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.

Passage of the $700 billion government bailout of Wall Street brought a measure of relief for languishing financial institutions, but small business advocates worry about the bill's implications for small businesses.

The American Small Business League, a nonpartisan group representing 100,000 small businesses nationwide, criticized the bill earlier this week for language it claimed could hinder small businesses from receiving federal contracts.

The ASBL highlighted a section of the bill that gives the Secretary of the Treasury leverage to waive any section of the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

"It is clearly not necessary to suspend federal acquisition law to bail out Wall Street and the financial industry," said Lloyd Chapman, president of the ASBL. "This is going to be a catastrophe for small businesses."

Detractors assert the financial-rescue bill paves the way for the administration to chip away at small business programs, such as the Small Disadvantaged Businesses program.

However, federal contracts set aside for small businesses pour millions of dollars into the middle class have deminished in recent years with many small-business procurements going to corporate giants, such as John Deere and Home Depot.

The Small Business Administration has also undergone significant changes, including budget cuts from $866 million in 2000 to just shy of $572 million in 2008.

Two weeks ago, the SBA announced the end of its certification program for Small Disadvantaged Businesses to qualify for the price evaluation adjustment, a tool some government agencies can use to help hire Small Disadvantaged Businesses.

With all eyes focused on the financial meltdown on Wall Street, the announcement garnered little attention.

SDBs will now rely on self-certification, a practice that has been widely criticized for inviting fraud.

Absent the certification, the SDB program has forfeited its legitimacy, according to Belinda Guadarrama, president of G.C. Mirco, a supplier of computer software and hardware.

Worse still, Guadarrama believes the end of the current certification could be a first step down a slipper slope.

"First, they say they are doing away with the certification, then they say we don't have any control over the SDB program and then one day it's gone," Guadarrama said.

To help federal agencies meet their 5 percent SDB contracting goal, Congress created the price evaluation adjustment tool and the SBA certification process to ensure the tool was applied to legitimate SDBs.

From 1999 through 2004, nearly 3,000 businesses were certified under the SBA certification, including G.C. Micro.

In 2004, Congress allowed the price evaluation adjustment authority for SDBs to expire for all but three federal procuring agencies, including the Department of Defense.

Calvin Jenkins, deputy associate administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development, said the tool was used sparingly during its five years.

Jenkins acknowledged the potential for fraud under self-certification. However, because most government agencies no longer use the tool and many are meeting their hiring goals without assistance, the certification had become an added expense without benefit, Jenkins concluded.

"The cost of using that tool meant you had to be certified," Jenkins explained, "But, the feeling was it was unnecessary."

The close of the SDB certification and the bailout policy decisions ultimately undermine small businesses, Chapman said.

"Today, it's hard to fathom the consequences of what might happen," Chapman said. "I couldn't be more disappointed."