One more reason to not own a small business is on the horizon.

Many of the recently proposed plans to "reform" health care will place a knife in the back of small businesses.

The plans I have seen add penalties, taxes and burdensome regulations that will discourage hiring employees and economic growth. Simply put, if you don't have a job and an income, you don't contribute to the health of our economy. If businesses cannot hire, the economy will not grow.

But don't worry! The pundits say the government takeover of health insurance and health care won't have any effect on businesses unless they have more than 50 employees.

Once again, the federal government chooses to pick on the successful among us. If you currently have 49 employees and you are looking at the massive regulations, including the Family Medical Leave Act, and other penalties and taxes that come with one more employee, how eager will you be to expand your business?

MANY SUPPORTERS of proposed legislation suggest that all citizens of the United States want to be able to purchase affordable health insurance. Unfortunately, they are misreading the situation. Americans who don't currently have health insurance want it, but they don't want to pay for it themselves.

Medicaid, Medicare, local and state governments and privately funded clinics already provide health care for every person in the United States. Private individuals pay for charity clinics, and taxpayers already pay for Medicare and Medicaid. You get better care if you are willing to pay for private health insurance. I think that is fair and appropriate.

There already are enough federal regulations, rules and mandates from the federal government. Every decision you make in running your privately owned business takes into consideration hundreds of thousands of pages of regulations from more than two-dozen federal and state agencies. You must call a CPA, an attorney, your industry associations, experts and consultants daily to avoid making a misstep that could land you in hot water.

As long as the economy grows at less than a 3-percent annual growth rate, the number of jobs will shrink. In the previous year, the economy shrunk at a rate of 0.6 percent. At these rates of contraction, 500,000 to 1 million people will become jobless per year. Unemployed people, obviously, contribute very little to the economy.

I AM NOT anti-government. There is a place in our lives for some government regulation, protection and assistance. Even the dreaded mosquito, pesky yellowjacket and destructive termite have a place in the environment. But anything that squeezes the fun -- and lifeblood -- out of being a small-business employer will lead to less of them in the future.

Considering that more than 65 percent of all the jobs and payrolls in the United States are generated by small business, we should not discourage their growth and success. Instead of hindering progress, we should be making it easier for new ventures to be started, grow and expand.

In the right environment, small businesses provide excellent jobs, health insurance and many other benefits for employees and their families.

For example, everyone in my company who wants insurance has it. We started our company in 1986 with just two of us. Now we plan to be one of those dastardly businesses with 50 or more employees within a year.

I guess it is time to take some Yoga classes so I can more easily bend over and grab my ankles.