BY REBECCA SHEEHAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The American dream has and always will be being able to build your own small business from the ground up. Forging forward in a difficult economy to earn the well deserved dollar bill is all we can ask for.  However, in 2013 the first batch of paychecks are out and small business owners are very displeased with the two percent increase in the Social Security tax, which comes after a temporary cut-back.

“It’s one of those silent things where the government can’ extract a little bit more money from everybody” that, in turn, “adds up to a lot of money for the government,” Marty Resnick said to The Hunterdon Democrat. Resnick’s family opened Flemington Department Store over 56 years ago.

Currently the state of New Jersey’s unemployment rate is 9.6 percent, according to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which means all employed are once again paying a 6.2 percent Social Security tax on wages nearing $113,700.

“Disposable income is what keeps American jobs alive,” Resnick said. “If my business slows, I can’t offer my employee’s overtime, or I might have to cut employees and then that’s less they’re spending elsewhere, whether it’s a grocery store or a movie theater. Everyone’s affected.”

On the other side of the coin is Delaware Township native, Rich Morrison, who owns Payroll Systems, a small business which provides payroll services to other merchants. Morrison believes that many were not aware, he included, that the Social Security tax was increasing and instead had to hear about it from his disgruntled employees.

"The government just doesn’t understand what it takes to run a business. They have no idea what the impact is,” said Morrison in a Hunterdon Democrat article published on NJ.com.  Morrison also believes that government spending is getting out of control. “The government is totally out of control. The deficit is $1.6 trillion a year, that’s insane! They just spend money and push regulations on everybody.”

According to the fiscal cliff deal, which was passed last week, President Obama said the deal “protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country.”

Two percent is $200 on every $10,000 of income.