“Small business owners’ optimism sank again in July,” says the Washington Post, with “uncertainty over taxes” part of the cause. In fact, small businesses now cite taxes as one of the top challenges they face – underscoring the need to quickly stop all of President Obama’s tax hikes.

Speaker John Boehner addressed the issue in a Facebook post yesterday, highlighting “examples where the House has taken action to help our struggling economy while [President Obama] and Senate Democrats have dithered.” Boehner notes that the House voted two weeks ago to stop the president’s small business tax hike and is now waiting for Senate Democrats to follow suit. He wrote:

“[T]he House passed a bipartisan bill that protects middle class families and small businesses from the massive tax hike scheduled to hit on January 1, 2013.

“An independent study by accounting firm Ernst & Young discovered the small business tax hike demanded by the president would destroy more than 700,000 jobs. Small business owners told CNBC they’re ‘too afraid to spend or hire’ and the New York Times says manufacturers are ‘putting off new hires’ until the problem is solved. A group of 88 economists says all of the tax hikes must be stopped. But while the House has acted, Senate Democrats have not.”

Many economists fear the delay by Senate Democrats is already hurting economic growth. That’s why Republican leaders have pledged to reconvene the House this August if – at any point – the Democratic-controlled Senate also passes legislation to stop all of the tax hikes and to replace the ‘sequester’ defense cuts that threaten our national security (something the House has already done too).

The other top challenge cited by small business owners is government red tape that holds back job creation and investment. The House has acted on this as well, says Boehner, and has passed more than 30 jobs bills that “eliminate excessive red tape” and remove other government barriers to job growth.

“While President Obama is telling small business owners ‘you didn’t build that,’” wrote Boehner, “Republicans are trying to get government out of their way.”

Visit jobs.GOP.gov for a look at the GOP Plan for America’s Job Creators, and click here for a closer look at what the House has done to stop the threat of tax hikes, and to fix the tax code to help keep jobs in America and bring home some of the jobs that have gone overseas.