President Obama had the Internet buzzing on Wednesday with an AMA ("Ask Me Anything") session on social news website Reddit.
The thread throttled Reddit's servers, generating a record-breaking 23,000-plus comments and questions in 19 hours.
Obama only answered 10 questions, including one on small business issues from Reddit user PartyInYourMouth. The question read: "How are you going help small businesses in 2013 and 2014? And what if any bills are you going to impliment for small businesses, in 2013, and 2014?"
Obama's reply:
We've really focused on this since I came into office - 18 tax cuts for small business, easier funding from the SBA. Going forward, I want to keep taxes low for the 98 percent of small businesses that have $250,000 or less in income, make it easier for small business to access financing, and expand their opportunities to export. And we will be implementing the Jobs Act bill that I signed that will make it easier for startups to access crowd-funding and reduce their tax burden at the start-up stage.
According to the fact checkers at PolitiFact, a similar claim from Obama in July 2011 rates as "Mostly True" under more intense scrutiny. A post on the White House Blog highlights which pieces of legislation have made the tax cuts happen, including parts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the economic stimulus bill), the Affordable Care Act (healthcare), the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (the HIRE Act) and the Small Business Jobs Act.
Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Startups Act, or the JOBS Act, in April. The law has come under fire by many for loosening regulations meant to protect investors and consumers.
On the campaign trail, small businesses are being touted as the lifeblood of the economy. On Tuesday, the President rolled out a page on his official website comparing his small business record in office against Mitt Romney's record while he was governor in Massachusetts, citing stagnant job creation during his tenure.
Romney's sub-site "Obama Isn't Working" features a small business section painting Obama's policies as a toxic mixture of overregulation that has hurt job creation and faded consumer confidence. Romney will be accepting his presidential nomination and speaking Thursday night at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, where the health of small businesses has been a hot topic.