Petaluma, Calif. - The American Small Business League (ASBL) has uncovered a $128 million small business contract awarded to Bechtel Bettis by Obama officials.  Bechtel, a Fortune 500 corporation, did $31.4 billion in sales during fiscal year (FY) 2008 and maintains more than 44,000 employees.  In the government's database under the category "socio status," the contract was reported as, "small business."
https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf  

During the 2008 presidential election cycle, President Barack Obama promised to, "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Yet to date, the Obama Administration has refused to adopt any policy or legislation to honor that campaign promise.  As a result, every month the Obama Administration diverts billions of dollars in federal small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses where most Americans work and into the hands of corporate giants.
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php  

Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the world.  The ASBL estimates that every year this issue diverts more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of multinational corporations. https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html   

The most recent data available from the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG) indicates that a majority of small business contracts awarded by the Obama Administration have gone to Fortune 500 firms and thousands of large businesses in the United States and Europe.  In addition to Bechtel, Obama officials have awarded small business contracts to: General Dynamics, Xerox, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace (BAE), Dell Computer and French giant Thales Communications. https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf  

In May of 2009, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009. To date the bill has bipartisan support from 19 co-sponsors. The ASBL maintains that H.R. 2568 is the simplest and most efficient way to stimulate the American economy by redirecting more than $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending to America's chief job creators, its small businesses. Firms with 20 or fewer employees are responsible for over 97 percent of all net new jobs, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau data. http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html         
 
"This issue is going to continue until journalists from the mainstream media begin to ask President Obama to explain why he is allowing billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to be intentionally and in many cases, illegally diverted to Fortune 500 firms and large businesses worldwide," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "If you want to know who the real President Obama is, take a look at this issue."

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Petaluma, Calif. - In a recent speech, President Barack Obama said, "What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs right now, in the near term."  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-jobs-summit-real-progress-pr-stunt/story?id=9232219  

Since president Obama has voiced his concern about stimulating the economy and creating new jobs, the American Small Business League (ASBL) would like a member of the mainstream media to ask President Obama any of the following questions:

1. In February of 2008, you released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."  Why is your administration continuing to give federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms?

2.  During the campaign you promised to implement the 5 percent set-aside goal for women owned firms. Why hasn't that program been implemented?

3.  Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have found widespread fraud and abuse in virtually every program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).  What does your administration intend to do to stop the abuses in those programs?

4.  Recently, you have talked about allocating TARP funds to help small businesses.  Does it make sense to come up with new programs while billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts are being diverted to corporate giants?
 
5.  H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009 is designed to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants and redirect billions of dollars in current federal infrastructure spending to the middle class.  Will you be backing H.R. 2568?

6.  You said you were going to exempt investment in small businesses from capital gains tax. Wouldn't that just be a loophole for venture capitalists to avoid paying taxes?

7.  Will you oppose any legislation or policy that would divert federal small business contracts to firms owned or controlled by venture capitalists?

8.  Since you have taken office, federal contracting programs for minorities have largely been dismantled.  Do you intend to restore those programs?

9.  Since U.S. Census Bureau data shows that small businesses create a vast majority of all net new jobs, why has your administration allocated such a small portion of stimulus funds to those firms?

10.  The staffing at the SBA is at a 30 year low. Why haven't you restored that agency's staff?

11.  In February of 2008, you released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."  Recent data shows that your administration is still giving small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. Why have you failed to make good on that campaign promise?

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56-Year-Old Law Could Slash National Unemployment Rate

In 1953 Congress passed the Small Business Act. The law established the Small Business Administration (SBA) and a government wide goal to ensure that a "fair portion" of the total value of all federal contracts and subcontracts were awarded to small businesses. The 1953 Small Business Act also defined a small business as being "independently owned."

The Small Business Act was one of the first economic stimulus bills. It was also one of the most effective. In 1953 Congress realized most Americans work for small businesses, most of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came from small businesses and the overwhelming majority of new jobs came from small businesses. The original Small Business Act was a win-win for the federal government and for the American people. In 1953 Congress realized there was no better way to invest the taxpayers dollars than to reinvest them back into the small businesses that employ the majority of the taxpayers.

Now lets flash forward 56-years and see how the Small Business Act is doing in 2009. Today Congress interprets the "fair portion" to be 23 percent. According to SBA Administrator Karen Mills that is around $150 billion a year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/business/smallbusiness/30mills.html When you consider the fact that 99 percent of all U.S. firms are small businesses and that those firms are responsible for more than 97 percent of all net-new jobs, 23 percent seems a little low to me, but we'll let that go for now. We have bigger problems to address.

Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have found rampant fraud, blatant abuse and an intentional total lack of oversight over nearly every federal program originally established by the Small Business Act. The most widely investigated and publicized problem has been the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and thousands of large businesses around the world.

In 2005, the SBA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released Report 5-15. It referred to the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." For the last five consecutive years the SBA OIG has continued to report the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the number one challenge facing the SBA.

President Obama recognized the magnitude of the issue during his campaign, when he released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." To date he has failed to adopt any policy or legislation to honor that promise.
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php

The most recent federal small business contracting data released by the Obama Administration indicated that the largest recipient of federal small business contracts was Textron. Textron is a Fortune 500 firm with 43,000 employees, which received over $775 million in government small business contracts. Other recipients of small business contracts included Xerox, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf
https://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202Xerox_Created_20091002.pdf

The American Small Business League (ASBL) estimates that of the approximately $150 billion a year in federal contracts that should go to legitimate small businesses, less than $30 billion actually go to small businesses as a result of the rampant abuses. This projection is based on information provided by current and former federal officials, and from information obtained through a series of successful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the federal government.

One of the most effective and efficient ways to cut record unemployment would be to simply clean up the rampant abuses in existing federal economic stimulus plans. It is absurd for President Obama and Congress to be considering a new jobs bill when over $400,000,000 a day in federal small business contracts are being diverted to large businesses. We already have a 56-year-old federal program that could redirect over $100 billion a year in existing federal infrastructure spending to the small business that create over 97 percent of all net new jobs.

The simplest way for President Obama and Congress to stimulate the national economy and slash record unemployment is to end rampant fraud and abuse in one of America's most efficient and effective economic stimulus programs, the Small Business Act of 1953.

Petaluma, Calif. – The Obama Administration has awarded a $28.5 million small business contract to Fortune 500 firm General Dynamics.  As America's fourth largest prime contractor, General Dynamics did more than $29.3 billion in sales during fiscal year (FY) 2008 and maintains more than 92,000 employees. https://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202GeneralDynamics_Created_20091027.pdf      

According to the most recent data from the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG), General Dynamics is just one of hundreds of corporate giants that are currently receiving federal small business contracts from the Obama Administration.

Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) referred to the issue as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." https://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf As recently as October 16, the SBA OIG listed the issue as the SBA's top management challenge for the fifth consecutive year.
http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_reports_tmc_fy10.pdf  

The American Small Business League (ASBL) has estimated that every year more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of some of the largest corporations in the world.  The most recent data released by the Obama Administration indicates that firms counted as small businesses included: Xerox, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, British Aerospace (BAE), Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and Finmeccanica SpA, which is located in Italy with 73,000 employees.
https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf     
https://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202Xerox_Created_20091002.pdf     

During the 2008 presidential election cycle, President Barack Obama promised to address these abuses when he stated, "Small businesses are the backbone of our nation's economy and we must protect this great resource. It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Yet to date, President Obama has failed to adopt any policy or legislation to honor that promise. http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php The ASBL maintains that stopping the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations alone would serve as a greater economic stimulus than anything proposed to date. 

In May of 2009, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act.  If passed the bill would halt the flow of federal small business contracts to large businesses and redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending to legitimate small businesses.  Although the bill has bipartisan support with 19 co-sponsors, to date President Obama has refused to endorse the legislation.

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