Think of it like your household budget: when you have more expenses than income coming in, there's less money to put towards anything else. That's what’s happening to America’s small businesses under the Biden administration.

Small business owners are reporting an unprecedented burden from federal regulations designed to protect workers and the environment. The costs of compliance are choking off the recovery efforts that have been underway since the pandemic hit in 2020. These new rules weren’t even on the radar when previous administrations, Democrat or Republican, were setting policy.

Entrepreneurs across the country are feeling the squeeze as they try to keep up with these requirements. The red tape is thick and it’s growing thicker by the day. As one business owner put it, “The compliance costs have become a financial burden that's difficult to sustain.”

To understand how this affects your own household budget, imagine if every time you wanted to buy groceries or pay rent, there was an additional cost imposed just because of who manufactured your food or owned the building. The same principle applies: every dollar spent on compliance is a dollar not spent on growth and innovation.

This isn't just about the current generation's ability to run successful businesses; it’s also about what these regulations mean for our children and grandchildren. If we continue down this path, future entrepreneurs will face an even more challenging landscape. My late husband always said that if you take enough from people, they won’t have anything left to give.

I stayed up last night thinking about how each new regulation chips away at the dreams of young people trying to start their own businesses. They're already facing a tough economy with student loans and high living costs — now there’s this additional burden placed on them by Washington, D.C.

The economic impact is clear: fewer jobs are being created because small businesses can’t afford to hire more workers or expand operations due to the heavy regulatory load. This is not just theoretical; it's happening right now in cities and towns all over America.

What can we do about this? We need to share these stories so that others understand what’s at stake for our local economies. It starts with talking openly about how government policies affect real people and their livelihoods.