Bad for small business

For more than three years, I have been predicting that President Obama would try to close the Small Business Administration by combining it with the Commerce Department, and now he has announced his plans to do exactly that. ["Push to reorganize agencies draws concern in Congress," Jan. 23]

The president is trying to wind down federal small-business programs, not "streamline" government.

If he really wanted to shrink government, he would start by cutting big agencies like the Pentagon, not some of the smallest agencies. The $3 billion over 10 years the consolidation will save is equal to 0.05 percent of the $6 trillion the Pentagon is projected to spend in the next decade.

The interests of large businesses and small businesses are diametrically opposed. Merging Commerce with SBA is like merging al-Qaida with the Department of Homeland Security. Commerce pushes the interests of Fortune 500 firms and works closely with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, while SBA is designed to help small businesses.

Obama has adopted a pattern of anti-small business policies since taking office:

• On Sept. 9, his administration announced plans in the Federal Register to eliminate a Defense Department program that is the nation's oldest and most successful in directing federal infrastructure spending to minorities.

• His administration removed the parent company's DUNS number from the Central Contractor Database, making it easier for corporations to misrepresent their subsidiaries as small businesses.

• He has not kept his campaign promise to end the diversion of federal small-business contracts to corporate giants. Latest data of the top 100 federal small-business contractors shows 60 were some of the world's largest companies.

• He has not kept his campaign promise to restore SBA's budget to pre-George W. Bush administration levels.

• In December, he reauthorized loopholes that allow large defense firms to circumvent the Small Business Act by not reporting their subcontracting performance.

When you quit listening to what he says and start watching what he does, you'll see that President Obama is one of the most anti-small business presidents in U.S. history.

— Lloyd Chapman, president and founder, American Small Business League, Petaluma, Calif.