'I just want to know who made the bad loans' Cramer blasts small business loan program

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'I just want to know who made the bad loans' Cramer blasts small business loan program

April 29, 2020

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday criticized banks for approving small business loans to larger companies that were not meant to benefit from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

"I just want to know who made the bad loans. Somebody did," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street," suggesting the names of the banks who facilitated the loans should be made public.

The PPP, approved by Congress last month as part of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package, was intended to help small businesses pay workers during the pandemic. But it ran out of its initial $349 billion funding allotment in less than two weeks, and public companies like Shake Shack and AutoNation and private entities such as the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers were found to have received loans through the program.

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Small business owners say applying for emergency funds has been anything but easy

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Small business owners say applying for emergency funds has been anything but easy

By Rob Roth
KTVU Fox 2
April 14, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO - Opening the Mom's The Word maternity store on Sacramento Street in San Francisco 23 years ago wasn't easy, say the owners.

But it was nothing compared to applying for federal relief for small businesses.
"The hardest thing I've done in 23 years by a long a shot," says co-owner Sarah Pollak.
The owners have applied for about $96,000 through the paycheck protection program, or PPP, for their seven employees. That took eight days.
They're still waiting for the money.
"I want to pay my staff. They need money. They need it today. They haven't had a paycheck in three weeks. That's not okay," she says.
The PPP is a $349 billion life raft designed to get cash into the hands of small business owners, (those with fewer than 500 employees), who are being crushed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Small business advocacy groups say the SBA is being overwhelmed and that it is severely understaffed.
"Not enough money. Not enough infrastructure. You are not going to get money to small businesses quick enough," says Lloyd Chapman, who heads the American Small Business League, based in the Bay Area. Time is crucial.

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Supreme Court ruling may let big business hide what it does with public money

Press Release

Supreme Court ruling may let big business hide what it does with public money

By Karl Olson
San Francisco Chronicle
March 25, 2020

The government seems poised, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic disaster, to bail out big businesses and assist small businesses. One resulting question arises: Will taxpayers be able to figure out how the money given to big businesses gets used? The answer: Maybe not, given a ruling last year by the John Roberts Supreme Court.

The high court last year made it easy for defense contractors and other Fortune 500 companies to hide what they do with billions of dollars of government money.

The ruling, in the case Food Marketing Institute vs. Argus-Leader Media, was a cause for rejoicing and celebration for the Fortune 500. But it delivered nothing to taxpayers, consumers, small businesses, government watchdogs and the news media.

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Does President Trump hate small businesses? Read his 2021 budget proposal and decide

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Does President Trump hate small businesses? Read his 2021 budget proposal and decide

By Rhonda Abrams
USA Today
February 26, 2020

Does President Donald Trump hate small business? If you examine his proposed budget for 2021, that's the logical conclusion to reach.

Trump is proposing eliminating or drastically cutting aid to small businesses—even when such cuts result in insignificant savings. Trump's draconian recommended budget cuts would stifle the health and growth of this critical sector of our economy.

Presidential budgets rarely get enacted as proposed, but they are widely seen as reflecting a president's priorities and values. Taking a look at Trump's 2021 proposed budget, there's a clear message to the small businesses of America — whether in blue states or red states: "I'm just not that into you."

In 2017, Trump proposed — and got enacted — sweeping tax changes, significantly reducing taxes on large corporations and the super-rich. Those tax reductions resulted in huge deficits, increasing the national debt. Trump needs to show that he's doing something to help pay for his tax giveaways.

Now, you need to understand the scope of the federal budget. The fiscal 2021 budget is $4.8 trillion. That's TRILLION. America's national debt is $22 trillion. Shaving off a few million dollars from a very small program does virtually nothing to reduce the debt. But those programs might help hundreds of thousands of small businesses.

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FY2021 Budget: Cuts to SBA

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FY2021 Budget: Cuts to SBA

National Small Business Administration
February 12, 2020

On Feb. 10, President Trump released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget proposal which details plans for defense and non-defense discretionary spending. The budget blueprint outlines $4.8 trillion in annual spending and estimates the deficit would be cut in half by 2024, however such a drop is unlikely given the steep spending cuts Trump proposed for many agencies and somewhat unrealistic assumptions for economic growth.Among the agencies targeted for cuts is the U.S. Small Business Administration which would receive a 25 percent cut in funds from the 2020 enacted level. Other major proposed cuts include: Commerce Department cut by 37 percent; Department of Labor cut by 11 percent; State Department cut by 21 percent; the Education and Energy Departments cut by eight 8 percent each; Environmental Protection Agency cut by 27 percent; and the Department of Health and Human Services by 9 percent.

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