It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Christmas is still months away, but small-business owners already have their wish list ready for next year's Congress. They'll be taking it to the polls on November 7 when they decide who should return to Washington, D.C., and who needs to stay home. Health care for small-business owners and their employees tops the list, according to an Associated Press article published recently in the Pittsburg Post Gazette.

Voters like Brian Drum, CEO of Drum Associates, a New York-based executive recruiter, are growing frustrated with skyrocketing cost of insurance coverage. In the article, Drum describes it as "out of sync with other things that are inflating." Legislation for association health plans, which would allow small businesses to band together across state lines to buy insurance in groups, has stalled in Congress thus far, but business owners are hopeful that will change.

Those interviewed also voiced concern about current tax rates, particularly the federal estate tax, or the "death tax," which can hamper families from running their businesses after the primary owner dies. Business owners want to see legislators repeal the death tax as well as reduce the excessive government regulations that burden them.