The Small Business Association has come in for a lot of criticism this year, with Administrator Hector Barreto Jr. taking most of the heat.

An internal investigation recently showed that after 9/11, a big share of its government-guaranteed loans went to companies that had nothing to do with the tragedy, including, it is alleged, a Texas golf course and a Nevada tanning salon.

Added to that were attacks in the press by American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman, who claimed that billions in government contracts awarded by the SBA, supposedly to small businesses, have actually gone to such giants as Raytheon, Hewlett-Packard, Titan Corp., General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman.

Those calling for Barreto's resignation accuse him at the very least with a lack of oversight in making sure the SBA is pursuing its mission.

Barreto hasn't been taking it lying down, however. He told La Opinión newspaper in Los Angeles that (in 2005) "We gave guaranteed loans for more than $20 billion, more than double compared with four years ago; we approved over 100,000 loans, also more than double those of four years ago ... a third of the loans went to minorities."

The SBA administrator has found a champion in the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"Under Administrator Barreto's leadership, SBA loans to small businesses grew 150 percent," the USHCC said in a statement. "Fully one-third of these loans, totaling $70 billion, went to minority- and women-owned businesses. The number of SBA loans to Hispanic entrepreneurs has more than doubled since 2001, providing more than $1.23 billion in capital essential to the growth and development of Hispanic enterprise."