President Obama and the Democrats in Congress wrongly believe that increasing government control and ownership over many parts of our economy including the auto industry, the financial sector and now health care will rescue our economy from this recession. Nothing could be further from the truth.

One needs to look no further than right here in Southwest Florida to see the devastating effect that big government policies can have on small businesses and the local economy.

Marine Concepts, a boat manufacturing company located in Cape Coral, has grown over the past two decades to become a leader in the manufacturing industry and a major force in Southwest Florida’s economy.

When Bob Long purchased the company in 1994, he had 14 employees and struggled to make ends meet. Instead of keeping his profits, Bob reinvested his earnings back into his company and was eventually able to expand his operations and employ over 130 workers.

Over the past several years, however, Marine Concepts has struggled with many of the same challenges that other small businesses throughout Southwest Florida, and indeed the nation, have faced: a lack of available capital, high taxes, and increasingly burdensome federal, state, and local regulations and mandates.

Last year, despite losing money, Marine Concepts still paid more than $560,000 in taxes, including Medicare and Social Security taxes, state and federal unemployment taxes, personal property tax, real estate tax, and sales tax. While the government continues to hire new bureaucrats, this Cape Coral company has had to reduce its employees by 50 percent and shut down two plants, all on top of cutting back on employee benefits and performance bonuses. What’s more, Marine Concepts is reluctant to invest without knowing what future government mandates will be imposed on small businesses like theirs.

But sadly, under the new health care plan that President Obama signed into law last month, Marine Concepts will face even higher taxes and stiffer mandates. President Obama’s plan creates a new tax on jobs by forcing employers who do not provide “acceptable” coverage to pay a “fair share” tax of $2,000 per full-time employee with the government dictating what is acceptable coverage and what is not.

With unemployment in Southwest Florida averaging more than 13 percent, we shouldn’t be adding more taxes and more regulation on small business owners like Bob Long. It’s small businesses like Marine Concepts that create jobs and will help to jump start our economy because as we all know, more taxes and more regulation will ultimately lead to more unemployment.

The new health care law is yet another example of the big government policies that President Obama and the Democratic Leadership in Congress continue to impose on an unwilling public.

In fact, this government takeover of health care goes against everything that defines our nation: freedom, free markets, and individual liberty.

Under the new health care law, Americans will face higher taxes, rationed care, and, most alarmingly, a loss of individual freedoms the freedom to choose the health care that’s right for you and your family.

The plan takes away our inherent freedom to live our lives as we see fit. Under the new health plan, every individual must purchase insurance whether one wants it or not or pay a steep penalty.