US Chamber of Commerce: 9 Out of 10 Small Businesses Say Economy on Wrong Track

The President failed to convince the Senate Tuesday night to approve his jobs plan, with the proponents falling well short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster. Obama administration official Gene Sperling said on Squawk Box Tuesday morning the President has been the only one to present a jobs plan.

Well, that's not exactly true. Four days before the President addressed Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent their revenue neutral jobs plan to the White House.

C-Suite Insider has learned the President never responded to the Chamber.

Ninety-six percent of the nation's small businesses are part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. These small businesses are considered the economic engine that creates nearly two-thirds of all new jobs. One insider tells C-Suite, "We are sharply focused on how we can help small businesses succeed to ensure that our economy succeeds. It's as simple as that."

This morning, the U.S. Chamber gave C-Suite Insider the results of its

Q3 Small Business Outlook Survey. It was conducted from September 29 to October 6, 2011 by Harris Interactive and they questioned 1,330 Small Business.

The results give good insight into how small businesses are thinking and why many are not hiring. According to the survey, since July, there’s been a slight decline in overall attitudes about the economy.

Nine out of ten small business owners now believe the U.S. economy is on the wrong track. And fewer small businesses plan to hire additional employees. Only about 17 percent of small businesses say they expect to add employees over the next year.

Those small businesses surveyed gave a resounding unfavorable opinion of the President’s Jobs Plan: 80 percent gave the thumbs down. More than three-in-four small business owners have an unfavorable opinion of his plan and two-thirds have a strongly unfavorable view of the proposal. Small businesses are overwhelmingly expressing the greatest obstacle to hiring more employees is uncertainty stemming from over regulation, the national debt, and the health care overhaul. In fact, in the Chamber's Q1 survey, small business owners almost universally agreed —by a 73% to 17% margin—that the climate of the last two years has hindered their growth.

So what do small business leaders want Washington to do?

Nothing!

Out of those surveyed, more than three-out-of-four say they would rather have Washington stay out of the way than provide a helping hand. Eighty-six percent say they would rather have more certainty from Washington than more assistance and only 7 percent would like the Government to deal with the economy.

Despite the debt debate in August hitting a feverish pitch causing a Standard and Poor's downgrade because of the lack of leadership to tackle the deficit, small businesses trust the Super Committee and the decisions they will make in cutting spending. As far as what small businesses view as economic drivers are as followed:

o Increased domestic energy production (80 percent view as effective) o Speeding up permitting and provide regulatory relief (74 percent) o Passing tax incentives that will create jobs and increase revenue (67 percent)

So, how does the Chamber's plan stack up against the President's?

Executives from small businesses strongly preferred the components of the U.S. Chamber’s plan over President Obama’s, with 85 percent expressing support for the Chamber’s six point plan and 15 percent for the American Jobs Act.

A Senior Talent Producer at CNBC, and author of "Thriving in the New Economy:Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds."

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