STEVE: ON END WITH SOMETHING
WE TOUCHED ON.
WAY THAT POWER IN THE
COUNTRY HAS BEEN
CENTRALIZED.
CONTRADICTS IDEA AT THE
HEART OF OUR CONSTITUTION,
THAT IS DECENTRALIZE POWER,
POWER IN PEOPLE’S HANDS.
WE SEE THAT IN TERMS OF
GOVERNMENT, MORE AND MORE
DECISIONS TAKEN AWAY FROM
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
INTO THE HANDS OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
TRUE IN THE ECONOMY TOO.
EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK BIG
BUSINESS ASK SQUEEZING OUT
SMALL BUSINESS.
THE TWO TERRIBLE TRENDS GO
TOGETHER.
THERE IS AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN
BIG GOVERNMENT AND BIG
BUSINESS.
SOMETIMES WHERE GOVERNMENT
BUREAUCRATS THOUGHTLESSLY
SPEW OUT RULES AND
REGULATIONS THAT BIG
CORPORATIONS CAN COMPLY WITH
BUT THEY ARE A NIGHTMARE FOR
THE SMALLER FIRMS. IT CAN BE MORE SINISTER,
IT CAN BE MORE SINISTER,
ACTIVE WAR ON SMALL
BUSINESS.
THAT ARGUMENT WAS ONE MADE
TO MY POWERFULY ON PODCAST
THE OTHER WEEK BY CHEF,
ENTREPRENEUR.
ANDREW GREUEL, HE IS JOINING
US.
I SUMMARIZED WHAT YOU TOLD
ME.
FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE.
AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN
STRUGGLING AGAINST THIS TELL
US HOW YOU SEE IT.
>> YOU HIT THE NAIL ON
HEAD.
BIG BUSINESS HAS GOTTEN ATON
A TON OF CASH FROM THE
GOVERNMENT, AS RESULT OF
DEREGULATION ON BIG
BUSINESS.
THE SMALLER BUSINESSES NO
LONGER HAVE ACCESS, THEY
CAN’T DEVELOP THE ECONOMIES
OF SCALE TO COMPETE IN THE
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT.
THERE WAS SO MUCH CASH
COMING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC,
IT WAS COMING DOWN IN HOARDS
BUT NOT DISTELLING TO
DISTILL -- DISTILLING TO THE
SMALL BUSINESSES IT WAS
DIFFICULT TO GET WITHOUT
CAPABILITY TO ACCESS THE
FUNDS, AND BILLIONS WERE
MISAPPROPRIATED THROUGH
FRAUD.
THAT THE GOVERNMENT TURNED A
BLIND EYE ON AND THE CASH
WAS A RIVER TO THE LARGE
BUSINESSES, WE’RE IN AN
ECONOMY WHERE THINGS ARE
UNCERTAIN, WITH A LACK OF
ACCESS TO CAPITAL WITH THE
INCREASE INTEREST RATES AND
THE INFLATION IS DRIVING
EVERYONE OUT OF THEIR
TYPICAL COMFORT LEVEL WHEN
IT COMINGS TO GOING OUT AND
VISITS SMALL BUSINESSES, A
LOT OF COMPOUNDING
INFLUENCES CREATED BY
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BIG
BUSINESS IN MANY CASES SILL
SILICON VALLEY AND THE
GOVERNMENT.
STEVE: ONE EXAMPLE OF THE
ZONING AND LOCAL DECISIONS
IN TERMS OF WHO DOES WHAT
WITH LOCAL DEVELOPMENT.
>> IT IS.
WHERE IT USED TO BE A
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A LOCAL
SMALL BUSINESS PERHAPS
SOMEONE WITH 5 TO 10
EMPLOYEES AND CITY COUNCIL
AND LOCAL ZONING BOARD,
THERE IS MORE INFLUENCE FROM
STATE PERSPECTIVE HERE IN
CALIFORNIA, THAT FEELS LIKE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER A LOT OF THESE SCRAIRS
OVER A LOT OF THESE SCRAIRS
VARIOUS LOCAL JURISDICTION.
STEVE: THEN THE IRS SEEM TO
WAGE A WAR ON SMALL BUSINESS
AS WELL.
>> WE TALKED ABOUT HOW THE
NEW IRS AGENTS WOULD NOT
AFFECT ANYONE MAKINGS LESS
THAN $400 THOUSAND, THAT IS
NOT THE CASE WITH THE
RESTAURANT INDUSTRY, THERE
IS A SUM OF IRS AGENTS THAT
HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED TO RETRO
ACTIVELY GO AFTER SERVER’S
TIPS, PEOPLE WHO DON’T MAKE
MORE THAN 75 TO 100 THOUSAND
A YEAR.
IF THEY UNDER REPORT THEIR
TIPS, THE IRS AGENCIES WILL
AUDIT THEM AND SPECIFIC
ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY
CLAIMED.
IT IS THE BUSINESSES THAT
PAY THE PENALTIES THEY GET
PENALIZED FOR ANY
MISAPPROPRIATION OF YOU KNOW
TIP CLAIMS BY WAY OF THE
SERVER, ANOTHER WAY TO REACH
INTO POCKETS OF THE SMALL
BUSINESS, OWN BUSINESS
OWNERS TAKE OUT CAPITAL AND
CASH TO GROW, MORE THAN
50%.
AROUND 60% OF JOBS CREATED
IN U.S. ARE DRIVEN BY SMALL
TO MEDIUM SIZE BUSINESSES.
THIS COULD HAVE A
DEVASTATING AFFECT WHEN IT
COMES TO GROWTH OF JOBS.
STEVE: YOU ARE SO SMART
ABOUT THIS, APART FROM FACT
THAT YOU JUST LAID IT OUT
CLEARLY, YOU SHOULD BE
ANALYST ON FOX BUSINESS.
YOU ARE AN AMAZING
ENTREPRENEUR WITH A
FANTASTIC ROAST RESTAURANT
WHERE I HAD A WONDERFUL
MEAL, WHERE CAN THEY GO IN
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
>> CALICO FISH HOUSE, LOCAL
FAMILY RUNNINGS.
O BUSINESS.
WE’RE TRYING TO DO IT AT A
REASONABLE RATE, I JOKE THIS
IS MY NONPROFIT.
.
>> FANTASTIC.