The “uninsured crisis” is a small business crisis.  What concerns Ken Daniel is that small business is likely to get crushed in the "health reform" process.

In mid June TIBA surveyed members and prospects on six health insurance issues. The issues we surveyed are ones that were getting the most attention from the two U.S. Senate committees presenting health plans, and received the most comment by President Obama. 

Here is an Op-Ed piece from Alan Cobb, Americans for Prosperity - Kansas, entitled "Yes, But It's Only $1.3 Billion."

This is an actual case of how a Health Savings Account arrangement provided an excellent solution for a small business. 

David Matkin, a doctoral candidate in the K.U. Department of Public Administration, iintroduced a report on February 1, 2007 in the Kansas Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee. He had interviewed 16 executives from 12 corporations which claimed corporate income tax incentive credits in Kansas during the past 8 years, and received extensive help from the Kansas Department of Revenue and the Kansas Department of Commerce.  This is a summary of some of his findings, with Ken Daniel's comments inserted.   

The Center for Applied Economics at K.U., part of the School of Business, has ferreted out some very interesting information from a national database. For the 15-year period 1990 through 2004, only 3.2% of new jobs created in Kansas were created by companies moving into Kansas from outside the state.

Ken Daniel, publisher of KsSmallBiz.com, opines on the subject of consultants.

Greg Scandlen, one of the nation's top experts on consumer-directed health care and President of "Consumers for Health Care Choices", reviews the new book "Who Killed Health Care?" by Regina Herzlinger of Harvard Business School.  This book does an excellent job of defining the problems in the U.S. health care system, and that enables us to start working on realistic solutions. 

The National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation is a highly respected source of information about the attitudes of small business owners.  This big survey, done in March and April 2007, features some very well-written questions.  It also contains some very interesting information about attitudes, some of it very surprising. 

Americans formed 3.06 million businesses in 1998.  76.3% were started from scratch.  22.1% were purchased.  The remainder consisted of inheritances and other.  This study was sponsored by the NFIB Education Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank.  While it is fairly old, most of the information is still meaningful.

TIBA (Topeka Independent Business Association, www.topekaiba.org) has polled its members and prospective members about the proposed eminent domain legislation.  Here are the results of the survey.

I've had a bad week.  I’ve taken a considerable amount of abuse from “the business community” about my stances on some issues, and about my attitude in arguing them:  I’m not professional.  I’m not diplomatic.  I’m loud.  I’m not a team player.  I’m acting only in my own interest.  OK.  I freely admit to the first three.  I am NOT a professional.  I am NOT diplomatic.  I AM loud.  But I didn’t sign on to be the water boy for big business.  

Nationwide, the government at all levels consumes more than 40 percent of everything we produce.  In 1900, it was about 7 percent.  Government payroll is a huge factor in that consumption, and Kansas is one of the worst states in the nation for government employees as a percentage of population.  We recently hired a whole bunch more. 

Here are the details about the new book by the CEO of the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City.  This should be required reading for all elected officials and economic development officials.  Schramm explains why our greatest competitive asset is our entrepreneurial tradition. 

In 1915, the U.S. population reached 100 million.  In 1967, it reached 200 million.  This year it reached 300 million.  This is a compilation of other interesting statistics from those three years. 

Throughout the history of the health insurance industry, small businesses have been left out of the decision-making process.  As a result, they are “at the bottom of the food chain” in regard to health insurance.  Today, 62% of the uninsured are in families that own a small business or have a family member working in a small business.  The uninsured problem is mainly a small business problem.

Children grow; the economy grows; the small business community grows.  Given good nutrition and love, children will grow.  Given a good environment and some effort, the small business community will grow.  But deprived of that good environment and hampered by unreasonable regulations and governmental policies, small business growth is impossible.  And no amount of artificial manipulation of the numbers will make it look any better.

Hezbollah, which has been waging war on Israel, and America, for years, is the immediate cause of the current fighting in the Middle East. The broader cause, though, is the United States government.

A compendium of revised and updated articles published by KsSmallBiz.com on the subject of Health Savings Accounts.