tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17992717886239885852024-02-20T01:31:08.293-08:00American Small Business LeagueThe American Small Business League was formed to promote and advocate policies that provide the greatest opportunity for small businessesAmerican Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.comBlogger421125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-67333437526047675402012-02-16T17:03:00.002-08:002012-02-27T17:04:51.314-08:00Where Is Obama's Windfall Profits Tax On the Oil and Gas Industry? (HuffingtonPost)The following blog was posted on the Huffington Post by Lloyd Chapman<br />
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During the 2008 presidential election, then-Senator Barack Obama called for a windfall profits tax on the oil industry to subsidize a $1,000 "emergency" rebate for consumers struggling with surging gas prices and made provocative statements regarding the cost of energy and its respective negative impact on American families. <br />
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On May 6, 2008, Obama stated, "It isn't right that oil companies are making record profits at a time when ordinary Americans are going into debt trying to pay rising energy costs. That's why we'll put a windfall profits tax on oil companies and use it to help... families pay their heating and cooling bills and reduce energy costs."<br />
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However, www.change.gov, which housed the Obama-Biden transition agenda, was cleansed of any mention of such a tax shortly after.<br />
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The promise was displayed prominently at the top of the "economy" section of Obama's campaign website. That same information was transferred to Obama's transition website, when it was launched on Thursday, November 6, 2008. However, the language regarding the windfall profits tax vanished on Saturday, November 8, 2008 in an unceremonious and abrupt manner. <br />
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What stunned me was that when I noticed this, I couldn't find any mention of it in the news, anywhere in the world. So, I wrote a press release that was quickly picked up by different media outlets, including a story in The Huffington Post that saw 3,500 comments. Much to my amazement, the story spread across the nation and even to newspapers in Europe, and that's how the world found out that Barack Obama had dropped his promise to institute a windfall profts tax on the oil and gas industry.<br />
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The American Small Business League was foremost in questioning why, with the election over, President-elect Obama was failing to justify the removal of the windfall profits tax from his tax plan and whether the sudden elimination of this issue was a further indication that large corporations were already demonstrating their ability to influence the Obama administration.<br />
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An unnamed aide from the Obama administration eventually responded in December 2008, that the promise was dropped due to falling gas prices.<br />
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Since then, gas prices have skyrocketed, and profits for the oil and gas industry are some of the highest of any corporations in history.<br />
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ExxonMobil, for example, received so much in federal subsidies during the Obama administration, that Citizens for Tax Justice released a 2011 report, finding that "Over the past two years, ExxonMobil reported $9,910 million in pretax U.S. profits. But it enjoyed so many tax subsidies that its federal income tax bill was only $39 million -- a tax rate of only 0.4 percent."<br />
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In fact, in 2009, Exxon Mobil paid no taxes at all to the U.S. federal government on domestic profits of nearly $2.6 billion by legally funneling its profits through wholly-owned subsidiaries in countries like the Cayman Islands and reinvesting earnings overseas. In 2011, Exxon Mobil made $41.1 billion in profits, equal to about $5 million an hour, and spent over $13 million on lobbying efforts. Exxon's current effective tax rate is 17.6 percent, lower than that for most Americans.<br />
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Since the U.S. government has decided to treat corporations as individuals, then corporations should be required to pay at least the same amount in taxes as the average American individual does.<br />
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If President Obama were the man we all thought he would be and keep his promises to bring down gas prices and look for new sources of revenue -- the companies making record profits without a windfall tax seems to me like a perfect place to start looking for new revenue.<br />
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The oil and gas industry has a stranglehold on Barack Obama and every member of Congress. This country could go into a depression we'd never recover from, oil and gas could continue to make record profits and gas prices could hit $10 bucks a gallon -- but you'd still never see legislation to curb the excessive profits from the oil and gas industry because of the money that the oil and gas industry throws around. <br />
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Watch any major news outlet for an hour and you'll see back-to-back ads from the American Petroleum Institute or similar oil and gas lobbyist. To watch their ads, you'd think they're the Red Cross. They act like they're all doing us a big favor, like a philanthropic organization. But when you see those ads, I want you to realize that the oil and gas industry is making the biggest record profits in history, gouging us at the pump, paying little to nothing in income tax -- and President Obama thinks that's great.<br />
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My advice to everyone: quit listening to what President Obama is saying and start watching what he is doing.American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-47311463842229788262011-10-21T07:56:00.000-07:002011-10-21T07:58:18.842-07:00ASBL President Lloyd Chapman on Obama's jobs plan<a href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000052316">http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000052316</a>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-30910698633094411602011-07-08T08:49:00.000-07:002011-07-08T08:54:26.972-07:00SBA Refuses to Comment on Lockheed Martin, AT&T, Claims Small Business Data Is As "Clean As It Can Be"The Small Business Administration (SBA) has waged a decade long campaign to diminish and cast public doubt on the charge that the agency has overseen the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to large corporations. On June 24, 2011, the SBA released the government’s fiscal year (FY) 2010 Small Business Procurement Scorecard, reporting almost $98 billion in federal contracts, or 22.7 percent of contract dollars, went to small businesses.<br />(http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/FY10%20SB%20Procurement%20Scorecard_FINAL_GOVERNMENT%20WIDE.pdf)<br /><br />However, the American Small Business League’s (ASBL) annual analysis of the SBA’s federal small business contracting data again shows that a majority of small business contracts were awarded to large corporations. Of the top 100 recipients of small business contracts in FY 2010, 61 were large firms. These large firms received 62.5 percent of the total dollar amount awarded to those firms, a staggering $8.8 billion dollars. Corporations such as Hewlett-Packard, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Xerox, 3M Company and AT&T are just some of the mega-corporations that received small business contracts during FY 2010. <br />(http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf)<br /><br />Following the release of the ASBL’s FY 2010 data, Michele Chang, the SBA’s senior advisor for government contracting and business development, chose to maintain the course set by a series of SBA spokespeople. According to Ms. Chang, all of the federal agencies charged with small business contracting goals have gone through processes to ensure that data is “clean” and free of data anomalies such as “miscoding.” Chang went on to claim that the SBA is, “confident this is the cleanest data we’ve had and the cleanest it can be.” <br />(http://blog.nacm.org/blog/shappell/sba-responds-to-allegations-that-small-business-scorecard-misleading)<br /><br />Perhaps the most prevalent of the various, unclear explanations for the diversion of billions in small business contracts to corporate giants, so-called “miscoding” is aimed at painting accusations of fraud and abuse as frivolous. Essentially, the SBA claims the diversion of small business contracts is due to computer glitches or simple human error. Former SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto, his successors Steve Preston and Karen Mills, and SBA Spokesman Mike Stamler have all used this murky term to explain how, year-after-year, large corporations receive small business contracts that are in turn counted toward the congressionally mandated 23 percent small business contracting goal. <br /><br />It takes only the simplest logic to see that the “miscoding” excuse does not hold up. Random errors in a field with just two possible answers would follow the same pattern of flipping a coin. However, we do not see any “miscoding” errors that categorize small businesses as large. Unless you believe the SBA can flip a coin thousands of times a day, year-after-year and make it come up heads every time, there must be another answer.<br /><br />Ironically, the SBA’s own Office of Inspector General has disagreed with the well-worn “miscoding” assessment as an explanation for the continued diversion of small business contracts to large corporations. <br /><br />In Report 5-15, the SBA IG referred to the problem as, “One of the most important challenges facing the SBA and the entire federal government today.” For six consecutive years, the SBA IG has named the issue as the number one challenge facing the SBA. In Report 5-16, the SBA IG attributed the awarding of small business contracts to large firms to “false” and “improper” certifications.<br />(http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf; http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)<br /><br />Ms. Chang’s attempt to paint her agency’s grossly distorted data as, “the cleanest it can be” mirrors the explanations put forth by the SBA in regards to FY 2009 data. Joe Jordan, the SBA’s associate administrator for government contracting and business development, said, “I can tell you this data is as clean as its ever been…but it’s not 100 percent free of errors.”(http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1493)<br /><br />And so the issue reaches a tipping point. Ms. Chang further denied the ASBL’s allegation that only five percent, as opposed to the 22.7 trumpeted by the SBA, of recipients of small business contracts were actually small businesses. However, when asked if Lockheed Martin, AT&T and Hewlett-Packard received small business contracts, Chang said she “can’t comment on them specifically.”<br /><br />I would ask the public, the small business community, and any citizen concerned with job creation to take a moment and consider this contradiction. The SBA’s spokesperson feels comfortable claiming in the media that the ASBL’s allegations are untrue, while simultaneously expressing her own inability to comment on the most damning evidence in the SBA’s own data: the names of mega-corporations continue to surface in small business contracting data, as they have for over a decade.<br /><br />The ASBL maintains that the Obama Administration has dramatically inflated the percentage of contracts awarded to small businesses by under-reporting the actual federal acquisition budget, and by including billions of dollars in contracts awarded to large businesses.<br /><br />If over-reporting the dollar amount awarded to small businesses in federal contracts by as much as seventeen percent is the cleanest the data can be, everyone working at the SBA is completely incompetent. Furthermore, if the SBA’s officials cannot provide substantive oversight of federal contracting programs the Obama Administration must appoint an SBA Administrator who can. Otherwise, the President is sending an unmistakable message to our nation’s top job creators: as small businesses your interests do not align with those of this Administration.American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-27026442768599466282011-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:002011-07-08T08:31:22.686-07:00SBA Spokesman Continues to Mislead the MediaPetaluma, Calif. – The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:<br /><br />For the past decade, Small Business Administration (SBA) spokesman Mike Stamler has led a coordinated campaign to mislead the public and media about the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.<br /><br />On June 24, the SBA released its fiscal year (FY) 2010 small business scorecard and goaling report, claiming that small businesses received just under $98 billion in federal contracts, or 22.7 percent of total spending. An analysis of the FY 2010 contracting data by the American Small Business League (ASBL) found that 61 of the top 100 small business contract recipients were actually large companies that received more than $8.8 billion in contracts counted towards the congressionally mandated 23 percent goal. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf) <br /><br />In response to the analysis by the ASBL, Mr. Stamler defended the SBA’s numbers claiming that, “Every federal agency certified that the data is correct.” (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1857)<br /><br />For years, the SBA and Mr. Stamler have used the excuse of “miscoding” to explain why some of the largest firms in the U.S. and Europe receive billions of dollars a month in contracts intended for small businesses. Last year, Mr. Stamler claimed that large companies receive small business contracts, “because of simple human error,” and “miscoding.” In a May 2007 press release, the SBA even claimed the rampant abuses were simply a “myth.” <br />(http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)<br /><br />In 2008, after quoting ASBL President Lloyd Chapman in a story, the Long Island Business Journal (LIBJ) received a series of aggressive correspondence from Stamler, which was so profane in nature that editors of the paper responded by publishing a blog entitled, “Expletives the SBA's Forte.” <br />(http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/expletives-the-sbas-forte/) <br /><br />Mr. Stamler’s remarks stand in stark contrast to a series of federal investigations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the SBA Office of Advocacy, and the SBA’s Inspector General (SBA IG) that have found widespread fraud and abuse in virtually every program managed by the SBA. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) <br /><br />In Report 5-15, the SBA 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 and the entire Federal government today.” For the last six consecutive years, the SBA IG has reported these rampant abuses as the top management challenge facing the SBA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) <br /><br />An SBA IG investigation from March 2010 found that the SBA itself awarded federal small business contracts to large businesses during fiscal years 2008 and 2009. (http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_report_10-08.pdf)<br /><br />“There is no way Stamler and the SBA can explain over a trillion dollars in small business contracts going to large firms over the past decade as an accident or simply a miscoding error,” Lloyd Chapman said. “That is statistically impossible.”American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-81830769612784873432011-06-29T09:38:00.000-07:002011-06-29T17:08:55.531-07:00New Bill Could Rescue National EconomyJune 29, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – A new bill aimed at closing loopholes and ending fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs could rescue the national economy. The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act focuses on ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses, a problem preventing the creation of upwards of 1.8 million new jobs. Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) is expected to introduce the bill later this year.<br /><br />The bill targets ambiguous provisions within the Small Business Act of 1953 that have allowed publicly traded and foreign-owned firms to qualify as small businesses for the purpose of receiving federal small business contracts. This will help the federal government award contracts to legitimate small businesses and reach its congressionally mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of the total value of all prime contract dollars to small businesses. <br /><br />According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses create more than 90 percent of all net new jobs. Moreover, a recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that since 1980 businesses less than five years old have created nearly all new jobs. However, based on government data, the American Small Business League (ASBL) estimates that every year up to $200 billion in federal small business contracts is diverted from the nation’s chief job creators—its 27 million small businesses—to some of the largest corporations in the U.S. and Europe. The new law would end this abuse. <br />(<a href="http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/where-will-the-jobs-come-from.aspx">http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/where-will-the-jobs-come-from.aspx</a>) <br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars in fraud and abuse in small business contracting programs. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) referred to the problem as, “One of the most important challenges facing the SBA and the entire federal government today.” For six consecutive years, the SBA IG has named the issue as the number one challenge facing the SBA. <br />(<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html#5-15">http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html#5-15</a>)<br /> <br />In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 large companies like Lockheed Martin, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, 3M and AT&T received federal small business contracts. <br />(<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf</a>) <br /><br />“The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act is the most efficient, effective solution to job creation that has ever been proposed,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “It requires no new spending, no new taxes, and it is deficit neutral. Just take existing federal infrastructure spending, and direct it to the nation’s chief job creators; its small businesses.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Brian Reeder<br />Public Affairs Analyst<br />American Small Business League<br />brianreeder(at)asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-75283451827098022242011-06-28T09:15:00.000-07:002011-06-28T09:18:35.936-07:00Obama Administration Still Diverting Small Business Dollars to Corporate GiantsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />June 28, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. –61 of the top 100 recipients of federal small business contracts for fiscal year (FY) 2010 were large firms, according to a new report from the American Small Business League (ASBL). These large firms received 62.5 percent of the dollars awarded to the top 100, or $8.8 billion. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf</a>) <br /><br />The ASBL’s findings come in the wake of Small Business Administration (SBA) claims that the federal government narrowly missed its congressionally mandated 23 percent small business goal. On Friday, June 24, the SBA announced the government awarded $98 billion, or 22.7 percent of federal spending, to small businesses. (<a href="http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-procurement-goaling-scorecards">http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-procurement-goaling-scorecards</a>) <br /><br />“The SBA claims the government nearly hit its small business goal, and yet the government’s own data indicates it awarded no more than 5 percent of federal work to small businesses,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “The SBA’s most recent claims are just more misleading smoke and mirrors.”<br /><br />The ASBL maintains the Obama Administration has dramatically inflated the percentage of contracts awarded to small businesses by under-reporting the actual federal acquisition budget, and by including billions of dollars in contracts awarded to large businesses. The ASBL maintains, the actual federal acquisition budget for foreign, domestic, classified and unclassified projects is roughly $1 trillion. The Obama Administration’s goaling achievement is based on a number that is less than half of the actual federal acquisition budget.<br /><br />According to the Obama Administration’s most recent small business data, recipients of small business contracts during FY 2010 included Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T, among many others.<br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. This diversion has lead to a significant shortfall in the volume of federal contracts actually going to legitimate small businesses. 2010 federal data indicates that once again the government missed its small business goal by a minimum of 18 percent. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>) <br /><br />In April 2010, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the Chair of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship estimated that, “Increasing contracts to small businesses by just 1 percent,” would create more than 100,000 new jobs. Based on the latest data, the ASBL estimates that ending this abuse would create upwards of 1.8 million jobs. <a href="http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2">http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2</a><br /><br />“It is time for the Obama Administration to stop misleading the public, and start actually working to end billions of dollars in fraud and abuse in small business contracting programs,” Chapman said. “Ending this abuse would be a more effective economic stimulus than anything proposed by the Obama Administration to date.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-41022816642097249472011-06-20T09:41:00.000-07:002011-06-20T09:41:14.917-07:00Senate Small Business Committee Discusses Fraud and Abuse in Small Business Contracting Programs<a href="http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Hearings&ContentRecord_id=c65a05bf-94df-4453-9ad3-5022b05c2152&ContentType_id=14f995b9-dfa5-407a-9d35-56cc7152a7ed&Group_id=43eb5e02-e987-4077-b9a7-1e5a9cf28964&MonthDisplay=6&YearDisplay=2011">Hearings & Events - Home - U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship</a>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-60303197260016155882011-06-13T09:02:00.000-07:002011-06-13T09:04:23.585-07:00Senate to Hold Hearing on SBA Fraud and AbuseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />June 13, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – On Thursday, June 16th, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will hold a hearing titled, “An Examination of SBA Programs: Eliminating Inefficiencies, Duplications, Fraud and Abuse.” Kevin Baron, Director of Government Affairs for the American Small Business League (ASBL), will testify before the committee regarding the continued diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.<br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a year in small business contracts to large corporations. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html">http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html</a>) <br /><br />In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) referred to the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.” The SBA IG has named the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as one of the most important challenges facing the agency for six consecutive years. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>) <br /><br />Government data shows that this trend continues. A recent ASBL analysis of the government’s contracting data found 61 large firms in the top 100 recipients of small business contracts. These large firms received $10.7 billion, or a staggering 64.5 percent of dollars intended for legitimate small businesses. (<a href="www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf">www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf</a>)<br /><br />The federal government has a congressionally mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of all government contracts to small businesses. The ASBL has estimated the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants has lead to the government awarding no more than 5 percent of government contracts to small businesses; an 18 percent shortfall. <br /><br />In April 2010, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the Chair of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship estimated that, “increasing contracts to small businesses by just 1 percent,” would create more than 100,000 new jobs. Based on an ASBL examination of government contracting data, and Chairwoman Landrieu’s estimation, ending this abuse would create upwards of 1.8 million jobs.<br />(<a href="http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2">http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2</a>)<br /><br />“Since President Obama was elected, unemployment has jumped from 7.6 to 9.1 percent. Ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants would put more existing federal spending into the hands of our nation’s chief job creators than anything proposed by the Obama Administration to date,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “In February of 2008, President Obama promised to end this abuse. President Obama can honor that promise by passing the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act.” (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/20081007_Obama_Promise_Website.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/20081007_Obama_Promise_Website.pdf</a>)<br /><br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-52351221493239328962011-05-19T09:52:00.000-07:002011-05-19T09:55:52.553-07:00Obama Small Business Agenda Contains Major HoleFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />May 19, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – On Monday, May 13, the Obama Administration released what President Obama called “The Small Business Agenda: Growing America’s Small Businesses to Win the Future.” After carefully evaluating President Obama’s small business agenda, the American Small Business League (ASBL) was surprised to find that the plan ignores the diversion of billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts to large corporations. (<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/16/white-house-releases-small-business-agenda-growing-americas-small-busine">http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/16/white-house-releases-small-business-agenda-growing-americas-small-busine</a>) <br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have found that most small business contracts actually go to Fortune 500 firms in the U.S. and other large businesses around the world. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html">http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html</a>) <br /><br />- In Report 5-14, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) found that the SBA itself awarded small business contracts to large corporations. The report stated, "The SBA awarded four of the six high dollar procurements, reported as small business procurements, to large companies at the time of the procurements." (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-14.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-14.pdf</a>) <br /><br />- In Report 5-16, the SBA IG found that federal agencies had allowed large businesses to illegally receive federal small business contracts by making "false certifications," and "improper certifications." (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf</a>) <br /><br />- In Report 5-15, the SBA IG referred to the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>) The SBA IG’s office has continued to report the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the #1 challenge at the agency for six consecutive years.<br /><br />The most recent data released by the Obama Administration shows recipients of federal small business contracts including: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Dell Computer, Xerox, SAIC, General Dynamics, Bechtel and John Deere. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>; <a href="www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf">www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf</a>)<br /><br />President Obama acknowledged the magnitude of the problem during his 2008 presidential campaign when he released the statement, “It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.” <a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/20081007_Obama_Promise_Website.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/20081007_Obama_Promise_Website.pdf</a><br /><br />“The Obama Administration’s small business agenda is all smoke and mirrors. When you look at what he does, it is completely different from what he says. If you want to know what the truth is look at what the SBA Inspector General has said for six consecutive years; most small business contracts actually go to large businesses,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “If President Obama wants to help small businesses and stimulate the economy, all he has to do is keep his campaign promise to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn@asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-50341227620759254102011-05-18T08:16:00.000-07:002011-05-18T08:18:31.184-07:00Supreme Court Won’t Hear Small Business Administration Phone Records Case<strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </strong><br />May 17, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – The Supreme Court of the United States has announced it will not review an American Small Business League (ASBL) case against the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) over the agency’s refusal to release its phone records. The ASBL’s lawsuit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).<br /><br />The ASBL filed a petition to the high court in January after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found the SBA was not required to disclose phone records held by a third party. The small business advocate originally filed suit against the SBA after the agency refused to provide several years of telephone records for the agency’s press office director, Mike Stamler. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf</a>) <br /><br />The ASBL requested Stamler's phone records after a series of media professionals complained that Stamler attempted to defame ASBL President Lloyd Chapman, and deny the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants. <br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html">http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html</a>) In Report 5-15, the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) described the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.”(<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>) <br /><br />Throughout the course of litigation, the SBA has claimed that it does not have access to its own phone records, and is not required to supply that information under FOIA. Yet during 2010, the ASBL requested and received full and comprehensive telephone records from federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and the Social Security Administration (SSA).<br /><br />The SBA has a track record of withholding documents that highlight its efforts to cover-up the division of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. In February 2008, the SBA refused to release documents regarding the large recipients of small business contracts. In the court’s ruling against the agency, United States District Judge Marilyn H. Patel stated, “The court finds it curious the SBA’s argument that it does not ‘control’ the very information it needs to carry out its duties and functions.”<br /><br />"The fact that the SBA was willing to go to the Supreme Court to withhold Mike Stamler's phone records shows just how damaging that information must be," Chapman said. "The SBA has played a pivotal role in allowing billions of dollars in fraud. We’ll continue to pursue this information until it is public and transparent."<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn@asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-87403349433037130812011-04-29T14:05:00.000-07:002011-04-29T14:07:18.988-07:00The Mike Siegel Show - Lloyd Chapman talks jobs, the economy, and the Obama Administration<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hvHMJYxWQkE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-41107350926209570542011-04-07T08:22:00.000-07:002011-04-07T08:28:59.162-07:00Department of Defense Sued for Refusing to Release Raytheon Contracting Data<span style="font-weight:bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br />April 7, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – On Wednesday, April 6, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) after the agency refused to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to Fortune 500 defense giant Raytheon. The ASBL filed suit in United States District Court, Northern District of California. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_raytheon_sub_report_dod.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_raytheon_sub_report_dod.pdf</a>) <br /><br />The case was filed after DoD repeatedly refused to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents related to Raytheon’s compliance with small business subcontracting goals. <br /><br />The ASBL believes the information contained in Raytheon’s subcontracting reports may show that the contractor is not complying with its congressionally mandated small business goals. Additionally, the ASBL is concerned the reports may indicate that Raytheon and DoD cooperated in an effort to circumvent federal law, which requires 23 percent of all federal contracts to be awarded to small businesses.<br /><br />The ASBL’s most recent suit was filed in a continuing effort to gather information on a series of major government prime contractors, which may lead to litigation filed under the False Claims Act, and Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act.<br /><br />Including Wednesday’s lawsuit, the Obama Administration has forced the ASBL to file 13 lawsuits in pursuit of publicly releasable documents regarding government contracting programs. In 1994, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that subcontracting reports are releasable to the public, and do not contain trade secret or proprietary information.<br /><br />Despite continually promising the most transparent administration in history, the Obama Administration has actually been amongst the least transparent. In early 2010, the Associated Press conducted a review of FOIA reports filed by 17 major agencies, and found across the board increases in the number of rejections. While the federal government as a whole received fewer FOIA requests during the first year of the Obama Administration, agencies increasingly said “no” to requesters looking for public documents. (<a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EFRPJG0">http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EFRPJG0</a>) <br /><br />“People in the main stream media seem to think stories about small business issues are not interesting to the public, but this is not just a small business story. This is a story about trillions of dollars in contracting fraud, bribery, and corruption in government. This is a story about how lobbying dollars dictate economic policy in America,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Our government is broken. How else could you explain $100 million an hour in small business contracts going to large businesses for over a decade?”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn@asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-33009067706642535172011-04-04T13:28:00.000-07:002011-04-04T13:32:44.503-07:00ASBL Small Business Update, April 1,2011<iframe width="380" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Iuvh_Fggm3s?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-24367341539543040032011-03-30T08:35:00.000-07:002011-03-30T08:38:14.019-07:00SBA’s Jobs Tour More Smoke and Mirrors<span style="font-weight:bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br />March 30, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – On Monday, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) held the first two meetings of its recently announced, “Small Business Jobs Act Tour.” Small business advocates have complained that the SBA’s meetings are just smoke and mirrors, and will have little impact on America’s 27 million small businesses.<br /><br />“The SBA’s jobs act tour is nothing more than a PR stunt designed to distract the American people from the Obama Administration’s lack of action. As I have always said, we need to stop listening to what they say and start paying attention to what they are doing. Right now they are allowing the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants to continue,” American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman said.<br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts actually flowing into the hands of Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large businesses. In Report 5-15, the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) referred to the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.” During 2010, the SBA IG named the issue as the agency’s top management challenge for the sixth consecutive year. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>)<br /><br />The ASBL has estimated that every year more than $200 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted to corporate giants. (<a href="www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf">www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf</a>) <br /><br />Nearly a year ago, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) estimated that increasing contracts to small business by 1 percent would create more than 100,000 new jobs. Addressing the diversion of small business contracts to large companies would raise the percentage of federal contracts awarded to small businesses by a staggering 18 percent.<br />(<a href="http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2">http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2</a>)<br /><br />In February of 2008, President Barack Obama promised to end the abuse. Despite, thousands of business closures and countless lost jobs, the Obama Administration has failed to honor its promise, and end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.<br /> (<a href="http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php">http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php</a>)<br /><br />“If the Obama Administration would quit giving federal small business funds to Fortune 500 firms, it would redirect more infrastructure spending to the middle class, and create more jobs than anything they have proposed to date. That would be a real jobs bill.” Chapman said. “I’m predicting that before he is out of office, President Obama is going to try to change the definition of a small business from independently owned to include companies owned and operated by some of the wealthiest venture capitalists in the world.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn@asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-53973786994752709952011-03-24T08:13:00.000-07:002011-03-24T08:26:55.043-07:00Navy Sued for Refusing to Release SAIC Contracting DataFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />March 23, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. - On Wednesday, March 23, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Navy after the agency repeatedly refused to fully release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to contracting giant SAIC. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_saic_sub_report_navy.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_saic_sub_report_navy.pdf</a>) <br /><br />The ASBL originally requested Individual Subcontracting Reports (ISR) and Summary Subcontracting Reports (SSR) on a prime contract awarded to SAIC under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The suit was filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California.<br /><br />The ASBL believes the requested information may show that SAIC and the Navy cooperated in an effort to circumvent federal law, which requires 23 percent of all federal contracts to be awarded to small businesses. Wednesday’s lawsuit represents the ASBL’s 12th lawsuit against the Obama Administration. The ASBL is gathering information on a series of major government prime contractors in preparation for litigation that may include cases filed under the False Claims Act, and Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act. <br /><br />Despite continuing to promise the most transparent administration in history, the Obama Administration has forced the ASBL to file suit over information previously deemed releasable by federal courts. In 1992, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that subcontracting reports are releasable to the public, and do not contain trade secret or proprietary information.<br /><br />In early 2010, the Associated Press conducted a review of FOIA reports filed by 17 major agencies, and found across the board increases in the number of rejections. While the federal government as a whole received fewer FOIA requests during the first year of the Obama Administration, agencies increasingly said “no” to requesters looking for public documents. (<a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EFRPJG0">http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EFRPJG0</a>) <br /><br />“The Obama Administration continually promises to be the most transparent administration in history, yet once again the ASBL has been forced to file suit over information that has always been released to the public,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “There is a credibility gap the size of the Grand Canyon when you look at what President Obama says and what he actually does. It’s just amazing that you won’t see this on network news.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-88179844501521048422011-03-17T15:50:00.000-07:002011-03-17T15:50:40.621-07:00Sunshine superheroes - Page 4 | San Francisco Bay Guardian<a href="http://www.sfbg.com/2011/03/15/sunshine-superheroes?page=0%2C3">Sunshine superheroes - Page 4 | San Francisco Bay Guardian</a>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-76790870765065677442011-03-10T10:17:00.000-08:002011-03-10T10:21:02.947-08:00Department of Defense Sued for Refusing to Release Contract Audits<span style="font-weight:bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br />March 10, 2011<br /><br />Department of Defense Sued for Refusing to Release Contract Audits<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – On Tuesday, March 8, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) after the agency refused to release information on recently conducted defense contract audits. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/Complaint_2010Apr20_20KB.pdf) <br /><br />The ASBL originally requested the most recent contract audit conducted by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The suit was filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California.<br /><br />The ASBL believes the requested information may show the Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to a blatant pattern of fraud and abuse, and allowed the continued diversion of billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts to corporate giants.<br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal contracts intended for small businesses actually going to large businesses. The most recent Obama Administration contracting data shows large recipients of small business contracts such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Dell Computer, Xerox, SAIC, General Dynamics, and John Deere. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf) <br /><br />During the 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama made a series of campaign promises with major implications for the middle class. In February of 2008, President Obama promised to “end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants,” and he continues to promise the most transparent administration in U.S. history. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5t8GdxFYBU) To date, President Obama has refused to honor his promise to end widespread abuse in federal small business contracting programs, and has actually reduced transparency.<br /><br />In early 2010, the Associated Press conducted a review of FOIA reports filed by 17 major agencies, and found across the board increases in the number of rejections. While the federal government as a whole received fewer FOIA requests during the first year of the Obama Administration, agencies increasingly said “no” to requesters looking for public documents. (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EFRPJG0) <br /><br />“Despite his unending rhetoric about the importance of small businesses in America, President Obama is allowing corporate giants to illegally receive billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts. To make matters worse, the Obama Administration is serving as a barrier to transparency and accountability,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “People need to quit listening to his speeches and start watching what he does, because this is an anti-small business president. Every small business in America should be concerned about President Obama’s plans for the Small Business Administration (SBA) and federal small business contracting programs.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-87047068134484554852011-03-02T09:04:00.000-08:002011-03-02T09:15:21.313-08:00Army Sued for Refusing to Release Bechtel Contracting DataFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />March 2, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. –The U.S. Department of the Army is being sued by the American Small Business League (ASBL) for refusing to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to multinational defense giant Bechtel. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/Complaint_SBA_FOIA_ArmyBechtel.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/Complaint_SBA_FOIA_ArmyBechtel.pdf</a>) <br /><br />The ASBL filed suit in United States District Court, Northern District of California on Tuesday, March 1. The case was filed after the Army repeatedly refused to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for Individual Subcontracting Reports (ISR) and Summary Subcontracting Reports (SSR) on a prime contract awarded to Bechtel. <br /><br />The ASBL believes the information contained in the reports may show that Bechtel and the Army cooperated in an effort to circumvent federal law, which requires 23 percent of all federal contracts to be awarded to small businesses. The ASBL is gathering information on several major government prime contractors in preparation for litigation that may include cases filed under the False Claims Act, and Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act. <br /><br />In 1992, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that subcontracting reports are releasable to the public, and do not contain trade secret or proprietary information. <br /><br />The ASBL has won a series of lawsuits against the federal government under FOIA. Some of the information obtained by the ASBL indicates the federal government may have diverted small business contracts to Bechtel and some of the largest corporations on earth. The Obama Administration is currently awarding small business contracts to firms such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, British Aerospace (BAE), Northrop Grumman, and Dell Computer. (<a href="www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf">www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf</a>) <br /><br />To date, the ASBL has five outstanding lawsuits in the federal court system. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html">http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html</a>) <br /><br />“President Obama promised to have the most transparent administration in history, yet his administration continues to withhold even the simplest information on federal small business contracting programs. As I have said many times before, there is a big difference between what President Obama says and what President Obama does,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Any time the Obama Administration withholds information that has always been released to the public, it shows us that we have found evidence of contracting fraud and abuse. I am confident that’s what we will find with this information.” <br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-8479316365094365902011-02-24T08:58:00.000-08:002011-02-24T09:00:29.759-08:00Obama Ignores Simple Solution to Supercharge Job Creation<span style="font-weight:bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br />February 24, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. –Despite national unemployment above 9 percent, and a continued jobless recovery, the Obama Administration has refused to make good on a campaign promise to end the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. As a result, the nation’s chief job creators, small businesses, are forced to compete head-to-head against Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses for even the smallest orders for goods and services.<br /><br />Federal law requires the U.S. government to direct 23 percent of its purchases to small businesses. Yet every year, a vast majority of federal small business contracts go to some of the biggest companies around the world.<br /><br />According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses create more than 90 percent of net new jobs, are responsible for 50 percent of the gross domestic product, 50.2 percent of the private sector workforce, and 90 percent of exports and innovations. Given the clear impact of small businesses on the nation’s economy, the American Small Business League (ASBL) maintains that it is unreasonable for the Obama Administration to continue ignoring this damaging widespread abuse. (<a href="http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/re359.pdf">http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/re359.pdf</a>) <br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have shown that an overwhelming majority of federal small business contracts actually go to Fortune 500 firms and even some of the largest corporations on earth. The most recent data released by the Obama Administration shows recipients of federal small business contracts including: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Dell Computer, Xerox, SAIC, General Dynamics, Bechtel and John Deere. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a> ; <a href="www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf">www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf</a>)<br /><br />The ASBL maintains that the most effective way to supercharge job creation and stimulate the economy is to pass the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. If passed, the bill would end widespread abuse in small business programs and direct billions of dollars in existing federal spending to the nation’s 27 million small businesses. The ASBL expects the bill to be reintroduced into the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) shortly. (<a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2568/show">http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2568/show</a>) <br /><br />“Passing the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act would create more jobs than anything proposed by the Obama Administration to date. It’s simple, easy, deficit neutral and would provide the nation’s chief job creators with significantly increased access to federal contracting opportunities,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “It is time for President Obama to keep his promise and ‘end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.’ ”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn@asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-28637757676782153202011-02-10T09:03:00.000-08:002011-02-10T09:05:44.453-08:00Obama Administration Ignores Common Sense Jobs Plan<span style="font-weight:bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br />February 10, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – In the face of sluggish job growth and a growing deficit, the Obama Administration and Congress are focusing on solutions that may hurt the nation’s chief job creators, while ignoring a simple, effective, and deficit neutral solution to job creation and economic stimulus. Every year, billions of dollars in federal contracts intended for small businesses, are diverted to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses. Ending this abuse, would invigorate the nation’s 27 million small businesses, supercharge job creation, and slash America’s growing deficit.<br /><br />Despite strong rhetoric, to date the Obama Administration’s economic policies have failed to substantially aid small businesses or cut unemployment. <br /><br />In January, the national unemployment rate remained above 9 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) Moreover, the Department of Labor’s 9 percent figure is exclusive of job seekers who have stopped looking, and workers who are underemployed. These groups are accounted for in the Department of Labor’s U-6 unemployment figures, which remained above 16 percent in January. (<a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm">http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm</a>) <br /> <br />According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses create more than 90 percent of net new jobs, are responsible for 50 percent of the gross domestic product, 50.2 percent of the private sector workforce, and 90 percent of exports and innovations. It is unreasonable for the Obama Administration to spend more than $1.6 trillion on economic stimulus, while failing to make small businesses a priority. (<a href="http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf">http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf</a>)<br /><br />Since 2003, a series of investigations have shown that the overwhelming majority of federal small business contracts actually go to Fortune 500 firms. The American Small Business League (ASBL) maintains ending the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants would be the simplest, deficit neutral solution to America’s economic problems. The ASBL has estimated that ending this abuse would direct more than $200 billion a year to the nation’s middle class, save thousands of businesses every year and create more than 1.8 million jobs.<br /><br />“You don’t have to be a Nobel Prize winning economist to figure this out. Small businesses are the nation’s chief job creators, and the most effective way to create jobs is to send federal spending their way,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “There is one major bill that would accomplish that goal, the Fairness and transparency in Contracting Act. It is time for President Obama to keep his promise to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants by passing this legislation.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />info (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-7116231898208686972011-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:002011-02-10T08:59:01.110-08:00ASBL Weekly Update, February 4, 2011<iframe width="430" height="245" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eaGLVuV51Fc?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-81363203242382912772011-02-10T08:50:00.000-08:002011-02-10T09:03:43.713-08:00Obama Administration Forced to Restore Incriminating Contracting Data<span style="font-weight:bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">February 10, 2011</span><br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – The American Small Business League (ASBL) has won a legal battle against the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) forcing the agency to restore a decade’s worth of incriminating federal contracting data. The ASBL originally filed suit against the GSA in March of 2010 after the agency removed information from the federal government’s contracting database which indicated that Fortune 500 firms in the U.S. and some of the largest firms in Europe and Asia had received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. The suit was filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California. (https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/index.php/archives)<br /><br />On March 12, 2010, the Obama Administration implemented changes to the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG), which eliminated the socio-economic field, "isSmallBusiness." In past years, Congress, federal agencies, watchdog groups, and the general public have used the field to identify large firms who fraudulently misrepresented themselves as small businesses to illegally receive billions of dollars in small business contracts.<br /><br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have used the information stored in the field to uncover billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts flowing into the hands of Fortune 500 firms, European conglomerates and other large businesses. <br /><br />In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) described the abuses as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." Another investigation from the SBA Office of Advocacy found large businesses had received federal small business contracts fraudulently through what they referred to as "vendor deception." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf, http://www.asbl.com/documents/eagkeeye_report%202002.pdf) <br /><br />Despite continuing denials by the SBA and other senior Obama Administration officials, corporate giants in the U.S. and Europe continue to receive billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. The recipients of federal small business contracts include Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf) <br /><br />The ASBL plans to use the restored data to take legal action against fraudulent contractors and recover damages for small businesses.<br /><br />“Prior to taking office President Obama promised the most transparent administration in history and an end to the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. To date he has destroyed contracting data, forced the ASBL into the federal courts to uncover incriminating documents, and failed to honor his promises to small businesses,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “This is another major legal victory for small businesses and transparency. This data will be instrumental in holding firms accountable for fraud and abuse.”<br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />info (at) asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-29323997155656053472011-02-02T14:28:00.000-08:002011-02-02T14:28:50.846-08:00LLoyd Chapman: Obama's State of The Union, Just More Washington Politica...<iframe width="380" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jWk9SgRhkmg?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-76234128414015275472011-01-25T10:01:00.000-08:002011-01-25T10:03:35.915-08:00Obama State of the Union Speech will be Predictable for the Middle ClassFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />January 25, 2011<br /><br />Petaluma, Calif. – Tonight, President Barack Obama will deliver his second State of the Union address to the American people. The American Small Business League (ASBL) is predicting that President Obama will rely on the same tired rhetoric regarding economic stimulus, while continuing to ignore the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. <br /><br />Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to some of the largest businesses in the world. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General referred to the abuse as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.” (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>)<br /><br />Recently, the ASBL conducted a review of the top 100 recipients of federal small business contracts for FY 2009. Within its sample, the ASBL identified 60 large firms, which received 64.5 percent of the total dollars the government claimed to have awarded to small businesses. According to government data, recipients of federal small business contracts included: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Dell Computer, Xerox, SAIC, General Dynamics, Bechtel and John Deere. (<a href="www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf">www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf</a>)<br /><br />Based on its research and the federal government’s own small business contracting data, the ASBL has estimated that every year more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses. As a result of these abuses, the ASBL maintains that the federal government is achieving less than 5 percent of its congressionally mandated 23 percent small business-contracting goal.<br /><br />In April of 2010, Senate Small Business Committee Chair Mary Landrieu (D – LA) estimated that increasing federal contracts to small businesses by just 1 percent would create more than 100,000 new jobs. Based on this estimate, ending the flow of federal small business contracts to corporate giants could create more than 1.8 million new jobs. (<a href="www.smallbusinessmajority.org/_docs/resources/SBC_Jobs_Package.pdf">www.smallbusinessmajority.org/_docs/resources/SBC_Jobs_Package.pdf</a>) <br /><br />“The American people need to quit buying into President Obama’s well written speeches, and start paying attention to his actions,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Our economy is being threatened, and yet President Obama has repeatedly refused to address this job killing contracting scandal. You cannot create jobs with rhetoric, but you can supercharge job creation by ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.”<br /><br />In addition to failing to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, President Obama has ignored a series of campaign promises including: full restoration the SBA’s budget and staffing to pre-Bush Administration levels, and restoration of cabinet-level status of the SBA Administrator.<br /><br /><br />-###-<br /><br />Contact: <br />Christopher Gunn <br />Communications Director<br />American Small Business League<br />cgunn@asbl.com<br />(707) 789-9575American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799271788623988585.post-89416418312183474392011-01-18T09:44:00.000-08:002011-01-18T09:46:21.779-08:00Supreme Court May Hear Case on SBA Phone RecordsThe American Small Business League (ASBL) has filed a petition to the Supreme Court of the United States challenging a 9th Circuit Court ruling which may allow federal agencies to withhold agency phone records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/20110114_ASBL_SCOTUS_Petion.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/20110114_ASBL_SCOTUS_Petion.pdf</a>) <br /><br />The ASBL originally filed suit against the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) after the agency refused to provide several years of telephone records for the agency’s press office director, Mike Stamler. (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf</a>)<br /><br />The ASBL requested Stamler's phone records under FOIA after a number of journalists complained that Stamler attempted to defame ASBL President Lloyd Chapman, and deny the existence of the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. <br />Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts actually going to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses.<br /><br />In Report 5-15, the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) described the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today,” and in Report 5-16, the SBA IG found large businesses had received small business contracts illegally by making “false certifications,” and “improper certifications.” (<a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf</a>, <a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf">http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf</a>) <br /><br />Throughout the course of litigation, the SBA has claimed that it does not have access to its own phone records, and as a result has maintained that it is not required to supply that information under FOIA. Yet during 2010, the ASBL requested and received full and comprehensive telephone records from federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and the Social Security Administration (SSA).<br /><br />The SBA has a clear track record of withholding requested documents that may shine a light on efforts to cover-up the yearly diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. In February of 2008, the ASBL sued the SBA for refusing to release the names of Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses that had received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. In the court’s ruling, United States District Judge Marilyn H. Patel stated, “The court finds it curious the SBA’s argument that it does not ‘control’ the very information it needs to carry out its duties and functions.”<br /><br />“It is blatant and obvious that the SBA is covering up these abuses. They act like they are trying to solve the problem, and yet it is clear that the SBA is directly involved with perpetrating all of these abuses on small businesses,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Other agencies have provided the requested information, yet the SBA continues to hide behind its excuses.”American Small Business Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00929133666052663337noreply@blogger.com0