Last night, Senator John McCain accepted the Republican nomination for the Presidency, but his speech was long on wind and short on ideas. His party presents McCain as the independent, the maverick, the savior who will rejuvenate the GOP (and country) with new ideas.

But for all of the party's anti-establishment bluster, small businesses were treated to more of the same Republican pandering they've heard for the past 30 years.

McCain listed a host of rosy ideas that might have worked for Cindy McCain's father's nascent beer distribution company in 1955. But they don't work for the small businesses of today.

McCain said:

[Obama's] plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. 

McCain argued, and will continue to argue, that any Democratic Party plan will harm small businesses, create unemployment, and further the outsourcing of American jobs to foreign shores. But his policy prescriptions offer no relief from the real factors that are driving the surge in operating costs and dragging the growth of small businesses.

It's no news flash that our nation's Byzantine health care systems are plagued by inefficiencies and inequalities. But it's rarely acknowledged that our current, flawed system reflects the wide disparity in negotiating strength between big corporations and small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Just look at the facts. Health care premiums for small businesses rise faster than they do for big business. As a result, 98% of full time employees for large companies have health insurance while only 55% of employees working for small businesses have coverage. For businesses with fewer than 10 employees, the rate of coverage falls to 45%.  

Large businesses have access to more and cheaper credit, likely have dedicated benefits managers, buy health care plans in bulk and don't have the cash-flow issues that small business owners have.  

Does John McCain's "plan" address this?  No, he does not because it isn't really a plan or a Republican priority. He offers nothing to protect small businesses from their lopsided competitive disadvantage to address rising health care costs. It's just more of the same GOP rhetoric from a slightly more appealing mouthpiece.