Demonstrators against the Republican tax reform bill hold a 'Peoples Filibuster to Stop Tax Cuts for Billionaires' protest rally outside the US Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, November 30, 2017.

The White House promotes its tax-reform push by saying, "President Trump is giving small businesses a boost." But as competing proposals work their way through Congress, opinion among small-business owners is split: Republicans agree with the president, while Democrats could not disagree more. For those small-business owners who identify as Republicans or who lean toward the GOP, tax reform couldn't come soon enough. A huge majority (85 percent) supports the passage of the tax reform. These data come from the newest CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey, conducted Nov. 20–Dec. 4 among 2,043 small-business owners. When asked to describe their reactions to the proposed tax reform bill, Republican small-business owners are most likely to say: "Finally!" In their own words, tax reform is "overdue," and "it's about time" that politicians in Washington got it done. They are "hopeful" about its effects and largely positive in expressing their reactions.

Out of 886 Republican small-business owners surveyed, just one suggested that tax reform would be "bad for small businesses." Five others expected it to "help small business," with one explaining, "It is about time politicians paid attention to the small-business person. The eight years of Obama were oppressive!" Few Republicans express negative sentiments about the tax reform proposal. Those who do tend to be more measured in their criticism, saying the proposals are "insufficient" or that they "could be better," but that "something is better than nothing!" Democratic-siding small-business owners take a harder line. Eight in 10 (80 percent) oppose the tax reform proposals, and they do not mince words when asked about their thoughts. "Unfair" is the most frequently mentioned single-word response, but "rich" and "wealthy" come up frequently in longer responses, as in, "It's not a reform, it's a tax cut for the wealthy."