You raise an interesting point, paulsixe, with "...way more incorporated small businesses than anyone thought."

Oh, the government knows how many there are.  But, individually, they are anonymous. They're mostly "little guys"--I was incorporated, too, and worked out of my basement. More of them today than when I did it! 

What the government DIDN'T see coming--because they are short-sighted and driven by the image in the mirror instead of their constituents--Is the backlash of so many anonymous individuals can lead to something the media loves--underdog backlash by "jus' folks."  

And the fact they didn't that possibility--or if they did, wrote it off--is just politically stupid.