PETALUMA, Calif., March 19, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Small Business Administration (SBA) isrefusing to release electronic un-redacted copies of emails from SBA PressOffice executives Terry Sutherland and FredBaldassaro.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) requested the emailsunder the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because they believe the emailswill show that the SBA Press Office staff has engaged in a systematic campaignto block stories in the media about the rampant fraudand abuse that has been uncovered in SBA managed programs.

A series of federal investigations and investigativereports in the media have all found billions of dollars in federal smallbusiness contracts that have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms and many of thelargest corporate giants around the world.

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News and RTTV haveall reported on the SBA's role in the diversion of federal small businesscontracts to Fortune 500 firms.

The SBA has reported contracts to firms such as Dell, Verizon, Hewlett-Packard,Oracle, Microsoft, Rolls Royce, IBM and British Aerospace Engineering (BAE) as smallbusiness contracts.

The House Small Business Committee chastised SBAAdministrator Maria Contreras-Sweet for including billions of dollars incontracts to Fortune 500 firms in the SBA's 2013 small business contractingdata.

In 2009 the Office of Government Accountability essentiallyaccused the SBA of encouraging fraud in Report 10-108 that stated, "By failing to hold firmsaccountable, SBA and contracting agencies have sent a message to thecontracting community that there is no penalty or consequences for committingfraud…"

The SBA has now adopted the final rule on their "safe harbor from fraud penalties policy" that willallow fraudulent small business firms to avoid all penalties and prosecution bysimply claiming they "acted in good faith."

The ASBL believes the emails will also prove SBA Press Officedirector Terry Sutherland and FredBaldassaro have launched a campaign to interfere with theASBL's efforts to publicize President Obama's announcement that he intends to resurrectRonald Reagan's plan to permanently close the SBA by combining it with theDepartment of Commerce.

The ASBL plans to file an appeal of their request and then filesuit against the SBA in Federal District Court in SanFrancisco if their appeal is denied.

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PETALUMA, Calif., March 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/-- The 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals has decidedthe case between the Pentagon and the American Small Business League (ASBL)over Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's subcontracting reports is not appropriatefor mediation. In February, the 9^th Circuit originally requested to see if the parties wanted toenter into mediation to resolve the case. The ASBL opposed mediation. On Mar. 9, the 9^th Circuit issued their decision the case was not appropriate formediation.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the ASBL originallyrequested the most recent report Sikorsky had submitted to the Pentagon's25-year old ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP). The ASBL selected Sikorsky atrandom as a test case to challenge the Pentagon's refusal to release any dataon the CSPTP for over 25 years.

The ASBL also intended to use the Sikorsky data to try and block the renewal of the CSPTP in the 2015 National DefenseAuthorization Act (NDAA).

In November of 2014, Federal District Court Judge William Alsup ruled in favor of the ASBL and ordered the Pentagon torelease the Sikorsky data by December 3, 2014. On Dec. 2, the Office of Solicitor General intervened in the case and thePentagon was granted a 60-day extension on the release of the data.

Judge Alsup accused the Pentagon of trying to "cover up" the data. In a subsequent hearing inJanuary, Judge Alsup described the ASBL as being in a "David andGoliath" battle with the Pentagon and Sikorsky and stated the Pentagon wastrying to "suppress the evidence" in the case.

The Pentagon adopted the CSPTP in 1989 under the pretense of"increasing subcontracting opportunities for small businesses."In reality the program eliminated all transparency and penalties on small businesssubcontracting programs for prime contractors.

The Pentagon recently admitted the CSPTP had actually reduced opportunities for small businesses.

One of the nation's leading experts on federal contracting law,Professor Charles Tiefer, issued a legal opinion on the program that stated, "The programis a sham and its extension will be seriously harmful to vitalopportunities for small business... It should not have gotten its 25 years ofextension as a never-tested 'Test Program.' Let it expire."

The Pentagon is expected to file their appellant opening briefwith the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals by May 1, 2015.

To view full press release, click here:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9th-circuit-decides-pentagon-sikorsky-case-not-going-to-mediation-300052128.html

PETALUMA, Calif., March 10, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Small Business Administration (SBA) hasannounced they will be releasing the results of a study by the University of Maryland, on March 12, 2015,titled "Unintended Outcomes of Small Business Legislation and Policy."

The American Small Business League (ASBL) predicts the results ofthe study will certainly justify PresidentObama's intention to resurrect RonaldReagan's plan to permanently end all federal small business programs bycombining the SBA and the Department of Commerce.

ASBL President Lloyd ChapmanpredictedPresident Obama would try to close the SBA to cover-up widelyreported fraud at the agency in 2008.

Every year of the Obama Administration the SBA Office ofInspector General has named the diversion of federal small businesscontracts to large businesses as the number oneproblem at the agency.

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC and RTTV haveall reported on the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small businesscontracts to Fortune 500 firms.

In 2009, the Government Accountability Office essentiallyaccused the SBA of encouraging fraud in Report 10-108 when they stated, "By failing to hold firms accountable, SBA and contractingagencies have sent a message to the contracting community that there is nopunishment or consequences for committing fraud."

In February the SBA finalized the "safe harbor from fraud penalties" policy that will essentially protect fraudulent firms from all prosecutionand penalties.

On Feb. 5, the SBA proposed another policy that will further dismantle smallbusiness subcontracting programs and divert billions in federal small businessdollars to Fortune 500 firms. This policy would allow Fortune 500 firms to ownup to 49% of a small business and perform up to 60% of the work of those firms. Contracts preformed by these entities would be reported as contracts to asmall business.

The SBA is also attempting to re-launch a policy they proposed in2014 that if adopted could force over 12,000 small business in the Information Technology (IT) industry out of the federalmarketplace.

Under this policy, small IT firms with annual sales in excess of$27.5 million would no longer qualify assmall businesses while billions in federal contracts to Fortune 500 firms wouldcontinue to be reported as small businesses contracts.

In December 2014, President Obamaalso renewed the Pentagon's ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program into its 28^th year oftesting. Professor Charles Tiefer's legal opinion described the program as a "sham" and that "its extension will be seriouslyharmful to vital opportunities for small business… It should not have gottenits 25 years of extension as a never-tested 'Test Program.' Let itexpire."

A Pentagon spokeswoman acknowledged the program had harmed small businesses.

"Despite President Obama's glowing rhetoric about middleclass economics, the truth is he's determined to dismantle all federal programsto assist middle class small business," said ASBL PresidentLloyd Chapman.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sba-to-host-meeting-critical-of-small-business-programs-300048323.html

PETALUMA, Calif., Feb. 25, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Small Business League (ASBL) is accusing the Pentagonof tryingto cover-up trillions of dollars in fraud in a federal case over datasubmitted to the 25-year-old Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program(CSPTP).

In August 2013 under the Freedom ofInformation Act (FOIA), the ASBL requested themost recent comprehensive subcontracting plan that Sikorsky AviationCorporation submitted to the CSPTP. The ASBL's goal was to file a test case tochallenge the Pentagon's refusal to release any data on the program in over 25years and prove the program had defrauded small businesses out of trillions ofdollars in subcontracts since the program began in 1990.

On November 23, 2014, Judge Alsup ruled against the Pentagonand ordered them to release the Sikorsky data to the ASBL by December 3, 2014.

On December 2, 2014, the Office of Solicitor Generalintervened in the case and secured a 60-day stay of the release of the data.

"The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is so thepublic can see how our government works. Congress passed this law to make thesmall businesses have access to some of these projects, and here is the United States coveringit up," stated Judge Alsup in his November 6, 2014 hearing.

On December 11, 2014, Sikorsky filed a motion with the U.S.District Court for their right to intervene with the case.

"DOD argued that the Plan was exempt from disclosure underFOIA because it contained confidential commercial and financial information,the disclosure of which would cause substantial harm to Sikorsky's competitiveposition," stated Rex Heinke, attorney for Sikorsky Aircraft intheir motion to intervene.

Judge Alsup referred to this case as a "David and Goliath" battle between ASBL and both theDoD and Sikorsky. "You get to come in there and be the underdog againagainst the big company and against the big government… They are trying tosuppress the evidence," Alsup stated to the ASBL.

On Jan. 21, both the Pentagon and Sikorsky filed a motion to appeal the case to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In September 2014, Professor Charles Tiefer, one of America's leadingexperts on federal contracting law issued a legal opinion on the CSPTP. He stated, "The program isa sham and its extension will be seriously harmful to vitalopportunities for small business... It should not have gotten its 25 years ofextension as a never-tested 'Test Program.' Let it expire."

In a December 31, 2014 article in the Washington Post, Pentagonspokeswoman Maureen Schumann admitted the CSPTP had infact reduced subcontracting opportunities for small business. Ms. Schumannstated that the program "has led to an erosion of [the agency's] smallbusiness industrial base," and that "there is no evidence that theCSPTP has benefited small companies."

"The move in Washingtonto closethe Small Business Administration is clearly designed to cover-upthe rampant fraudthat has been exposed in small business programs like the ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program," stated Lloyd Chapman,President of the American Small Business League.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pentagon-accused-of-cover-up-in-case-over-sikorsky-data-300040965.html