Speaking at the White House, Biden marked National Small Business Week by saying small businesses are the big reason why he's "never been more optimistic about our future" than he is today.
"You made so much progress in the last two years. Now it's time for us to finish the job," he said. "Expand opportunities so people with great ideas can launch strong businesses, help grow our economy, and leave no one behind."
![Ortiz, Alfredo (JCN)](/media/1d4bzod1/alfredo-ortiz-250x170.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=85&height=125&rnd=133670691398530000&format=png)
But Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network (JCN), argues that Biden's words are contrary to what he is doing for small businesses. "They're distorting the truth," he says.
"Biden is waging war on small businesses, hitting them with new regulations, taxes, and inflation, making it harder and harder for them to succeed," Ortiz asserts.
Additionally, his "bad policies" have led to the crash of First Republic Bank, which Ortiz calls "one of the biggest bank failures in the nation's history." As a result, small businesses will see a further contraction of credit access.
In his view, Biden and the Democrats do not seem to care; they want the American banking system to resemble Japan's or Canada's, "with just a handful of government-controlled big banks." But Ortiz recommends the president and legislators utilize JCN's American Small Business Prosperity Plan.
"It's a great eight-point plan that is put together from input of really small business owners across the country," he relays. "It's just a commonsense plan, and we've gotten tremendous support from it starting with the speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, on down."
As for the current state of things, Ortiz says, "Biden's small business rhetoric doesn't match reality."