just passed by both houses of Congress. This new legislation includes $30 billion in aid to community banks, a capital gains increase, deductible health care for those who are self employed as well as much more. Click the link below to hear my thoughts on how this legislation is really going to help small businesses.

http://www.bassoonbusiness.com/TheBassoNewsroom.aspx