There is no shortage of major topics to be discussed at tonight’s presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Foreign policy, the culture war, and Biden’s mental fitness will all figure prominently. Unfortunately, Trump’s nakedly political prosecutions and the January 6 sideshow will also devour much precious airtime that should be spent on the many pressing issues the nation faces. But America’s 33 million small businesses are looking for answers from the candidates about who will restore the main street economy. By and large, small businesses are worse off than five years ago, and tonight’s debate provides a study in contrasts between these two periods. According to JCN’s most recent SBIQ poll of national small businesses, inflation remains the top concern of small businesses. That’s no surprise when you consider inflation’s impacts on profit margins and customers. Under Biden, prices of goods and services have risen by 20 percent – far faster than average wages – and the price of gas has increased by 50 percent. The debate moderators should prioritize getting the candidates’ positions on finally taming inflation and the cost-of-living crisis that are destroying main streets nationwide. In particular, they should press Biden on how his Modern Monetary Theory of reckless government spending has diluted the money already in existence and led to too many dollars chasing too few goods.

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