What Business Fears

A second Obama term. And $500 billion in new regulatory expenses.

The real problem they face is the cliff of a potential Obama reelection.

Even if they won't admit it to the New York Times, businesses know that a second Obama term will mean:

Higher taxes. Obama wants to jack up income tax rates not only on the "rich," but also raise the top capital gains rate to 24.7% and the top dividend tax to 44.7%. When this fails to produce any revenue, he'll certainly be back for more.

More debt. The budget Obama put forward this year proposed adding $3.5 trillion to the projected deficits over the next decade. Businesses are right to wonder why he'd be any more willing to cut federal red ink in a second term.

More regulations. Obama has already imposed $46 billion in new annual regulatory costs. And he clearly wants more. The National Federation of Independent Business calculates that 4,000 federal rules are in the wings that will saddle businesses with $500 billion in compliance costs.

ObamaCare. A second Obama term would also kill any chance of getting rid of ObamaCare and its massively expensive mandates, taxes and regulations.

With Obama continuing to do well in the polls, it's no wonder businesses are hunkering down today.