Since 2010, I have not received a salary from the company where I’m the president and have worked for 31 years. My business partner, who is vice-president, also does not receive a salary. In addition, we’ve had to lay off a few people. My wife was the first to be let go. Thankfully, we have other jobs. We’ve used some of the profits from our successful businesses to help with the financial shortfall of our struggling company. Here’s what a report by Citibank found:

“Keeping businesses afloat has required sacrifices on the part of both employer and employees, the survey found. Over the past few years, business owners report that they have, at one time or another, taken less profit (78 percent), worked more hours than usual (70 percent), and used their own money to help the business survive (69 percent).

“But what is most revealing is that the majority of respondents — 54 percent — say they have gone without a paycheck in order to keep the business running. And nearly one-quarter (23 percent) have gone without pay for one year or more.

Employees, too, sacrificed finances for their employers. More than one-third of owners (38 percent) said their employees worked overtime without pay; 18 percent said employees either missed paychecks or had paychecks delayed.”

These numbers show that unemployment is higher than even the skewed official numbers are telling us. If these owners are not able to pay themselves, this means that there is a cash flow problem. When there’s a cash flow problem, there’s a downside to hiring, equipment purchasing, and company expansion.

It doesn’t help when you don’t know what’s coming down the pike from this administration. The president is skirting the law and autonomously creating his own law out of thin air. What will he do next? It’s anybody’s guess.

What are healthcare costs going to do? What about taxes? It’s the unknown that makes people fearful to take financial risks.

President Obama does not like American values. He resents American exceptionalism. It doesn’t matter if he was born in Kenya or Hawaii. He’s not an American at heart. But like all would be dictators, he wants to live above the rabble. So while he pushes for some form of economic parity among the common people, he will live far above them.