“Why would anyone want to hurry up and come back to work if they’re getting free money sitting around?”
By Frank McCaffrey
Americans for Limited Government Foundation is revisiting small business people we spoke with in 2020. We want to see what they’ve been up to. Today we go back to Mama’s Kitchen in McAllen, Texas. You may remember they were hurting in the early days of the quarantine.
About a year ago this is what owner Stephen Marino told us about business, “I’d say we’re probably about 60 percent. This has been a very slow month for us.”
Stephen Marino was forced to offer curbside service to keep his business afloat. “It’s a lot of work. I do respect all of the fast food chains now. It’s unbelievable the work that goes into takeout.”
Marino applied for a government loan because he wanted to keep his loyal staff working. “I have good, very dedicated employees, people been with me the whole 12 years.”
Today Mama’s is still in business and Marino thanks President Donald Trump. He says he and other small businesses, just want Donald Trump back. “In my business here I talked to a lot of people about their businesses, about what’s going on with the produce business. I talked to all the farmers and they are just devastated not having Trump in their corner anymore.”
Marino does not appreciate the current administration. “I don’t even know who that guy is in office up there,” Marino said. “We’ve never seen him, never heard a word out of his mouth.”
He believes Biden’s $1.9 trillion dollar Covid bailout will just be money for people to stay at home and not work. He wondered where small business is going to find employees. “Why would anyone want to hurry up and come back to work if they’re getting free money sitting around?”
Trump fought for people like him and he really appreciates it. “For a while when we were completely shut down, yes, we did survive. Our customers really came around to help us do that. We had a lot of to- go orders. Now, in Texas everything is open 100 percent, but I am probably 75 percent. I haven’t opened up 100 percent. We’re still trying to be a little safe around here. But my numbers are just as good if not better than what I was at 100 percent.”
Frank McCaffrey is News Director for Americans for Limited Government Foundation.