October 15, 2008
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October 15, 2008
Petaluma, Calif. - While Senators Barack Obama and John McCain are presenting dueling economic recovery bills for the middle class, a bill has been floating around Congress for more than a year that could immediately infuse more money into the middle class economy than anything that has been proposed so far.
Draft legislation that was written by Senator Barbara Boxer (D - CA) and American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman, could infuse up to $10 billion a month in federal funds back into the hands of middle class firms that are struggling to cope with the current economic catastrophe.
The draft legislation is titled, "the Small Business Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act," and is based on provisions of the original Small Business Act, which was passed in 1953. The Small Business Act defines a small business as "independently owned" and precludes firms that are publicly owned or publicly traded from being considered small businesses for the purposes of government contracting. Based on the original Small Business Act, today the federal government has a small business-contracting goal of 23 percent or about $135 billion a year.
The new legislation simply states that the federal government can no longer report awards to publicly traded companies as small business awards.
The legislation is in response to over a dozen federal investigations, which have found that the Bush Administration has diverted hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the United States and Europe.
In March of 2005, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) issued Report 5-15, which stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards." (http://www.sba.gov/ig/05-15.pdf)
The General Accounting Office (GAO) first exposed the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants in 2002. (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03704t.pdf) So far, no member of Congress other than Senator Boxer has even proposed legislation to address this problem.
In February, Senator Obama acknowledged the need to address the problem and released this statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."
This new legislation could solve the diversion of government small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and return billions of dollars in federal small business contracts back to the middle class economy.
Recently, Congress passed a $700 billion emergency bailout bill for Wall Street, now it's time to pass an emergency bailout bill for the middle class economy. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. This legislation is a free, easy and simple solution to the diversion of over $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to large corporations and is based on existing federal laws and programs.
If this legislation is passed, we could immediately see up to $10 billion a month in additional federal funds flowing back into the small businesses where most Americans work. This will have a more significant impact on our nation's middle class economy than anything that has been proposed by anyone in Congress including Senator Obama or Senator McCain.
This legislation would have an immediate and significant impact on our nation's middle class economy and there isn't one good reason why Congress shouldn't pass this legislation as soon as possible.
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CNN's American Morning
October 14, 2008
October 14, 2008
Petaluma, Calif. - During the past eight years, the Bush Administration has dismantled virtually every economic program to assist small businesses along with all programs to assist firms owned by woman, minorities and veterans.
To date, Senator John McCain (R - AZ) has not voiced any opposition to the Bush Administration's anti-small business policies or discussed any plans to restore those programs in any of his speeches, press releases or on his website.
President Bush has slashed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) budget more than any other federal agency, down over 50 percent since he took office. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200511/sbabudget.html)
Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have been released which have found the Bush Administration has diverted billons of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. (https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) CBS, ABC and CNN have all aired investigative reports that confirmed the findings of the federal investigations. (https://www.asbl.com/media2.php)
Bush officials responded to the investigations by establishing a policy that allows Fortune 500 firms to continue to receive federal small business contracts until the year 2012 and by removing information from the government's vendor database that could be used to determine if a large business is misrepresenting itself as a small business. (https://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=596)
Bush officials have closed the office at the SBA specifically designed to assist veteran-owned firms, (http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2313) dismantled the Small Disadvantaged Business contracting program for minority-owned firms (http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/politics/2008/10/3/more_groups_react_to_bailout_bill.htm) and refused to implement a federal law passed more than seven years ago establishing a 5 percent contracting goal for woman-owned firms. (http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/extraedge/washingtonbureau/archive/2008/10/06/bureau1.html?market=kansascity)
Bush officials also included language in the Wall Street bailout bill in Section 107 that allows the Secretary of the Treasury to waive any provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requiring contracting opportunities for woman-owned firms and minority-owned firms. (https://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1166)
Senator McCain regularly panders to middle class voters and gives lip service to the vital role small businesses play in our nation's economy. In reality, in over two years of campaigning, he has never once mentioned his plans to restore the budget and staffing of the only federal agency established with the sole purpose of assisting America's 27 million small businesses, the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Senator McCain's website doesn't contain a single word on restoring the SBA's budget and staffing or the economic programs administered by the agency to assist middle class small businesses and firms owned by women, minorities and veterans.
If elected, Senator McCain will almost certainly continue with Bush Administration and Republican Party plans to eliminate government economic programs to assist small business or try to close the SBA completely by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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By Marcia Wade
BlackEnterprise.com
October 13, 2008
In Toledo Ohio, Sen. Barack Obama unveiled his economic rescue plan for the U.S. today. The four-part plan builds upon job creation, relief to families, relief to homeowners and a response to the financial crisis.
“Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system,” said Obama. “It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S.”
For individuals, Obama proposes that the government allows every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009 and a three-month moratorium on foreclosures. For states and localities, Obama suggests that the Federal Reserve and the treasury create a lending facility that would address credit needs of local governments.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee launched its latest Web ad called Guilt by Participation, tying Obama to Bill Ayers, a 1960s radical who bombed the Capitol among other places.
Despite the efforts by the RNC and Sen. John McCain to paint Obama with the Ayers brush, Factcheck.org says that “there’s still no evidence of a deep or strong ‘friendship’ with Ayers” and that Obama has called Ayers “detestable” and “despicable.”
Public polls report that these kind of negative ads may have done McCain more harm than good. Sunday, the Rasmussen Reports released a tracking poll, which shows Obama attracting 51% of the vote and John McCain earning 45%. “This is the seventeenth straight day that Obama’s support has stayed in the very narrow range from 50% to 52% while McCain has been at 44% of 45%,” according to the report which identifies Obama to have an edge in every state won by John Kerry four years ago. McCain is trailing in four states that George W. Bush won and Electoral College projections now show Obama leading 255-163.
McCain isn’t just behind in the polls; Obama is out fundraising him and out spending him Obama’s September’s fundraising surpassed the $66 million the senator raised in August, according to the Huffington Post. Obama had more than $77 million in the bank on Aug. 31, the close of the last reporting period, and is on a pace to raise at least $100 million more by election day, writes the Los Angeles Times.
McCain Remains Upbeat
“Let me give you the state of the race today. We have 22 days to go. We’re six points down,” said McCain at a rally today in Virginia Beach, Virginia. “The national media has written us off. Sen. Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Sen. [Harry] Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them.”
As he has done in the past McCain made a declaration to fight and stand to defend the U.S., but said he would run a “respectful” campaign over the next few weeks. He reiterated accusations that Americans with Obama will be subject to inadequate government-run healthcare.
“We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change,” said McCain in an effort to distance himself from President Bush.
Debate Time
Wednesday’s third and final presidential debate will be held at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York. During the 90-minute debate McCain is expected to talk more about his plans to protect mortgages with a $300 billion plan for the federal government to buy distressed mortgages and renegotiate them at a reduced price. He also plans to offer a $5,000 healthcare tax credit. The Illinois senator could give more detail to a $900 million plan he announced on Friday, which would temporarily extend an expiring tax break that lets small businesses write off investments up to $250,000 immediately, rather than over the course of several years.
The American Small Business League, criticized Obama’s new small business emergency rescue plan today for ignoring a series of federal investigations that found the government has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to many of the largest firms in the U.S. and Europe.
Heading up to the debate, McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin will be making stops throughout Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, while Obama will only make one appearance in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday. However, Michelle Obama, Sen. Joe Biden and the Clintons will pick up his slack in swing states like Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Finally, CBS announced that on Thursday McCain will appear on the Late Show With David Letterman on Thursday to make up for a last-minute cancellation that earned him Letterman’s ire. At the time, Letterman, criticized McCain during a large part of his late-night comedy show when McCain canceled the show using the excuse that he needed to immediately return to Washington to assist the House in passing the $700 billion credit market rescue bill. Letterman showed his audience footage of McCain instead getting his face made-up in preparation to conduct an interview with CBS anchorwoman Katie Couric.