Petaluma, Calif. – According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, 98 percent of all U.S. firms have less than 100 employees. Ninety percent of all firms in the U.S. have less than 20 employees and are responsible for over 97 percent of all new jobs in America. These 27 million firms employ over 50 percent of the entire private sector workforce. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html)

The stimulus bill signed last week by President Obama was designed primarily to create and preserve jobs. Yet not one line of the bill contains specific language to direct any of the stimulus bill's spending to the 98 percent of American firms that create over 97 percent of all new jobs.

In the absence of legislative language to specifically direct the billions of dollars in stimulus bill spending to small businesses, over 90 percent of all prime contracts from the stimulus bill will likely go to approximately 2 percent of U.S. firms. This would seem to run contrary to the bill's stated mission of creating jobs.

Congress realized the vital role played by American small businesses when the Small Business Act was passed in 1953. Existing federal law, based on the Small Business Act, stipulates that a minimum of 23 percent of all federal contracts and subcontracts be awarded to small businesses.

Unfortunately for small businesses and the American economy, during the eight years of the Bush Administration, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and federal agencies diverted hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. (https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

Over a dozen federal investigations have been released since 2003, which have uncovered the wholesale diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses. ABC, CBS and CNN aired stories on the investigations. (ABC, https://www.asbl.com/abc_evening_news.wmv; CBS, https://www.asbl.com/cbs.wmv; CNN, https://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1170)

President Obama seemed to realize that the vital role small businesses play in our nation's economy when he released this statement in February of 2008, "98 percent of all American companies have fewer than 100 employees. Over half of all Americans work for a small business. 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." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

Without provisions to direct new federal spending to the small businesses that create over 97 percent of new jobs or provisions to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, it is questionable whether the stimulus bill will be able to achieve its primary goal of creating new jobs in America.

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Petaluma, Calif. – President Barack Obama's address to Congress on Tuesday night will cover a multitude of subjects from the economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One subject that is almost certain to be ignored by President Obama are his plans to bolster the 26 million small businesses that create more than 97 percent of all new jobs.

According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, firms with fewer than 20 employees comprise more than 90 percent of all American companies and are responsible for more than 97 percent of all new jobs. Small businesses also employ over 50 percent of America’s private sector workforce. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html, http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/30/smallbusiness/job_creation.fsb/index.htm)  

To date, President Obama has not proposed a single policy that would specifically direct any of the hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending to these small businesses.

President Obama has even refused to make good on a campaign promise to American small businesses to clean up rampant fraud and abuse in existing federal economic stimulus plans for small businesses.

During the last seven years, a series of more than 15 federal investigations have been released which all found Bush officials diverted hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and thousands of other large businesses. ABC, CBS and CNN all aired stories on the problem. (ABC, https://www.asbl.com/abc_evening_news.wmv; CBS, https://www.asbl.com/cbs.wmv; CNN, https://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1170)   

During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to address abuses in federal small business contracting programs when he released this statement in February 2008, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php) 

So far, President Obama has refused to offer any policies or legislation to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to "corporate giants."

The American Small Business League (ASBL) projects that legislation or policy from President Obama that would stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses would create millions of jobs by redirecting over $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending back to the small businesses that create more than 97 percent of all new jobs.

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Petaluma, Calif. - Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found billions of dollars in government small business contracts have been diverted to many of the largest companies in the United States and Europe. (https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) 

Report 5-15 from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration 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) 

A year ago, on February 26, President Obama released the following statement, "98 percent of all American companies have fewer than 100 employees. Over half of all Americans work for a small business. 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."  Since then he has offered no legislation or policy to keep that promise. (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php) 

Since that date, President Obama's campaign website was modified to remove the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/sbhome/)   

All proposals to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants were removed from President Obama's small business rescue plan and his Change.gov website. (http://obama.3cdn.net/d14eb1b3649c4d6745_0evzmv02w.pdf, http://change.gov/content/home) 

U.S Census Bureau statistics show that firms with fewer than 20 employees account for 90 percent of all U.S. firms and are responsible for more than 97 percent of net new jobs. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html, http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/30/smallbusiness/job_creation.fsb/index.htm)   

If President Obama refuses to make good on his campaign promise to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to  "corporate giants," more small businesses will be forced to close their doors, thousands of middle class jobs will continue to be lost and our economy will be pushed even closer to a depression.

It is time for President Obama to do what he said he would do, and end the Bush Administration policies of fraud and abuse that have already destroyed countless American small businesses and thousands of middle class jobs.

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Petaluma, Calif. – According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, firms with fewer than 20 employees account for over 90 percent of all U.S. businesses and are responsible for more than 97 percent of all new jobs in America. (https://www.asbl.com/documents/INKSBAReport.pdf) CNNMoney.com and Inc.com reported on the findings. (http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/30/smallbusiness/job_creation.fsb/index.htm, http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html) 

The stimulus bill completely ignores this fact.

There is no need for Congress to reinvent the wheel. America already has a stimulus bill based on the realization that small businesses drive our nation's economy and create 97 percent of new jobs. That stimulus plan is called the Small Business Act. Current federal law stipulates that a minimum of 23 percent of the total value of all federal contracts and subcontracts shall be awarded to America's small businesses.

Unfortunately, since 2003 more than 15 federal investigations have been released which uncovered hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts actually went to Fortune 500 firms. (https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) Every major newspaper has covered the story along with ABC, CBS and CNN. (ABC, https://www.asbl.com/abc_evening_news.wmv; CBS, https://www.asbl.com/cbs.wmv; CNN, https://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1170) 

In 2005, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released Report 5-15, which described the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." (http://www.sba.gov/IG/05-15.pdf) 

In February of 2008, President Obama responded to the problem with the statement, "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." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php) 

To date, neither President Obama, nor any member of Congress have proposed even a single policy to address the diversion of up to $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to "corporate giants."

If President Obama and Congress are sincerely interested in creating jobs and stimulating our nation's failing economy, the existing economic stimulus plan designed to direct federal infrastructure spending to the firms that create over 97 percent of new jobs must be addressed.

The Small Business Act defines a small business as "independently owned." Publicly traded firms do not qualify as small business, and are obviously not "independently owned."

One sentence in the stimulus bill could completely halt the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and create millions of jobs across the country. "The federal government and prime contractors shall not report awards to publicly traded firms as small business awards." (https://www.asbl.com/documents/fairnessandtrans.pdf) 

Petaluma, Calif. – President Barack Obama's latest economic stimulus plan may have been heavily influenced by powerful corporate lobbying.

Some of President Obama's earlier campaign promises that would have directed hundreds of billions of dollars back into the middle class economy may have been killed by an intensive and well-financed lobbying campaign backed by some of our nation’s largest corporations.

President Obama campaigned for two years on a promise to institute a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry. The proceeds from the tax would have stimulated the economy by providing a  $1000 energy rebate to American families.  No additional federal funds would have been expended.

Just two days after the election, on November 6, the windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry was the number one issue under the Economy section of President Obama's change.gov website. (https://www.asbl.com/documents/Economy_Change.pdf) On November 8th, the windfall profits tax abruptly disappeared with no justification or explanation from President Obama.( http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/)

Proponents of the windfall profits tax believe the sudden and unexplained removal of the plan was prompted by an aggressive and expensive lobbying campaign by the oil and gas industry.

In February of 2008, President Obama responded to pleas from small business groups to address Bush Administration policies that had allowed the diversion of up to $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses.

Since 2003, more than 15 federal investigations have confirmed Bush officials diverted billions of dollars in federal contracts intended for small business to many of the nation's largest corporations. (https://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)   

Obama responded with the statement, "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." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php) 

Days later, the Obama camp modified their website to make it appear as if President Obama had never made the statement. (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/sbhome/) Additionally, just days before the election President Obama dropped a plan drafted by his small business advisory panel that would have created millions of jobs by redirecting up to $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts back to middle class. (https://www.asbl.com/documents/BOsmallbusinesspolicy.pdf)   

To date, President Obama has offered no explanation for dropping his campaign promise to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, or any policies to address the problem.

Small business advocates believe a well funded lobbying campaign by the defense and aerospace giants that are currently receiving the majority of federal small business contracts could explain President Obama's handling of the issue.

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