FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2010
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
President Obama's statement was in response to a series of federal investigations which found rampant abuses in federal small business contracting programs.
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 Xerox, General Dynamics, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.
http://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202Xerox_Created_20091002.pdf
http://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202GeneralDynamics_Created_20091027.pdf
To date, President Obama has refused to propose any legislation or policy to honor that promise. As a result, the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations has continued.
The only legislation that has been introduced into Congress that would address the abuses is H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. H.R. 2568 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 20 co-sponsors.
In a statement released Thursday, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair, Mary L. Landrieu, (D-LA) said, "Government contracts are perhaps one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways the government can help immediately increase sales for America's entrepreneurs, giving them the tools they need to keep our economy strong and create jobs. By increasing contracts to small businesses by just 1 percent, we can create more than 100,000 new jobs - and today, we need those jobs more than ever."
http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2
The ASBL estimates that if President Obama issued an executive order directing federal agencies and prime contractors to halt the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses, or pass H.R. 2568, it would increase the annual volume of contracts flowing to small businesses by well over 50 percent.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Obama Small Business Plan Criticized for Hypocrisy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2010
Petaluma, Calif. - The American Small Business League (ASBL) criticizes President Barack Obama's latest plan to stimulate small businesses and the middle class economy for being hypocritical. Following last week's State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a series of initiatives for small businesses including a $5,000 per new employee tax credit, and the establishment of a $30 billion small business lending fund created from leftover TARP money. While President Obama's recent rhetoric has been focused on small businesses and job creation, over its first year his administration has continued to allow the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. As a result, thousands of businesses have failed and countless jobs have been lost. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)
The Small Business Act directs that the federal government award small businesses, "not less than 23 percent of the total value of all prime contract awards for each fiscal year." Since 2003, over two dozen federal investigations have found that the federal government is not hitting that goal, and that a majority of federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms. (http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/fedgovernment/sba/sbact.html)
In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (IG) referred to the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today."(http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) In October of 2009, the SBA IG referenced this issue as the #1 management challenge facing the agency for the fifth consecutive year. (http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_reports_tmc_fy10.pdf)
In February of 2008, President Obama recognized the magnitude of the problem when he stated, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Two years later, the latest government data clearly shows the Obama Administration is continuing to award billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to large businesses. (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)
The American Small Business League believes if President Obama really wanted to create jobs he would do the following:
1. Issue an executive order to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants or push for the passage of H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf)
2. Institute the 5 percent set-aside goal for women-owned firms.
3. Restore the SBA's budget and staffing, and open all of the small business offices closed during the Bush Administration.
4. End the comprehensive test program, which allows government prime contractors to circumvent their small business contracting goals. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1000)
February 3, 2010
Petaluma, Calif. - The American Small Business League (ASBL) criticizes President Barack Obama's latest plan to stimulate small businesses and the middle class economy for being hypocritical. Following last week's State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a series of initiatives for small businesses including a $5,000 per new employee tax credit, and the establishment of a $30 billion small business lending fund created from leftover TARP money. While President Obama's recent rhetoric has been focused on small businesses and job creation, over its first year his administration has continued to allow the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. As a result, thousands of businesses have failed and countless jobs have been lost. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)
The Small Business Act directs that the federal government award small businesses, "not less than 23 percent of the total value of all prime contract awards for each fiscal year." Since 2003, over two dozen federal investigations have found that the federal government is not hitting that goal, and that a majority of federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms. (http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/fedgovernment/sba/sbact.html)
In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (IG) referred to the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today."(http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) In October of 2009, the SBA IG referenced this issue as the #1 management challenge facing the agency for the fifth consecutive year. (http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_reports_tmc_fy10.pdf)
In February of 2008, President Obama recognized the magnitude of the problem when he stated, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Two years later, the latest government data clearly shows the Obama Administration is continuing to award billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to large businesses. (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)
The American Small Business League believes if President Obama really wanted to create jobs he would do the following:
1. Issue an executive order to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants or push for the passage of H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf)
2. Institute the 5 percent set-aside goal for women-owned firms.
3. Restore the SBA's budget and staffing, and open all of the small business offices closed during the Bush Administration.
4. End the comprehensive test program, which allows government prime contractors to circumvent their small business contracting goals. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1000)
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