Tag: Meta

What Do Business Owners Think?

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

Although big companies — whether it is Boeing or Meta, Apple or General Motors, ExxonMobil or NVIDIA — get most of the attention, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses account for 99.9% of all business, are responsible for 46% of private-sector employment and make up some 40% of the US Gross Domestic Product.

Small businesses — private enterprises with fewer than 500 employees — matter in a big way.

Consequently, you would imagine that politicians at all levels — yes, including the White House — would be rather attentive to how small businesses in the US are operating and how those who run those companies are feeling.

And they’re not feeling swell.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index, those business owners aren’t particularly optimistic.

In May their level of optimism was at 95.3, down 0.6 points from April.

While that might not seem like a big deal, consider this: The average over 52 years — yes, half a century-plus — was 98.0.

And here you have it: The Golden Age, the “hottest country in the world” isn’t making the people who are responsible for a big chunk of the economy and jobs feel very sunny. 

What’s more (or in this case, less), people who run small businesses need to be more keenly aware of all elements of their operation, from the resilience of their supply chains to the cost of employee benefits, than the Big Guys, where there is a little manageable slop in the system.

Having as clear an outlook as is possible is key to small business owners.

The NFIB also tracks what it calls the “Uncertainty Index.”

Uncertainty is the opposite of clarity, and clarity is what small business owners are looking for.

The historical average of the Uncertainty Index is 68. A lower number is better than a higher number, which means more uncertainty.

What was the Uncertainty Index number in May?

91.

That’s nearly 34% above the average.

Some small business owners are probably rethinking their MAGA caps.

If you consider those results along with the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment, you’ve really got to question the business acumen of Trump, Lutnick and Bessent, just to name a few.

According to Joanne Hsu, director of the U-Mich surveys, “Sentiment is now just below the previous historical trough seen in June 2022.” 

The number was 44.8 in May 2026.

The number was 50 in June 2022.

Although Trump likes to talk about the “bad economy” he inherited from Joe Biden, seems like his is measurably worse, whether you’re a business owner or buying goods and services from a business.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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WEDNESDAY 6/10/26

…meanwhile…

(TUE 9/27/22)

1/6 HEARING DELAYED -- The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has delayed its ninth, and potentially last, public hearing originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, because of Hurricane Ian brewing off the Florida coast, NPR reports. The make-up date and time is to be announced later.

•••

Continuing Resolution Update – The White House has asked for a continuing resolution extending the fiscal year past Friday with $47 billion in short-term spending, including $13.7 billion for additional aid to Ukraine, Government Executive reports (govexec.com). The CR also would include $22.4 billion in short-term COVID needs, $4.5 billion for monkeypox vaccinations, testing and treatments, and $6.5 billion to help tribes and territories deal with natural disasters and extreme weather events. 

Bipartisan support: The additional aid to Ukraine has sufficient bipartisan support in the Senate, NPR’s Morning Edition says, where 60 votes are needed for passage. That’s at least 10 Republicans as well as all the Democrats, of course. We’ll be watching to see which MAGA-leaning Republican senators support the vote.

•••

Cost of College Debt Forgiveness – President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt will cost $420 billion, of which $20 billion is the extension of a pause on student loan payments, according to the Congressional Budget Office, per The Washington Post. The number is roughly equal to the cost of the $1,400 stimulus checks mailed to Americans for pandemic relief at the beginning of the Biden administration. 

Upshot: Cancelling student debt always was going to be a major issue for the midterm elections, with Republican candidates objecting to shifting the student loan payments from former students and their families to taxpayers.

•••

Jury Selection for Oath Keepers Trial – A federal trial for the far-right Oath Keepers for allegedly helping organize the January 6 Capitol insurrection begins Tuesday, NPR reports. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of spending months recruiting, training and conspiring to use force to prevent the transfer of power from Donald J. Trump to Joe Biden, according to Morning Edition. The alleged plot included storing guns in Washington, D.C., for a quick reaction force to rush into the city on January 6, if necessary.

•••

Fake Disinformation Accounts for War in Ukraine – Facebook and Instagram owner Meta was used for hundreds of fake social media accounts and sham news websites that attempted to advance Russia’s cause in its invasion of Ukraine, the Associated Press reports. The scheme involved more than 60 websites designed to mimic legitimate news outlets, including the United Kingdom’s Guardian and Germany’s Der Spiegel that spread Kremlin talking points about President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Meta said Tuesday.

Note: The Guardian is among news outlets aggregated by our daily coverage. We always go directly to theguardian.com, not via social media.

•••

On Italy’s Right-Turn – Italy’s new coalition government, led by far-right Brothers of Italy candidate Giorgia Meloni, who becomes the prime minister replacing technocrat Mario Draghi, “threatens to fragment the European Union when unity is more urgent than ever,” Nicholas Lokker and Jason C. Moyer write for The Wilson Center (wilsoncenter.org). While Meloni’s new coalition government has been described as Italy’s most conservative since World War II, the new prime minister has repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine to maintain its democracy in its fight against Russian aggression.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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What's Up This Week (MON 9/26/22)

Hearing IX – Potentially the last public hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is scheduled for this Wednesday beginning 1 p.m. Eastern time. 

“It is possible that it’s the last,” committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. “But as we continue to work, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an additional public hearing.”

The 1/6 panel may be running out of time as the GOP probably retakes the House of Representatives in the November 8 midterms. 

Meanwhile, the committee also will interview conservative activist and Supreme Court justice-spouse Virginia Thomas, who exchanged emails with John Eastman, the attorney seen as instrumental in planning alleged Trump White House attempts to reverse the election results. 

“Eastman is the architect of the scheme that one federal judge has described as criminal, and we’d like to learn more about it,” Lofgren said.

Left-column preview: Be sure to read pundit Ken Zino’s Hearing IX “Curtain Raiser” in the left column.

•••

Senate and House Schedules – Both chambers are off Monday, with the Senate returning Tuesday, as Rosh Hashana concludes, through Friday. The House is in session Wednesday through Friday. 

Critical CR: Both the House and Senate must pass a continuing resolution this week to avoid partial shutdown of the federal government. The fiscal year ends Friday. 

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news