Last week, Senate Democrats decided, at least for the moment, not to pursue the Obama administrations plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for those in the top tax brackets. Most Democrats supported the plan. Most, if not all, Republicans opposed it, arguing primarily that increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans would be devastating to small businesses.
First of all, its true, as many articles on the topic point out, that most small businesses will not be affected if we let the tax cut expire for the top 2 percent of wage earners. That said, those businesses it does affect will be, by definition, the most successful small businesses and the ones most likely to be in a position to hire new employees.
Basically, the actual monetary impact is negligible for small businesses.
As a personal anecdote, my father owns a small business that will be impacted by letting the tax cuts for the top 2% expire. But as he points out, it is better for him and his business to pay a little more in taxes if the long term economy is helped to be stabilized. At least his business is somewhat tied to the economy and his hiring (or lack of hiring) is completely independent of taxes. If he pays a little more, that won't cause him let people go, or not to hire someone. An economy gather steam will.