Dan Danner, President of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), joins the Boss Business Brief to discuss the recent elections and how small business owners will impact coming legislation. Of the 30 NFIB members running for office last week, 19 were elected. What can you expect as a small business owner from the coming legislative sessions?

Who is Dan Danner?

Donald A. "Dan" Danner was named president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's leading small business association, in February, 2009. Danner is only the sixth president in the history of the organization.

Before rising to the top spot, Danner was executive vice president, overseeing NFIB's federal and state public policy and political activities as well as the organization's three 501 (c) 3 operations: the Research Foundation, Small Business Legal Center and the Young Entrepreneur Foundation. He came to NFIB in 1993 as vice president of the NFIB Education Foundation (now known as the Young Entrepreneur Foundation) and was named vice president of federal public policy in 1995.

Previously, he was chief of staff to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Danner also worked in the White House Office of Public Liaison, where he was special assistant to the president and deputy director of the department. Before joining the White House staff, Danner was an executive with Armco Inc., a steel manufacturing company. He held leadership positions in sales and marketing, as well as state and federal lobbying on issues such as energy, environment, taxes and trade. He also served four years as vice president of federal relations at George Mason University.

Transcript:

Siegel: Folks, welcome in to the BOSS Business Brief. This is Mike Siegel. Good to have you with us as we get back to the conversation, of course. The aftermath of the election is something huge and is going to make a substantial difference in terms of policy towards small business. To talk about that we are joined by the president of the National Federation of Independent Business, Dan Danner. Mr. Danner, how are you? Good to talk to you.

Danner: Great. Thanks Mike. It is great to be here.

Siegel: Let's talk about these results. As we speak, and of course there are some elections that are uncertain during the time we are recording this conversation, but the republicans now have 242 seats in the house, 218 is a majority. That means two things, one is that John Boehner will be speaker and the republicans will have the majority in the house and the second this is even if some of the republicans and the republican caucus in the house go off the reservation, because they don't want to go along with the more conservative point of view that may be presented as the agenda for this caucus, you will still have way more than the 218 to pass with a majority in the house from the republican side, even if you have no democrats. So, those two factors I think are hugely important.

Danner: We would agree. We think that we are excited about the results of the election, because among other things lots of small businesses ran and lots of small businesses won. We think the message is that small businesses care about, or at least we kept hearing from them, of jobs, of less spending, and less government. We are really prominent in most of the elections out there and we think that is a great, great thing.

Siegel: Well, you know, I think the major point is, and they may wind up as having as many as 245 or 248, you know that there are some in your own caucus that will walk away from your agenda and to have the substantial majority that the republicans have means they have a foolproof ability to stop any of the left wing approach and socialistic approach of Barrack Obama trying to take control of our economy and that the free markets will have a greater opportunity in this situation to grow and create the jobs that it is their job to create, even though the government spent all that money on the stimulus package that did nothing to speak of.

Danner: Well, again, I would agree. I think what we have heard here all day, and I am sure you have as well, is that a lot of statements that the newly elected people were elected because they listened to the people out there. They listened to their constituents, they listened to individuals and small business owners, and they all come back here with a message that you better pay attention to what people out there are saying, because, again, most people we talked to don't think that Washington has been listening and they a re upset about that, they are mad about that, and they want things to change. So, we are very hopeful that we have a great opportunity now for things to change.

Siegel: Do we know, Mr. Danner, how many small business owners who ran for congress were successful? In other words, how many ran for a seat in the house and how many actually won. Do we have those numbers yet?

Danner: We don't have the exact numbers. We know just that around, that for us as an organization, we had almost 30 individual NFIB members who ran. We have 19 of those who won yesterday. Of almost 290 candidates that we interviewed, and that we ended up as an organization endorsing about 240, we know that a great many of them, maybe at least half of them, are either small business owners or have a small business ties. So, lots of small business people were elected. We are still trying to get our arms around the exact number.

Siegel: Now, we know that there have been two elements of the republican victory. One is the tea party and the other is the traditional republican party. We know that in Alaska, Delaware, Kentucky, as well as several other states, Florida being one of them, and you can go right down the lists, that there are states where tea party candidates in the primary beat the republican candidate. The tea party would argue and the entrenched republicans were not in fact responsive to the call of free markets, which is one of the mantras of the tea party's. Do you anticipate that focus on free markets by the tea parties will be taken up fully, vigorously, by the republican majority in the house?

Danner: I really do. I think certainly one part of the message that was delivered to incumbents of both parties was that people out there did not like the way that Washington was running. They want results. They want things done. They want the elected officials here in Washington to get focused on jobs and the economy and they did not believe that they were, and I think that that was a message for both parties, that both republicans and democrats got that same message. We are not happy with much in Washington and we want things to change. So, I do believe there will be an all new focus when the new congress comes back on what the people out there said.

Siegel: Now, let's translate that into what we would consider to be policy in the next session. Number one, is the most we can hope for that will stop this train of excessive government spending and control over small business, because the republicans in the House will stop Obama from doing any more of that, or is there any possibility that something positive can come out of this for small business, even with Barrack Obama as president?

Danner: Well, we certainly think that some positives that can come out are, put a little more certainty back into what the taxes are going to be, what the regulations are going to be, what the cost of health care is going to be for any small business owner going forward. If you can do that, if you can give them some certainty so they can plan, we believe that will have a big impact and you will get more small business owners willing to invest and willing to create jobs if they have a clearer picture of what the government is going to do or not do to them in their business.

Siegel: Well, the president this morning was contrite and accommodating and reaching out, but he was also, I think, very clear about not compromising on his own ideology. He is an ideologue and that could be troublesome, because you need to be pragmatic in these situations. How can things get done in a way, in your view, that would benefit business with the president going along with it given the realty of his ideology?

Danner: I think that is a big challenge. I mean, certainly, confrontation is not gone in Washington and won't go away. We certainly think, and we hear from our small business owners, that there is an incredible amount, and I know you talked about this earlier, that they think is terrible about the health care bill. They want this changed. You know, I think the president clearly doesn't seem inclined to do that. I think that is a fight that is going to happen, and we believe a fight worth having. So, we are going to push hard to have that fight and let's see if we can't do something better than what we have done, which we don't think is that good in health care.

Siegel: You know, Mr. Danner, there is one very interesting dynamic here in the Senate. The last I saw, it was 51 to 46 democrat over republican. Pretty close. Well, that does is two things – one is that it gives the republicans a bullet proof filibuster, because with 46 votes, even if Susan Collins in Maine and Olympia Snow in Maine and some of the other liberal republicans get off the trail, they will still have probably enough at the 41 to do the filibuster. So, that is the first thing. The other thing is that you might get a few democrats to go along with the republicans in the senate on some meaningful jobs bills. What about that?

Danner: Well, I think that would be a good thing. Clearly, in the Senate, where about one-third of the Senate runs each two years, not only did the senators in this cycle get a message, but I can assure you that senators that are up in 2012 are already looking over their shoulder. Frankly, senators of both parties. To say that this selection in 2010 is going to have big impacts in 2012 as well. Hopefully, as you indicated, that will cause some other senators to act differently between now and 2012.

Siegel: Then, I think also, and the point you make is a good one because in the end if the president realizes that there may be some democrats in the Senate who will go along with 46, maybe even 47 or 48 republicans, hard to tell yet, there are still I think three races outstanding, that he might lose in both the House and Senate, and then he would have to carry out a veto. To carry out a veto against something that the American people want…. For example, supposing the House had a bill that repealed the health care bill and then you got 46 senators to go along with the republicans, if that number remains as is, and then let's say you got 5 democrats. Well, now you have got 51 votes, you have got the health care bill repealed, now he is going to have to veto that. Wouldn't that be devastating to the democratic party, given the fact that the majority of the American people want it repealed, both houses pass it, and now he has to veto it. What about that?

Danner: I think that would be a great thing to put on his plate. You know, I am sure that that won't be easy to do, but I can tell you that there are small business members which would sure be supportive of that and would like to see that happen. We would love to have that sent down Pennsylvania Ave and put on the president's plate. Let's start over and do something better on health care. Something that actually lowers cost.

Siegel: My argument would be, let the republicans in the Senate get some of their democratic colleagues to go along with it and let him be forced to have to veto it, if that is what he wants to do. That would be my view. But let's turn to real quickly, Mr. Danner, Nevada. I know that Nevada has the highest foreclosure rates and highest unemployment rates in the country, in Las Vegas and in the state, and Harry Reid is the Senate majority leader from Nevada. He has led the charge on policy in the Senate with his colleague Nancy Pelosi in the House, to basically promulgate policies that have destroyed the effectiveness of small business in his own state, yet he wins. What do you make of that one?

Danner: Well certainly we were disappointed. We did not support Senator Reid. But clearly they shift a lot of money to Nevada, he had a tremendous amount of money, they got the unions heavily involved and he and his campaign pretty viciously attacked his opponent. So, I think that is an outcome that we are disappointed in, but it does show that politics is still a full contact sport and it is not always easy to win no matter who you are.

Siegel: Very well said. I thought that the reports about the last debate that they had, Sharon Angle and Harry Reid, showed Sharon Angle to be very much in control of the issues and composed and senatorial, unlike what happened in Delaware with Christine O'Donalds, Sharon Angle came across very well, and many thought that that last debate gave her the edge, but obviously it did not work that way. Politico was saying that the Hispanic vote in Nevada made the difference. Have you heard anything along those lines?

Danner: I have not. I think one of the disappointing things that we did observe there, that I did, is that unfortunately other than that last debate there wasn't really much discussion of the issues. I mean, it seemed that Senator Reid's approach was, let me just try and find ways to personally attack her and ignore the issues. I do think it is a real shame there that there wasn't a more complete and robust discussion about what were the issues and what were the things that he had supported and not supported. It never seemed like they really got there fully, in my opinion.

Siegel: One other point on the Senate, and then I will just ask you quickly about the governor's races, in California, Barbara Boxer wins and beats Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman ran for governor, and beats Carly Fiorina pretty substantially even though Boxer was considered to be vulnerable. Now, what puzzles me again is the State of California is fundamentally bankrupt and small business is struggling to survive in California, they put back into office one of the people that was one of the architects of the policies that created the problem in California in the first place. What do you make of that one?

Danner: I think that is pretty hard to understand at any level. You know, I have been in politics one way or another for about 35 years and I would be remiss if I didn't say, I still don't understand California politics. I mean, I could not agree with you more. The state is bankrupt. They need to make big changes, but somehow I guess they are trying to hold on to some distant past which doesn't exist anymore in California.

Siegel: Finally, the governor's races. This is another area that didn't get as much discussion, but at last count the republicans had 32 governor seats. There were 37 races up for grabs and the republicans, at least at this point with some still undecided, have 32 governor's mansions. That is huge for two reasons – one is because State policy can reflect, I presume, a more fiscally responsible approach, harnessing the ability of small business to do its work and create jobs and productivity in a much more facilitative way than the democrats did. Secondly, that creates a base in each of those states, in the State House, as governor for a republican candidate in 2012. That is another huge element of this that people don't talk about. What about that?

Danner: I think you are right. This an enormous element going forward. In states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, to have republican governors in those states, (1) as they go through redistricting following this last census and change the congressional districts, and (2) in key battleground states like those for the 2012 elections. You know, one of the interesting things about governors, and I think this does make a huge difference, unlike the elected officials here in Washington, most governors have to balance their budgets. So, they learn first hand that you can't spend more than you take in. So, I think that is good training and there are a lot of governors out there that have shown what a difference it makes to have a governor that says, we are going to get our fiscal house in order and does it. You know, I would not be optimistic about California, but look at New Jersey, look at Indiana, look at Mississippi, and look at the great jobs some republican governors have done. I think it is very impressive.

Siegel: No question about that. Chris Christie in New Jersey has become the icon for fiscal responsibility.

Danner: People said, you can't do that, but the fact is he has done it. Again, I think that is impressive that we can do those kinds of things here in Washington if we have courage and guts and stick to our convictions. So, hopefully that is the direction that we are moving in.

Siegel: Well, Mr. Danner, it is always a pleasure to talk to you. President of the National Federation of Independent Business. Congratulations on some great successes with your own candidates. We appreciate you being on the program always and it is great to talk to you today. We will talk to you soon, I am sure.

Danner: Thank you Mike. Thanks for having me and I look forward to chatting any time.

Siegel: Have a great day, Sir. That was Dan Danner, the president of the NFIB, National Federation of Independent Business. They are based in Washington D.C. They do have state offices as well in each state. You might want to check that out. Mike Siegel here for the BOSS Business Brief. Good to have you with us, and there is lots more coming, so stay with us.