Sometimes I get an idea stuck in my head.

When that happens, I will tend to see almost everything in the context of said idea. At least, for awhile.

Right now (as you might have guessed if you've been reading The Journal Blog lately), the idea that's stuck in my head is this one:

microbusinesses have had to evolve their own way of doing business, which does not seem to fit comfortably into the infrastructure of the U.S. economy

Judging from this week's news, you have to ask yourself if our nation's leaders will, without possessing the vestige of a clue, end up destroying what they have not the wit to appreciate.

I'm talking about those proposed rules targeting firms and individuals (but mostly firms) that hire independent contractors.

Now, although this proposal is said to be a part of the President's budget (and it is), it was actually proposed jointly by the Departments of Labor and the Treasury. They illustrate mid-20th century political philosophies that also are a poor fit for the way microbusinesses do business.

The rules assume that employers are all evil and want nothing better than to take advantage of those poor saps who have to work for them. Yes, the rules assume that workers are poor saps who have to be protected from evil employers, too.

Alternatively, the rules assume that people are happier when somebody is taking care of them, and that independent contractors would like to be babysat in the same way that wage earners are — at least, when it comes to their taxes.

I'm not saying that there are no employers out there who are unscrupulous enough to deliberately hire their employees as independent contractors, leaving them without important workplace protections.

But my guess is that most of those 22.4 million nonemployer business owners have no desire to be "protected" from their own clients.

The fact that there appears to be no acknowledgment of that fact — or even of the existence of all those nonemployer businesses — is another example of how the way micros do business doesn't fit in with the mainstream U.S. economy.

Because it's hard to fit in when the folks who craft policy act like you're not there or, worse, like shouldn't be there.

Clearly, there are some advantages to flying under the radar.