FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2009
Petaluma, Calif. - In February of 2008, then Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Obama promised to, "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Yet to date President Obama has failed to honor that promise in the face of double-digit unemployment and current legislation in Congress that would solve the problem.
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php
H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009 would immediately stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, and redirect billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds to small businesses in the middle class economy. Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced the bill in May of 2009. To date the bill has 18 co-sponsors.
In January of 2009, Dr. Laura Tyson, Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration, acknowledged that directing federal infrastructure funds to small businesses would be the most effective way to stimulate the economy and job growth. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 97 percent of net new jobs. http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html
Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large firms. Since taking office, Obama officials have given small business contracts to firms like Bechtel, Xerox and General Dynamics. http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf
http://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202Xerox_Created_20091002.pdf
http://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202GeneralDynamics_Created_20091027.pdf
The ASBL has estimated that if passed, H.R. 2568 would redirect more than $100 billion a year in government contracts to small businesses in the middle class economy. Following the 2008 presidential election, President Obama's transition team estimated that every billion dollars spent on federal infrastructure projects would create 40,000 jobs. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us/politics/07radio.html?fta=y
"It is hard to believe that President Obama cares about small businesses when his administration is giving billions of dollars a month in small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "President Obama could honor his promise to end these abuses by supporting H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. Passage of H.R. 2568 would provide a more significant boost to the economy than any policy or legislation proposed to date, and create millions of new jobs."
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
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