Despite the anti-small business record of the Obama administration, entrepreneurs will always find a way to thrive, Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton tells Newsmax.TV.
Tarkenton, who launched 20 companies over the last 25 years with the largest one reaching revenues of $142-million, is the founder of GoSmallBiz.com, a company designed to help entrepreneurs. He said the current climate for small businesses is tough “because of the uncertainty and healthcare and tax and regulations and the threat [of more taxes.”
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“This is not a friendly environment for us and yet, we are the engine, the growth engine for the economy and for employment but the people in Washington today, they really don’t understand that,” he added.
Nonetheless, Washington can’t dampen their spirit.
“They’re not dooming them,” he said. “They cannot doom the American spirit. The American spirit of the entrepreneur, the private sector lives and is doing in the environment remarkably well. But this president doesn’t believe in capitalism, he doesn’t believe in small business entrepreneurs.
He believes in bigger government. And these regulations are horrific. Our healthcare costs are going up but despite that the entrepreneur will find a way to do it.”
Tarkenton, who spent a decade in the NFL playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants, said small businesses succeed because of strong will, smarts and innovation.
“They’ve got to be creative, they’ve got to go out and have products and services that make sense to customers and bring value to those customers that make the customer experience great,” he said. “That’s what we’re teaching them, the basic fundamentals of how to go and build a good business and deal with the tax codes however you can.”
Tarkenton said the country is in need of leaders who will do big things, enact major tax reform, cut down the debt and waste.
“We’ve got to address the big issues, come up with solutions and Mitt Romney will do that if he gets in,” he said. “If Obama gets in, we’ll have more of the same and we’ve got chaos all over the world. He doesn’t lead. He leads from behind.”
The three time Super Bowl quarterback said President Barack Obama is not willing to learn or listen to people.
“How can you be a leader and not engage people? How we could have elected this guy three-and-a-half years ago and, my gosh, elect him again after what we’ve gone through the last almost four years? No, he’s not going to learn anything,” he said. “He’s got his own agenda. His own agenda is bigger government, more taxes, demean the top one percent, demean anybody that’s an entrepreneur, anybody that’s a business person.
“The greatness of America is capitalism, free market capitalism. The exceptionalism of American business. He doesn’t have appreciation for that. It’s all about government.”
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