The GOP's Hypocrisy On Small Businesses And Regulation

The speaker lineup at the Republican National Convention has featured a parade of small business owners. There was Sher Valenzuela, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Delaware who runs a 70-employee company that makes engine covers and protective padding, and Phil Archuleta, who owns a New Mexico sign making company. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) told the story of her family's Peachcrest Fruit Basket Orchard, and New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte spoke about the snowplow business she started with her husband. Barack Obama, Ayotte jabbed, "hasn't run so much as a lemonade stand."

Each narrative culminated with a warning to audiences: President Obama is killing small businesses like those with his regulations. Archuleta, in fact, said his business was already being dismantled, but only vaguely described how. And he left out the fact that he has benefited from government aid. According to Mother Jones, Archuleta's company secured an $850,000 Small Business Administration loan guarantee to build an 11,700-square-foot building.

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