Because it’s an election year, Barbara Boxer has made quite the effort to talk about all that she’s supposedly doing to help our nation’s small businesses recently. Unfortunately for her, however, there just isn’t all that much to talk about. Boxer may lay it on thick when it comes to her rhetoric, but her record on supporting small businesses sure is thin.

Case in point: health care reform. When Congress was debating the overhaul bill, Boxer threatened that failure to pass the measure would result in soaring health care costs for Californians. Her rhetoric would have us believe that reform would make health care more affordable for our state’s families and enterprises.

But the result of the reform measure’s passage, as we learned last week, is actually higher health care costs, and small businesses in particular will be saddled with the costs of premium hikes as high as 9 percent.

That’s not all. As the conversation in Washington turns toward extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief measures, Boxer, like many of her fellow Democrats, claims to only want to raise taxes on “the rich.” But to Barbara Boxer, “the rich” includes small businesses. As we know, our nation’s small businesses employ half of all private-sector workers and create two-thirds of our nation’s new jobs. So in other words, Barbara Boxer’s support for tax hikes will hurt very same job creators she claims to be trying to protect.

Businesses Will Shoulder More Than One-Third Of The Tax Hikes Supported By Boxer And Democrats. “About 39 percent of the $630 billion tax increase on high-income taxpayers (defined by President Obama as individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples earning more than $250,000) in 2011 would come from business income. This amounts to an extra $246 billion in taxes on business income over 10 years.” (Tax Foundation, “Business Income To Shoulder Over A Third Of Tax Increase On Top Earners,” Press Release, 9/13/10)

“Letting The Bush-Era Tax Cuts Expire For The Top Two Brackets Will Hit Much Of The Nation’s Non-Corporate Business Income, Earnings That Are Highly Productive And Sensitive To Taxation.”  (Scott A. Hodge, “Over One-Third Of New Tax Revenue Would Come From Business Income If High Income Tax Cuts Expire,” Special Report No. 185, The Tax Foundation, September 2010)

Nearly Half Of The Business Income Reported On Personal Tax Filings Goes To Families And Businesses That Would Have Their Taxes Raised By Democrats. “The numbers are clear. According to IRS data, fully 48% of the net income of sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations reported on tax returns went to households with incomes above $200,000 in 2007. That’s the number to look at, not the 3%.” (Kevin A. Hassert and Allan D. Viard, Op-Ed, “The Small Business Tax Hike And The 97% Fallacy,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/3/10)

Per usual, our junior senator’s record simply does not match her rhetoric. Looks like California’s small businesses are getting another breath of hot air this week, courtesy of Barbara Boxer.