There are a lot of ideas floating around Washington, D.C., about how to fix our economy. Unfortunately, for every good idea there are 10 bad ideas, including increased taxes on our small businesses.

Recently, I had the opportunity to testify on behalf of the National Center for Policy Analysis at a small-business forum on Capitol Hill. I was invited to discuss how Congress and the Obama administration could work together to help improve the economy by strengthening our small businesses. I was joined at the hearing by small business owners from around the country, and we all delivered the same message: Tax increases and more regulations won't help our small businesses or the economy.

In my testimony, I highlighted the important role women are playing, not just in the work force but also in building and growing small businesses. I also emphasized the role small businesses will play in getting us out of the recession, given that they have generated 60 percent to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the past decade.

As a small-business owner for more than three decades, I have long argued that economic policies coming out of Washington should be personal, portable, flexible, fair and voluntary for individuals and businesses to allow them to be as economically productive as possible.

However, there are many people in Washington who believe we can tax and spend our way to a strong economy. The budget that President Obama released earlier this year includes proposals to increase taxes on our small businesses. That's the wrong approach. We need to allow these businesses to keep more of what they earn so they can hire more workers, grow their businesses, put money toward research and development, and invest in their communities.

The president has also proposed a number of workplace regulations that would hurt small businesses if implemented. Expansions in the Family and Medical Leave Act and mandated paid sick leave would increase costs for small businesses already struggling because of the recession.

When I talk to small-business owners around the country about the proposed tax increases, they ask me why they should continue to build wealth if the government is just going to tax it away. They hear politicians talk about the importance of small businesses, yet those politicians continue to raise taxes on the very people who are the main drivers of growth, thereby limiting their ability to succeed.

According to the Tax Foundation, 1.3 million small-business owners would pay more taxes under the administration's proposal. These small businesses are not subject to the 35 percent corporate income tax rate because individual owners report what they earn from sole proprietorships, partnerships and S-corporations as "flow-through" income on their individual tax returns. As a result, any proposed tax increases on top income brackets will hit more small businesses than the administration has claimed, with an increased tax bill totaling $30.1 billion for this group. The revenue from these higher taxes will be used, in part, to pay for the president's $634 billion health-care reform reserve fund. And that is the first step in another government expansion into the lives of individuals through national health care.

Here are a few solutions that I offered to members of Congress. I believe they would have a positive impact on our small businesses and our economy:

• Make income tax cuts permanent. Lower tax rates allow individuals and businesses to hold onto and reinvest what they earn from their hard work, while also encouraging innovation.
   
• Cut payroll taxes. Taxes eat up one-third or more of a small business's income. Reducing the payroll tax will have an immediate impact on both small businesses and individuals, enabling more investment to grow the business and increasing take-home pay for workers.
   
• Health insurance portability. The cost of health insurance is a significant burden on small businesses. Rather than subsidize COBRA payments for the unemployed, Congress should empower people by allowing them to carry health insurance from job to job (or even while they're unemployed), and allow small businesses to shop across state lines to find health insurance plans that work best for their employees.

More government spending will not solve our economic problems. Too many mandates and regulations, too much government spending, irrational tax policy and inconsistent economic policies create too many loopholes and unintended incentives. What we need now is to resist the urge for higher taxes, more regulation and more command-and-control policies. Instead, the administration and Congress should promote personal, portable, flexible, fair and voluntary economic policies that empower people to be as economically productive as possible.

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