Getting to the bottom of the truth one story at a time.

As a small-business owner you know how important the bottom line is--and so do we. NSBA is launching "NSBA's The Bottom Line" to wade through political-speak and misinformation from lawmakers and the media about the issues that matter most to small business.

NSBA and its members have to fight against powerful and influential politicians and interest groups that don't care much about the best interests of the small business community. NSBA's The Bottom Line will be a collective place to do just this.

We'll highlight what they're saying and tell you what it really means. NSBA's The Bottom Line will be featured in the NSBA Advocate and on-line at www.nsba.biz/bottomline.

So how does it work? Following a similar Q & A type of style, NSBA's The Bottom Line will set the facts straight. We'll provide what they said, who said it, and the bottom line on the subject at hand as it relates to small business.

Without further ado NSBA is pleased to bring you the first Bottom Line.

What They Said:

In reaction to President Barack Obama's address to Congress on health care, Doyle McManus stated, "And he promised that 95% of small businesses wouldn't be required to pay for their employees' health insurance, a deep bow to the power of small business (or at least, the gauzy image of "small business") in the nation's heartland."

Who Said It:

Doyle McManus in "Obama's health care address: The middle man returns" from the Sept. 10 edition of the L.A. Times.

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The Bottom Line:

Although McManus got it right that small business does have a very positive image, his snarky remark sells-short the hard, cold facts. Since 1989, small business has created 93.5 percent of all net new jobs, and more than one in two people in the U.S. private workforce--70 million people--work for or run a small business. Sixty-nine percent of small businesses surveyed in 2008 said they want to offer health insurance, however only 38 percent were able to do so--down from 67 percent in 1995.

Small businesses throughout the country are faced with such choices as: provide health insurance or hire a new employee. These choices aren't easy, and the huge impact small businesses have on the overall economy is surely worth ensuring small businesses aren't overly harmed by new federal mandates.

Reducing us to "gauzy" rhetoric does small businesses and the millions of families that rely on us a huge disservice.

Like what you see? Want to see more? Logon to www.nsba.biz/bottomline to see more.