American Small Business League

ASBL President Lloyd Chapman on Obama's jobs plan

2011-10-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000052316

SBA Refuses to Comment on Lockheed Martin, AT&T, Claims Small Business Data Is As "Clean As It Can Be"

2011-07-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

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.
(http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/FY10%20SB%20Procurement%20Scorecard_FINAL_GOVERNMENT%20WIDE.pdf)

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.
(http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf)

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.”
(http://blog.nacm.org/blog/shappell/sba-responds-to-allegations-that-small-business-scorecard-misleading)

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.

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.

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.

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.
(http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf; http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

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)

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.”

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.

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.

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.

SBA Spokesman Continues to Mislead the Media

2011-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Petaluma, Calif. – The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:

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.

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)

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)

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.”
(http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)

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.”
(http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/expletives-the-sbas-forte/)

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)

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)

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)

“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.”

New Bill Could Rescue National Economy

2011-06-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2011

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.

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.

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.
(http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/where-will-the-jobs-come-from.aspx)

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.
(http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html#5-15)

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 large companies like Lockheed Martin, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, 3M and AT&T received federal small business contracts.
(http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf)

“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.”

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Contact:
Brian Reeder
Public Affairs Analyst
American Small Business League
brianreeder(at)asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Still Diverting Small Business Dollars to Corporate Giants

2011-06-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2011

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/asbl_2010_dataanalysis.pdf)

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. (http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-procurement-goaling-scorecards)

“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.”

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.

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.

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

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. http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Senate Small Business Committee Discusses Fraud and Abuse in Small Business Contracting Programs

2011-06-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hearings & Events - Home - U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Senate to Hold Hearing on SBA Fraud and Abuse

2011-06-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2011

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.

Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a year in small business contracts to large corporations. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

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. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

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.

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.
(http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2)

“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.” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20081007_Obama_Promise_Website.pdf)

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Small Business Agenda Contains Major Hole

2011-05-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2011

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. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/16/white-house-releases-small-business-agenda-growing-americas-small-busine)

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

- 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-14.pdf)

- 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

- 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) 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.

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf; www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

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.” http://www.asbl.com/documents/20081007_Obama_Promise_Website.pdf

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Small Business Administration Phone Records Case

2011-05-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2011

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).

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf)

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.

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) 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.”(http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

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).

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.”

"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."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

The Mike Siegel Show - Lloyd Chapman talks jobs, the economy, and the Obama Administration

2011-04-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Department of Defense Sued for Refusing to Release Raytheon Contracting Data

2011-04-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2011

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_raytheon_sub_report_dod.pdf)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EFRPJG0)

“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?”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

ASBL Small Business Update, April 1,2011

2011-04-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

SBA’s Jobs Tour More Smoke and Mirrors

2011-03-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2011

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.

“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.

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

The ASBL has estimated that every year more than $200 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted to corporate giants. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

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.
(http://sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=bc065833-dafc-46c5-9e6f-21209a532de2)

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.
(http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Navy Sued for Refusing to Release SAIC Contracting Data

2011-03-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2011

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_saic_sub_report_navy.pdf)

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.

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.

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.

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)

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Sunshine superheroes - Page 4 | San Francisco Bay Guardian

2011-03-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sunshine superheroes - Page 4 | San Francisco Bay Guardian

Department of Defense Sued for Refusing to Release Contract Audits

2011-03-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2011

Department of Defense Sued for Refusing to Release Contract Audits

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)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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)

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Army Sued for Refusing to Release Bechtel Contracting Data

2011-03-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2011

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/Complaint_SBA_FOIA_ArmyBechtel.pdf)

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.

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.

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.

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. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

To date, the ASBL has five outstanding lawsuits in the federal court system. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Ignores Simple Solution to Supercharge Job Creation

2011-02-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2011

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.

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.

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. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/re359.pdf)

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf ; www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

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. (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2568/show)

“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.’ ”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Ignores Common Sense Jobs Plan

2011-02-10T09:03:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2011

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.

Despite strong rhetoric, to date the Obama Administration’s economic policies have failed to substantially aid small businesses or cut unemployment.

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. (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm)

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. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf)

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.

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
info (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

ASBL Weekly Update, February 4, 2011

2011-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Obama Administration Forced to Restore Incriminating Contracting Data

2011-02-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2011

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)

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.

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.

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)

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)

The ASBL plans to use the restored data to take legal action against fraudulent contractors and recover damages for small businesses.

“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.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
info (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

LLoyd Chapman: Obama's State of The Union, Just More Washington Politica...

2011-02-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Obama State of the Union Speech will be Predictable for the Middle Class

2011-01-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2011

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.

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.” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

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. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

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.

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. (www.smallbusinessmajority.org/_docs/resources/SBC_Jobs_Package.pdf)

“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.”

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.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Supreme Court May Hear Case on SBA Phone Records

2011-01-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

The 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). (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20110114_ASBL_SCOTUS_Petion.pdf)

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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf)

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.
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.

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.” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf, http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

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).

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.”

“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.”

FDIC Forum Ignores #1 Challenge for Small Businesses

2011-01-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, January 13, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will host an Obama Administration forum on “Overcoming Obstacles to Small Business Lending.” The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes the event will fail to address the #1 job killing issue facing small businesses, the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants.

For the last five consecutive years, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General has named the issue as the agency’s #1 challenge. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) The ASBL has estimated that every year more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted to some of the largest corporations on earth.

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.
(http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

The most recent information released by the Obama Administration shows large recipients of small business contracts such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Dell Computer, Xerox, SAIC, General Dynamics, Bechtel and John Deere. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

In addition to the concerns about billions of dollars in federal contracting abuse, the ASBL does not believe the Obama Administration’s forum on lending is likely to create new jobs or stimulate the economy. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the Congressional Oversight Panel have separately concluded that small businesses are in desperate need of demand, not loans. (http://www.nfib.com/Portals/0/PDF/sbet/SBET201006.pdf; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/13/federal-oversight-panel-s_n_574781.html)

In December of 2009, the Obama Administration held its first forum on obstacles to small business lending. At the time, U-6 unemployment was 17.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than a year later, U-6 unemployment has remained near 17 percent.
(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm)

“We’ve spent trillions of dollars and focused small business assistance on lending, yet unemployment remains unreasonably high. Let’s just try something crazy like not giving federal small business contracts to some of the biggest companies in the world, and instead direct those dollars to the nation’s 27 million small businesses,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Ending the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants would put more money into the middle class economy, and create more jobs, than anything the Obama Administration has proposed to date.”

Lloyd Chapman: Obama Administration Wants Secret "Blacklist" for Pentago...

2010-12-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

Defense Authorization Bill Places Subjective Security Concerns Before Competition

2010-12-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

Defense Authorization Bill Places Subjective Security Concerns Before Competition

Pentagon Wants Secret Blacklist for Suppliers

2010-12-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

Pentagon Wants Secret Blacklist for Suppliers

SBA Loses Legal Battle Over Crisis Management PR Contract

2010-11-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has lost another Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL). The ASBL filed suit after the SBA refused to turn over information on potentially damaging public relations contracts awarded by the agency to APCO Worldwide Inc., an international public relations firm specializing in crisis management.

The ASBL suspects the SBA has spent American tax dollars to hire consultants to help obscure the SBA's role in diverting billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses around the world. The ASBL believes the SBA may have launched a massive campaign to cover-up the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses, and to discourage the media from covering the issue.

In one case, the SBA paid $30,000 for a one-day meeting with APCO executives. In winning the lawsuit, the ASBL has now forced the SBA to turn over complete copies of those contracts.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts are going to corporate giants. In Report 5-15, the SBA’s own Office of Inspector General (IG) referred to the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

In Report 5-16 from March of 2005, the SBA IG reported that large businesses had committed fraud by misrepresenting themselves as small businesses through “false certifications,” and “improper certifications.” 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.”

In recent years, the SBA has claimed the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations has been the result of harmless "miscoding." In May of 2007, the SBA even went as far as to claim that it was a "myth" that large corporations received federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)

“We are going to continue to sue the SBA to force the release of information that shows they have encouraged and protected firms that have committed felony contracting fraud,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “The proposal to combine the SBA with the Commerce Department is just the latest attempt by the government to cover up billions of dollars in abuse, while trying to further dismantle federal small business contracting programs.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Commerce Department & SBA Merger Could Cost Small Business Billions

2010-11-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

Petaluma, Calif. – On November 10, the Obama Administration’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform shocked the small business community with the preliminary recommendation that the Small Business Administration (SBA) be absorbed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The recommendation came as part of a plan that would cut federal spending by $200 billion through 2015.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the only federal agency to assist America’s chief job creators, its 27 million small businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations.

As early as November 2008, American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman predicted that the Obama Administration would attempt to close the SBA by merging it with the Commerce Department. “Based upon the extremely low priority that Obama has placed upon small business issues, it would not surprise me if he tried to completely close the Small Business Administration by combining it with the United States Department of Commerce," Chapman stated.

According to the commission chairs, combining the SBA with the Commerce Department, and shaving its combined budget by 10 percent would save a paltry $1 billion by 2015. However, the ASBL maintains that any savings resulting from a merger would be minuscule and fiscally insignificant in comparison to the staggering damage it would do to the middle class. The savings are especially insignificant when compared to $23 billion in Iraq contracts reported as, “Lost, Stolen, or unaccounted for,” by the BBC in 2008.

“Trying to save money by combining the SBA with the U.S. Department of Commerce is laughable. Not only would combining the SBA with the Department of Commerce save a minuscule amount of money, but it would also do irreparable damage to the nation’s middle class economy. I have been predicting that the Obama Administration would try to do this for a long time. This is not a move to save money. This is a move to try to allow large corporations to keep billions in federal small business contracts,” Chapman said. “Here we are in the worst economic downturn in 80 years. We should be doing everything we can to help small businesses, not destroy the one federal agency designed to help them.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

New York Congresswoman Backs Bill to Bring Billions in Contracts to State

2010-11-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D – 14) has offered her support for legislation that would infuse the state’s business community with billions of dollars in existing government infrastructure spending, save thousands of small businesses and create countless jobs.

H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act would end widespread fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs, while ensuring that the federal government is meeting its 23 percent small business contracting goal. The federal government has a congressionally mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of the total value of all prime contracts to small businesses.

“I admire the American Small Business League’s efforts to make sure that small businesses get their fair share of federal contracts. Since small firms are the engine of our economy, this mission could not be more timely or more necessary,” Representative Maloney said. “I look forward to working with the American Small Business League and my friend and colleague Congressman Johnson to make sure that the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act becomes law.”

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have shown that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to corporate giants. 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." (http://www.sba.gov/IG/05-15.pdf)

H.R. 2568 will stop large businesses from taking federal small business contracts by perfecting the Small Business Act's definition of a small business as "independently owned." The bill would prevent the federal government from awarding small business contracts to publicly traded firms, because they are publicly owned and would not qualify as "independently owned."

The American Small Business League has estimated that if passed H.R. 2568 would redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal spending to the nation’s 27 million small businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf)

New York's more than 2 million small businesses are receiving a fraction of the dollars they should be receiving. If signed into law, small businesses in the State of New York could see their volume of federal contracts increase by several billion dollars a year.

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Election Night 2010 Small Business Perspective

2010-11-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Department of Homeland Security Sued Over Boeing Contract

2010-11-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is being sued by the American Small Business League (ASBL) for refusing to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to defense giant Boeing. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/Complaint_47KB_Boeing.pdf)

The ASBL filed suit in United States District Court, Northern District of California on Tuesday, October 26. The case was filed after DHS 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 Boeing.

The ASBL believes the information contained in the reports may show that Boeing and the DHS 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.

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.

“It is really kind of silly that we are having to file this suit because the 9th Circuit ruled over 20 years ago that this information is releasable. The fact that DHS is willing to get involved with a lawsuit they have no hope of winning, really speaks to the damaging nature of this information,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

The ASBL has won a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases against the federal government. Some of the information obtained by the ASBL indicates the federal government diverted small business contracts to Boeing and hundreds of other Fortune 1000 firms. 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. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

To date, the ASBL has six outstanding lawsuits in the federal court system and plans to file a series of additional lawsuits before the end of the year.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Congress to Investigate Pentagon Comprehensive Test Program

2010-10-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Thursday, October 21, five members of the House of Representatives, lead by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) to investigate a Department of Defense (DoD) subcontracting program that appears to have slashed subcontracting opportunities for small businesses. In addition to Congresswoman Clarke, the request was backed by Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Chellie Pingree (D - ME).

While the stated mission of the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP) is to increase contracts to small businesses, the American Small Business League (ASBL) has long maintained that the program actually allows large government prime contractors to circumvent small business subcontracting goals. As established, the program eliminated subcontracting reports available to the public, and penalties for non-compliance with subcontracting goals.

“Federal contracting data calls into question whether the 14 large prime contractors who are participants in the CSPTP are actually meeting their small business subcontracting goals,” the letter states.

The CSPTP was established in 1990. To date the Program has never been evaluated.

“Clearly this program wasn’t designed to help small businesses, it was designed to help prime contractors avoid paying liquidated damages for non-compliance with their small business subcontracting goals,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “The elimination of this program would force prime contractors to award billions more in subcontracts to small businesses and create jobs across the country.”

Participants of the program include BAE Systems, GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Harris Corporation and seven other prime contractors. According to federal data, participants of the CSPTP received $55.24 billion in contracts from DoD during fiscal year (FY) 2009. 1 out of every 6 dollars spent by DoD during FY 2009 were awarded to participants of the program.

“As a Member of the House Small Business Committee, I know the importance of the federal government meeting goals that it has put in place to create business opportunities for small businesses. Evaluating the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP) is imperative so that we fully understand if this program has created the subcontracting opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses that it was designed to do. For 20 years this program has been in place, and now is the time we fully examine its progress,” stated Rep. Clarke. “Small businesses are the economic engine for our country. Know that I will continue to hold a high level of accountability for our federal government on behalf of our small businesses nationwide.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Rep. Altmire: Most Anti-Business Lawmaker

2010-10-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

9th Circuit Rules SBA Does Not have to Release Agency Phone Records

2010-10-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals released its ruling in a lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL) against the Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding the agency’s phone records. The case was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The ASBL originally requested phone records for SBA Press Office Chief Mike Stamler. The ASBL believes that Stamler and the SBA Press Office have engaged in a campaign to discourage the media from reporting on the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and corporate giants around the world.

Through the course of litigation, the SBA has claimed that it does not have access to its own phone records. On Friday, the appellate court ruled that the agency is not required to retrieve records from a third party if the government has not specifically contracted for the storage of those records.

Over the last several years, the ASBL has won a series of lawsuits against the SBA, which have shown that the SBA has lied to Congress, the public and the media about the diversion of more than $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in small business contracts awarded to large businesses. In Report 5-14, the SBA Office of Inspector General found the SBA itself had awarded small business contracts to large businesses. The most recent data released by the government shows large recipients of small business contracts like: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, L-3 Communications, Raytheon, British Aerospace (BAE), General Dynamics, Rolls-Royce and Dell Computer.

Despite these findings, the SBA issued a press release claiming that it was a myth that large businesses received federal small business contracts.

During 2010, the ASBL issued similar FOIA requests to several other federal agencies. In each case, the records were released. The SBA is the only agency that has been unwilling to provide its phone records.

“I am disappointed in the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling, but I am gratified that we have been able to show how desperate the SBA Press Office is to withhold potentially damaging phone records. Clearly they have something to hide,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “I want to promise the SBA, and its Administrator Karen Mills, that the ASBL will continue its legal campaign to expose the fact that the SBA has lied about the diversion of small business contracts to large businesses.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Rhetoric on Infrastructure Spending Doesn’t Match Administration Actions

2010-10-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Monday, President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of putting Americans back to work using federal infrastructure projects. Yet, despite strong rhetoric on jobs, President Obama has failed to stop the purge of jobs caused by the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars in federal small business contracts, actually flowing into the hands of Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large businesses. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General referred to the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.” (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

The most recent information released by the Obama Administration indicates that of the top 100 recipients of federal small business contracts, 65 percent of the dollars actually went to large businesses. Some of the firms the Obama Administration has allowed to be included as small businesses are: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, British Aerospace (BAE), Northrop Grumman, Dell Computer, French firm Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and Finmeccanica SpA, which is located in Italy with 73,000 employees. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

Textron Inc., a Fortune 500 firm with 43,000 employees and annual sales over $14 billion, received approximately $775 million in federal small business contracts in a single year. http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf

In February of 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama recognized the magnitude of the problem when he promised to, “End the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." To date, President Obama has failed to honor that promise. (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

In May, the ASBL conducted an examination of the Obama Administration’s track record for small businesses and uncovered a dramatic disparity between President Obama’s rhetoric and his actions. In addition to failing to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, the Obama Administration has:

1. Reduced overall transparency in federal small business contracting data by eliminating fields such as the "small business flag."
2. Failed to allocate more than 3 percent of stimulus funds to small businesses.
3. Failed to bring an end to the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program, which allows prime contractors to circumvent their small business subcontracting goals.
(www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

GTSI Admitted They Were Not a Small Business on 1999 SEC Documents

2010-10-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – In 1999, GTSI, a Top 50 government contractor reported that it was no longer a small business for the purposes of government contracting. Yet from fiscal year (FY) 2004 to FY 2010, GTSI received more than $1.18 billion in federal small business contracts. Data from the Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation (FPDS-NG) indicates that GTSI received as much as $268 million a year in small business contracts over the 7-year period. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/GTSI_FY1999.pdf; http://www.asbl.com/documents/GTSI_FY2000.pdf)

The company’s 1999 annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated, “As a result of the acquisition of the BTG Division in February 1998, GTSI no longer qualifies as a small business for contract awards after February, 1998.” The company reiterated that statement in its 2000 report.

On October 1, the Small Business Administration (SBA) suspended GTSI from federal contracting programs. The suspension came as the result of government allegations that the company inappropriately gained access to contracts set aside for small businesses.

Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act, prescribes penalties of up to $500,000 and up to 10 years in prison for firms that misrepresent themselves as small businesses in order to illegally receive federal small business contracts.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts flowing into the hands of corporate giants around the world. The most recent information released by the Obama Administration indicates that of the top 100 recipients of federal small business contracts, 65 percent of the dollars actually went to large businesses. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

Large businesses included in the Obama Administration’s small business data include: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, Raytheon, Dell Computer, and General Electric. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html#5-15)

In Report 5-15, the SBA’s Office of Inspector General 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.”

“This is a serious federal crime that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. The fact that the SBA waited almost 12 years to suspend GTSI after they admitted that they were not a small business, is proof they are assisting these large firms in high-jacking small business contracts. It is time for the Justice Department to step in and take over the investigation from the SBA,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Jobs Bill Should Include Language to Increase Contracts for Small Businesses

2010-09-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Jobs Bill Should Include Language to End the Diversion of Small Business Contracts to Corporate Giants

Petaluma, Calif. – In February of 2008, Barack Obama promised small businesses that if elected president he would, “end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

President Obama’s campaign promise was based upon a series of federal investigations, which found that Fortune 500 firms and thousands of large businesses in the U.S. and Europe received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. The first federal investigation was held in May of 2003. Today, large businesses continue to receive billions of dollars in federal contracts intended for small businesses.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) strongly encourages Congress to add language to H.R. 5297, the Small Business Jobs Act, which would simply halt the diversion of federal small business funds to corporate giants. The ASBL maintains that ending these abuses would be the most effective and efficient means of stimulating the American economy and creating jobs.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf)

The most recent information released by the Obama Administration indicates that of the top 100 recipients of federal small business contracts, 65 percent of the dollars actually went to large businesses.(http://www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

The federal government has a goal of awarding 23 percent of all government contracts to small businesses. The ASBL has estimated that the government is currently awarding less than 5 percent of its purchases to small businesses. Ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants could increase the volume of government dollars awarded to small businesses by more than 18 percent.

In April of 2010, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair, Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA), estimated that increasing contracts to small businesses by just 1 percent, would create more than 100,000 new jobs. Based on this estimate, ending this fraud and abuse could create more than 1.8 million new jobs. (www.smallbusinessmajority.org/_docs/resources/SBC_Jobs_Package.pdf)

“If President Obama wants to create jobs, it’s real simple; quit giving small business contracts to Fortune 1000 firms and large businesses. He could do that with one or two sentences in the jobs bill,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
(707) 789-9575

Obama Jobs Bill Could be Job Killer for Small Businesses

2010-09-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Obama Jobs Bill Could Slash Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – President Barack Obama’s small business jobs bill contains a dangerous loophole that could encourage billions of dollars in fraud in small business contracting programs, and protect fraudulent companies from prosecution. The bill is currently pending in the U.S. Senate.

Section 1341 of H.R. 5297, the Small Business Jobs Act, contains provisions that would allow the Small Business Administration (SBA) to develop policies and procedures that would protect large businesses that have misrepresented themselves as small businesses from prosecution for felony contracting fraud.

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms, large businesses throughout the U.S. and some of the largest companies in Europe.

In 2005, the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) referred to the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

In Report 5-16, the SBA IG found that large businesses had received federal small business contracts fraudulently by making “false certifications” and “improper certifications.” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

Section 1341 of President Obama’s jobs bill would give the SBA a blank check to develop policies that could protect large corporations from prosecution under the law. Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act prescribes a penalty of up to ten years in prison and a fine of not more than $500,000 per occurrence for firms that have misrepresented themselves as small businesses.

For over a decade, the SBA has attempted to cover-up flagrant abuses in the program by claiming they were the result of miscoding and computer glitches. In one case, Pevco, a Baltimore based small business began losing small business contracts to one of the largest companies in Switzerland. Pevco Chairman Fred Valerino Sr. contacted his congressman, and the SBA responded by claiming that Translogic Corporation received 147 small business contracts over a six-year period “accidentally.”

“The harm done to small businesses by Section 1341, would greatly outweigh any minor benefit the other provisions of the bill might provide,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “This paragraph could legalize billions of dollars in federal contracting fraud and be tantamount to repealing the small business act. We are going to do everything we can to block this section of the bill. It would only encourage fraud and abuse, divert more federal funds away from legitimate small businesses, and cost America jobs.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Huge Loophole in Senate Jobs Bill

2010-09-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Obama Administration Should Focus Government Spending on Small Businesses

2010-09-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

New Obama Economic Policies Will Ignore Simple Solution to Stimulus

2010-09-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama is set to rollout a new economic plan on Wednesday. The American Small Business League (ASBL) predicts that the plan will completely ignore the simplest, most logical and effective means of creating jobs and stimulating the nation’s failing economy; bringing an end to the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

Small businesses are the backbone of America’s economy, and a major engine for job creation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs in America, over 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), and over 90 percent of all U.S. exports and innovations.

Congress established small businesses as the economic engine of the nation with the passage of the Small Business Act of 1953. Today federal law requires a minimum of 23 percent of all federal contracts to be awarded to small businesses. With the annual federal acquisition budget for foreign, domestic, classified and unclassified acquisitions hovering around $1 trillion, small businesses should be receiving roughly $230 billion a year in federal contracts.

On August 27, the Obama Administration announced that it missed its 23 percent goal, awarding 21.89 percent to small businesses. The ASBL has estimated that as a result of the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, the government actually awarded less than 5 percent of its purchases to small businesses.

To further compound the issue, since 2003 over a dozen federal investigations have found most federal small business contracts actually go to Fortune 500 firms and corporate giants around the world.

President Obama realized the magnitude of this problem during his campaign when he released the statement, “It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.” To date President Obama has failed to honor that promise.

“If President Obama really wants to create jobs in the most cost effective and efficient way, he should direct the Small Business Administration to end policies that divert billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “This will create more jobs than anything else, and he could do it without congressional approval.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

An Open Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman

2010-09-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – Despite at least $3 trillion in government spending aimed at stimulating the economy, a multitude of economic indicators now show that the economy is poised to slip into a double dip recession. I believe, as I am sure you do, that we need to bring down unemployment in order to stimulate the economy. To date, none of the actions taken by Congress or the Obama administration have met that need.
(http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/)

As you may know, small businesses create the overwhelming majority of net new jobs in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, businesses with less than 20 employees create over 97 percent of net new jobs. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html) Statistics from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy indicate that small businesses create over 90 percent of all net new jobs. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf) Any effort to create jobs must be focused on small businesses.

One of the most effective economic stimulus programs ever passed by the U.S. Congress was the Small Business Act of 1953. The Small Business Act requires that 23 percent of the total value of all government contracts must go to small businesses. This makes perfect sense, considering the important role small businesses play when it comes to the U.S. economy and job creation.

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found that most small business contracts actually go to Fortune 500 firms, European conglomerates and thousands of other large businesses around the world. Some of those companies are: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, Raytheon, Dell Computer, General Electric, Honeywell International Corporation, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and Finmeccanica SpA, which is located in Italy and has 73,000 employees. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html#5-15)

In March of 2005, the SBA Inspector General referred to this problem as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today.” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) The SBA Inspector General has listed this problem as the number one management challenge facing the agency for the past five consecutive years. (http://www.sba.gov/ig/onlinelibrary/tmc/index.html) Even President Obama recognized the magnitude of the problem in February of 2008 when he said, “It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.” (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

Ending the diversion of small business contracts to large businesses would redirect over $100 billion a year in federal contracts back into the middle class economy. This would be the most powerful economic stimulus to date and can be used to drive demand directly into the hands of our nation’s small businesses. With this economic stimulus in mind, I urge you to support H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. It was introduced by Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, and currently has 26 cosponsors. This bill is a deficit neutral means of ending the 10-year-old contracting scandal that has facilitated the diversion of over $1 trillion in small business contracts to corporate giants.

The single most effective and deficit neutral way to create jobs is to direct existing federal infrastructure spending to the middle class. So if you want to stimulate the economy and create jobs, H.R. 2568 would be the most effective way to do that. It could be passed and signed into law as soon as Congress comes back in session. I believe that H.R. 2568, which would bring over $100 billion a year, and every year, to small businesses, would be more effective than a one-time shot of $30 billion in loans.

As our nation slides into its worst economic disaster in history; it would be inexcusable to allow the continued diversion of billions of dollars a month in small business contracts to corporate giants. I think that the Democratic Party and President Obama would be wise to take dramatic action to stave off a double dip recession before the November election, and I think that H.R. 2568 would accomplish that.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

An Open Letter to First Lady Michelle Obama from American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman

2010-09-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – I am writing to you today because I am hoping you will help save millions of American small businesses from bankruptcy. I realize that you, as a mother and as someone who came from a hardworking middle class family, could not only sympathize, but also help with the situation we are currently in. I am very concerned, as I am sure you are, about the state of our nation’s economy. And while I know that President Obama is trying to stay positive, all of the economic indicators are alarming, and there is certainly evidence that we could slip into another recession.

Our country is in the worst economic crisis in 80 years, and the situation appears to be degrading. Yet, as I watch what the government has done over the last few years, it does not make much sense to me. I think everyone agrees that small businesses create the overwhelming majority of net new jobs in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, businesses with less than 20 employees create over 97 percent of net new jobs. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html) The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy statistics indicate that small businesses create over 90 percent of all net new jobs. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf) Yet, even though Small businesses create almost all of the net new jobs in America, the government gives the majority of small business contracts to large corporations. That simply does not make sense.

What I am trying to do, and would like your help with, is very logical. I don’t think the government should award small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and some of the biggest corporations from around the world. I believe that 99 percent of all Americans would agree with me, particularly in this current economic climate, that the government should not be diverting billions of dollars in contracts to large corporations that by law are supposed to be going to small businesses.

Since 2003, there have been over a dozen federal investigations, which have found Fortune 500 firms and thousands of large companies around the world as the actual recipients of federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) The SBA’s Inspector General has listed this problem as the number one management challenge facing the agency for the past five consecutive years. (http://www.sba.gov/ig/onlinelibrary/tmc/index.html)

One of the most powerful stimulus bills ever written was the Small Business Act, which currently states that small businesses are to receive a minimum of 23 percent of the total value of all federal contracts, but that is not happening. On Friday, the SBA released its fiscal year (FY) 2009 small business contracting data and claimed to have awarded over $96 billion, or 21.89 percent, in federal contracts to small businesses. In reality, of the top 100 recipients of small business contracts, 60 were large businesses that received 65 percent of the total contract dollars. Some of the firms included as small businesses were: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, Raytheon, Dell Computer, General Electric and Honeywell International Corporation. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

If the Obama Administration were to simply do as federal law mandates and ensure that 23 percent of all federal contracts actually went to small businesses, it would create millions of jobs and could potentially be our strongest defense against a double dip recession.

I have helped draft a bill titled, H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. It was introduced by Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson (D-04) and currently has 26 cosponsors. This legislation is deficit neutral, and will do more to help create jobs than anything proposed to date.

I wanted to bring this to your attention in the hope that you will help us with this important cause. As our economy continues to falter, and American families are faced with heartache and despair; action needs to be taken quickly before thousands more lose their jobs and their homes. A real and simple solution exists in the form of H.R. 2568, which could begin to rescue our economy from the precipice.

I am simply asking for you help, to use your influence to do anything you think would be appropriate to convince President Obama to fulfill the campaign promise he made in February 2008 in which he stated, “It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.” (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Tries to Downplay Questionable Small Business Data

2010-08-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – The Obama Administration has released its fiscal year (FY) 2009 Small Business Procurement Scorecard, reporting that the government missed its 23 percent small business contracting goal. In its scorecard, the government claimed to have awarded a mere 21.89 percent to small businesses, while also failing to meet congressionally mandated contracting goals for women, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses and HUBZone firms. The Obama Administration missed 4 of its 5 contracting goals. (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100827005701/en)

The American Small Business League (ASBL) maintains that based on a recent evaluation of FY 2009 small business contracting data, the actual percentage of contracts awarded to small businesses is closer to 5 percent. In June, 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. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)

The ASBL also identified a series of Fortune 500 corporations and other large firms in the government’s 2009 contracting data. Recipients of small business contracts included: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, British Aerospace (BAE), Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Booz Allen Hamilton, Thales Communications, General Dynamics, and Dell Computer.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have found billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts flowing into the hands of corporate giants. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

The ASBL believes 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 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.

As the American Small Business League predicted, the Obama Administration released its FY 2009 small business contracting numbers near the close of business on Friday afternoon. The late release of data is a clear indication the Obama Administration was trying to avoid scrutiny form the mainstream media. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-chapman/obama-administration-fabr_b_693359.html, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-chapman/obama-administration-will_b_674073.html)

“President Obama is not fooling anyone. These 5 o’clock Friday afternoon press releases are like sending up a signal flare that the data is fabricated,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Every year billions of dollars in federal contracts are diverted to Fortune 500 corporations and other large businesses, and every year the government fabricates its numbers. It is time for Congress and the Obama Administration to pass H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act, and end this abuse once and for all.”

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Refusing to Back Private Sector Jobs Bill

2010-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – President Barack Obama is refusing to back a bill that could create millions of jobs in the private sector. The bill, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act, H.R.2568, was introduced by Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson last May. The American Small Business League (ASBL) wrote the original draft of H.R. 2568. The bill is designed to stop the federal government from diverting over $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and many of the largest businesses in Europe.

Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have found billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts have been diverted to firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Bechtel, Dell Computer and Xerox. Corporate giants from around the world that have received U.S. government small business contracts include Rolls-Royce, British Aerospace (BAE), French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and Finmeccanica SpA, which is located in Italy and has 73,000 employees. A recent investigation by Stars and Stripes Magazine found the federal government had awarded over $41.6 billion in small business contracts to “miscellaneous foreign contractors.” (http://www.stripes.com/blogs/ombudsman/ombudsman-1.8931/behind-the-media-contractors-veil-1.110840)

H.R. 2568 would stop the federal government from reporting contract awards to publicly traded firms and foreign owned companies as small business awards. The bill is based on language in the Small Business Act, which states that a small business must be “independently owned” in order to receive federal small business contracts.

If President Obama were to sign H.R. 2568 into law, or pass by executive order, over $100 billion in existing federal infrastructure spending would be redirected to legitimate small businesses in the private sector. Since the bill requires no new spending or tax increases, it is deficit neutral. The Obama Administration had estimated that for every billion dollars in infrastructure spending, 40,000 new jobs would be created. Based on those projections, if H.R. 2568 were to become law, over four million new jobs could be created. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us/politics/07radio.html?hp)

The ASBL points to H.R. 2568 as being far superior to the Obama Administration’s $30 billion small business lending bill. As opposed to a one-time infusion of $30 billion in loans, H.R. 2568 would inject over $100 billion a year in federal contracts into the small business economy for decades to come.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

CNBC: It's All About Jobs with ASBL President Lloyd Chapman

2010-08-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D - NY): Congress Can and Should Help Small Businesses

2010-07-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Contracting Reform Bill Will Trump Obama Jobs Bill

2010-07-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

This week the United States Senate is slated to vote on another round of lending focused “jobs legislation,” which may do little to stimulate the nation’s economy or create jobs. H.R. 5297, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 would direct $30 billion in federal assistance to community banks as a means of bolstering lending. (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h5297/show)

The American Small Business League (ASBL) is concerned that Congress and the Obama Administration are focusing attention on tired solutions that have not worked, while ignoring solutions that would directly funnel billions of dollars a year in federal spending to America’s 27 million small business owners.

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau small businesses are responsible for more than 50 percent of the nation’s non-farm private sector workforce, 90 percent of innovations, 90 percent of exports and nearly 100 percent of net new jobs. A recent study from the Kauffman Foundation found that companies less than 5 years old create nearly all-net new jobs. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html)

The ASBL strongly believes the best way to stimulate the nation’s economy is to direct federal infrastructure spending to the middle class.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of more than $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the United States and Europe. H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act would stop the diversion of government small business contracts to corporate giants, and redirect those funds to small businesses in the middle class. The ASBL believes that if passed, H.R. 2568 would do more to stimulate the nation’s economy than anything proposed by the Obama Administration or Congress to date. (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2568/show)

Recently, the Congressional Oversight Panel, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) released highly critical reports regarding the Obama Administration’s efforts to further bolster community bank lending to small businesses. Both reports indicated that small businesses across the country are in need of business opportunities and increased demand for their products and services as opposed to increased access to capital. (http://www.nfib.com/Portals/0/PDF/sbet/SBET201006.pdf ; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/13/federal-oversight-panel-s_n_574781.html)

“It does not make sense to continue giving billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts to corporate giants, and then turn around and try lending billions of dollars to small businesses who are floundering in a dire economic environment,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson Champions Small Business Legislation

2010-07-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

American Small Business League Endorses Congressman Hank Johnson

PETALUMA, Calif.- Based on his strong track record for small businesses, the American Small Business League (ASBL) has endorsed Congressman Hank Johnson (D – GA) for re-election. The ASBL is the only national small business advocate committed to stopping widespread fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs.

“As far as I am concerned, every small business in America owes Congressman Hank Johnson a debt of gratitude. He is leading the charge against the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations, and taking on big businesses that are hijacking billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Hank Johnson is a hero to me, and I think he is a hero to every small business in the country.”

During the 111th Congress, Congressman Johnson introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. The bill would stop the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. If signed into law, H.R. 2568 would direct more federal funds into the hands of Georgia’s small businesses than anything proposed by the Obama Administration or any other member of Congress to date. http://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars in federal contracts intended for small businesses actually flowing into the hands of large businesses. H.R. 2568, would put a halt to this ten-year contracting scandal, and redirect billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds to the middle class economy. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

During FY 2009, Georgia small businesses received $2.15 billion in contracts from the federal government. The ASBL has estimated that the passage of H.R. 2568 could more than double the volume of federal contracts awarded to small businesses in Georgia.

Department of Defense: The Black Hole of Small Business Contracts

2010-07-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

By: Kevin Baron, ASBL

The federal government has a congressionally mandated goal when it comes to giving contracts to small businesses. The Small Business Act states,

The Government-wide goal for participation by small business concerns shall be established at not less than 23 percent of the total value of all prime contract awards for each fiscal year.” So the government must spend a minimum of 23 percent of all prime contract dollars with small businesses every year.

Each fiscal year, the Department of Defense (DoD) consistently accounts for between two-thirds to three-quarters of our entire governments procurement budget. For example, in fiscal year 2008, it is reported that the government spent a total of approximately $536 billion on prime contracts (not including black-op and intelligence spending, but that is for another post), of which DoD accounted for approximately $392 billion, or 73 percent.

There are several programs that have been set-up through DoD that are supposed to be beneficial for small businesses, but end up doing the complete opposite. One program in particular is the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP). The CSPTP was passed by Congress in 1989 and went into effect on October 1, 1990, and is currently set to expire on September 30, 2010 unless reauthorized.

The program was established based on two concepts. The first was to make contracting easier for large prime contractors by reducing their paperwork and reporting requirements on their contracts. The second was to increase the opportunities for small businesses to work with the participating large prime contractors. I am not sure how decreasing transparency on contracts awarded to the biggest defense contractors in the country will increase opportunities for small businesses, but apparently enough members of Congress at the time thought it would work.

About six months ago, I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to DoD asking for the most recent audit, review or evaluation of the program in order to determine if the CSPTP was meeting its stated goals of increasing subcontracts for small businesses, especially Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs), veteran and service disabled veteran owned businesses, woman owned businesses and HUBZones.

I got a phone call a few days later from the Acting Director of the Office of Small Business Programs at DoD, who told me she had received my request and was sending a non-response response, but she wanted to explain. She told me that they had no documents for what I was requesting because the program had never been evaluated. Now, take that in for a moment- a program has been in place for 20 years and has never been evaluated to see if it is working. Essentially, DOD has to conduct an evaluation on the program once it expires, but the program has been reauthorized three times since its inception, and every time it is reauthorized, it kicks back the date of the evaluation.

There are currently 14 participants in the CSPTP, consisting of companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics. One of the main problems with the CSPTP is that there is no penalty for non-compliance with the small business subcontracting goals. That means that when a high-dollar contract is awarded to one of these firms, if the small business subcontracting goals that are automatically attached to the contract are not met, or the company fails to meet the small business subcontracting goals as established in their own small business subcontracting plan, there is no punishment or penalties. So where is the incentive for these firms to subcontract with small businesses?

I have filed numerous FOIA requests asking for information on this program and DoD has turned me down on every one to date, although we plan on pursuing legal action if necessary. What we have seen in looking at subcontracting reports on these same firms through other agencies is that often, they are not meeting their small business subcontracting goals. It appears that the CSPTP is nothing more than a loophole to get large defense contractors out of having to meet government mandated small business goals.

The CSPTP needs to be eliminated. DoD accounts for almost three-quarters of the government’s entire procurement budget, and in fiscal year 2009, the 14 firms participating in the program received approximately 18 percent of DoD’s contract dollars. In fiscal year 2009, one out of every six dollars that DoD spent was going to one of the companies that participated in the program. This means that small businesses were losing out on literally billions of dollars in subcontracts every year for the past 20 years.

Now for the kicker, CSPTP reauthorization was not included in the House’s Defense Authorization bill that passed a few weeks ago, however, it is included the in Senate’s version. In S. 3280, a four-year reauthorization of the program is included in Title VIII, subtitle A, section 805.

I have spoken to numerous members of Congress about this program and have not found one yet who was familiar with the CSPTP. Why would this program continue to be reauthorized when no one, including DoD and members of Congress, has any idea as to whether it is working?

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/60091

Jobs Report Proves Congress Should Pass Small Business Bill

2010-07-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

A little known bill in Congress could be the best shot the Obama Administration has to cut unemployment. H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act has been floating around Congress for nearly two years, but has yet to garner attention from the Obama Administration. If the bill passed it would provide a more significant stimulus to the middle class economy than anything proposed by the Obama Administration to date. (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2568)

Georgia Representative Hank Johnson (D-04GA) introduced H.R. 2568. The bill was written to address a longstanding problem in federal small business contracting programs that has allowed large businesses to land the lion's share of federal small business contracts.

The Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) has named the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the number one management challenge facing the SBA for the last five consecutive years. The most recent data released by the Obama Administration indicated Textron, a Fortune 500 firm, was the largest recipient of federal small business contracts. Textron received over $775 million in government small business contracts in a single year. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

H.R. 2568 would end the abuses and redirect over $100 billion a year in existing federal infrastructure spending to legitimate small businesses. If President Obama were to sign H.R. 2568 into law, the bill would direct more money into private sector firms than any other economic stimulus program that had been proposed by the Obama Administration or Congress.

According to the US Census Bureau small business employ over 50 percent of the private sector workforce and are responsible for over 90 percent of all net new jobs in America.

The Obama Administration has estimated every billion dollars in stimulus spending will create 40,000 jobs. If those estimates are correct, H.R. 2568 could create 4 million new jobs. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us/politics/07radio.html)

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Small businesses still struggling

2010-06-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

Small businesses still struggling

Obama Administration Small Business Forum Shuns Critics

2010-06-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - The Obama Administration has finally released the agenda of its June 28 small business forum. When the small business forum was originally announced on June 14, the administration requested input from small business owners and offered them the opportunity to sign up to address members of President Obama's "Interagency Task Force" on small business.

After angry small business owners from around the country registered to attend the forum and speak, the agenda was abruptly modified to apparently preclude any unscripted comments that could embarrass the Obama Administration with the attending press.

Small business owners were provided an agenda for the event via e-mail on Monday, just a week before the forum is scheduled to begin. According to the new guidelines, comments are to be limited to only three narrowly focused categories.

Small business owners that were preparing to blast the Obama Administration for giving less than 3 percent of the stimulus funds to small businesses, and breaking a series of campaign promises to the small business community, will not have that opportunity under the new agenda.

During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, President Obama promised to restore the Small Business Administration's (SBA) budget and staffing, restore the SBA Administrator to a cabinet level position, and implement the 5 percent set-aside contracting goal for women-owned firms, which was passed by Congress in 2000.

In February of 2008, President Obama also released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

To date, President Obama has failed to honor any of his campaign promises to small business owners. The American Small Business League (ASBL) recently released a study, which found 16 instances where President Obama adopted polices that were harmful to small businesses. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

The most recent data released by the federal government indicates the Obama Administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants in the United States, Europe and Asia. Firms included in the Obama Administration small business data included Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

"If President Obama sincerely wanted to stimulate the economy and help the small businesses that create nearly 100 percent of net new jobs, he would quit diverting federal small business funds to Fortune 500 firms," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman stated.

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Please click here to watch a clip regarding the ASBL's concerns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJh26mQySos

Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Small Business Forum Rules Discourage Attendance

2010-06-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Monday, June 14, the Obama Administration surprised small business owners across the country by announcing a small business forum to be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce on June 28. The agenda has been so narrowly focused that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for meeting attendees to bring up President Obama's broken campaign promises to small businesses such as, "it is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes the Obama Administration has fast tracked the registration process and erected barriers as a means of discouraging attendance by small business interests outside the Washington D.C. area.

The ASBL maintains the short notice and other registration barriers may have a chilling effect on the attendance of small business owners who take issue with the Obama Administration's poor track record for small businesses. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

Although the forum was supposedly designed to collect input from small businesses on ways to increase their business with government, no small business registrant has received notification that they will be allowed to speak. Legitimate small business organizations or individual small business owners who had hoped to be heard, will not know if they will be allowed to speak. This has made it extremely difficult for small business owners outside the Washington area to attend. To make matters worse, the forum will be extremely short, which has also discouraged individuals around the country from attending.

The ASBL believes the true purpose of the forum is to gain support in the media for Obama Administration policies that may actually reduce small business contracting opportunities with the federal government.

"I guarantee President Obama will try to use his small business task force and this meeting to push policies that will actually reduce the volume of federal contracts to legitimate small businesses under the guise of helping small businesses," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "A proposal to change the definition of a small business, which would divert small business funds to firms controlled by venture capitalists, is a certainty. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to weaken small business programs further by breaking up the SBA. Big defense contractors and wealthy venture capitalists want the $150 billion that is supposed to go to small businesses, and they contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to President Obama and congress to achieve that goal."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Small Business Conference Draws Criticism

2010-06-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Monday, June 14, the Obama Administration suddenly announced that it will hold a small business forum in Washington D.C. on June 28. Obama Administration officials claim the purpose of the forum is to collect public input on the administration's recently established Interagency Task Force on Small Business. (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-14144.pdf)

Small business groups and owners around the country are concerned about the short notice the Obama Administration has given members of the small business community regarding the meeting. The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes the Obama Administration opted to hold the meeting in Washington D.C. on short notice to minimize comments from angry small businesses over the administration's failed small business track record. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

During the 2008 campaign President Obama made a wide variety of promises to the small business community, including a promise to, "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." To date, President Obama has refused to honor those promises.
(http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

In the most egregious example, President Obama has allowed the continued diversion of more than $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and even some of the largest corporations in the world. Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars in small business contracts to corporate giants. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

The ASBL has launched a national campaign to rally small business groups and small business owners around the country to attend the meeting and send comments to the small business task force. The public has until Monday, June 21 to register to attend the event and Wednesday, June 30 to submit comments. (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-14144.pdf)

"I'm predicting that the Obama Administration will use its 'small business task force,' and this sham meeting on June 28, to push anti-small business policies like: changing the definition of small business to include larger firms, increasing small business size standards or dismantling the SBA by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "If President Obama really wanted to help small businesses he would quit diverting small business funds to Fortune 500 firms. Small business owners around the country need to prepare themselves to oppose any new Obama Administration policy that will actually weaken federal small business contracting programs under the guise of helping small businesses."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Lloyd Chapman: Help us save the economy with small businesses!

2010-06-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

A video letter to the editor of the Central Valley Business Times. http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/letters/

General Services Administration Officials to be Deposed in Lawsuit Over Contracting Data

2010-06-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Wednesday, June 9, United States District Court Judge William Alsup denied the American Small Business League's (ASBL) motion for a preliminary injunction against the General Services Administration (GSA). The ASBL originally filed the motion in response to GSA actions to remove information from the federal government's contracting database. Historically, the information has been used to uncover billions of dollars in small business contracts flowing to Fortune 500 firms. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/order_Denying_prelim.pdf)

Investigations by the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG), U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) and inspector generals from a series of other federal agencies have used the field, "small business flag," to identify large companies masquerading as small businesses to receive federal contracts.

Since 2003, these investigations have uncovered billions of dollars in federal small business contracts actually ending up in the hands of Fortune 500 firms and some of the largest businesses in Europe and Asia. The most recent data released by the government indicates that the recipients of federal small business contracts have included: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

In response to the court's ruling, the ASBL intends to pursue a permanent injunction against the GSA to prevent the destruction of the field on all future and historical data available to the public.

In the court's ruling, Alsup stated, "In the present action, plaintiff has not shown that the deletion of the search fields was a significant revision. Nevertheless, it should be given opportunity to do so by obtaining discovery on the pedigree of the change." In accordance with Alsup's ruling, the ASBL will subpoena emails and other materials within the GSA. The ASBL believes the information will show that the destruction of the "small business flag" was in fact a "significant revision," in that it will make it difficult, if not impossible, for federal investigators to uncover billions in fraud and abuse in small business contracting programs.

"We are looking forward to deposing senior GSA officials, and issuing subpoenas for their internal documents. I am confident that we can prove the removal of the small business flag is not in the public interest," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "It is obvious the GSA is attempting to reduce transparency, and hide the fact that the Obama Administration is diverting billions of dollars a week in federal small business funds to corporate giants."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

NASA Sued For Refusing to Release Contracting Data on United Space Alliance

2010-06-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Tuesday, June 8, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Federal District Court, Northern District of California. The case was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after NASA repeatedly refused to release subcontracting reports for contracts issued to United Space Alliance, LLC, a joint venture between defense giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100608_NASA_USA_Complaint.pdf)

The ASBL originally requested information on United Space Alliance's compliance with small business subcontracting goals on NASA contracts awarded to the contractor. During fiscal year (FY) 2009, United Space Alliance was awarded over $1.5 billion in contracts from NASA.

Tuesday's suit is the third lawsuit filed by the ASBL against NASA. In February of 2007, the ASBL prevailed in its first suit against NASA, forcing the agency to provide detailed information proving that it falsified its small business contracting statistics by including contracts to a variety of Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts actually flowing into the hands of Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large businesses. Large recipients of federal small business contracts have included: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dell Computer, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

"We believe that NASA is withholding data which shows that the agency is inflating the achievement of its congressionally mandated small business goals by including Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large businesses. We also believe that NASA is withholding data that will prove that they are allowing major prime contractors to falsify compliance with congressionally mandated small business contracting goals," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "It is disappointing to see that President Obama's promise of increased transparency was just another broken campaign promise." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

Obama Proposes Tax Cut for Mega Rich Venture Capitalist Contributors

2010-05-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama has proposed new legislation that will allow many of the nation's wealthiest venture capitalists to avoid paying billions of dollars in federal income tax. Under the new proposal some of President Obama's top campaign contributors in the venture capital industry will be exempt from capital gains tax.

I believe President Obama will also back legislation and policy that will attempt to change the longstanding federal definition of a small business as being "independently owned." President Obama will likely back legislation or policy that will change the federal definition of a small business to include firms owned by many of the nation's wealthiest venture capitalists.

If he is successful, billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts will be diverted from legitimate small businesses, and into the hands of mega wealthy venture capitalists.

President Obama has maintained close ties to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) since his days in the Illinois State Legislature. Wealthy venture capitalists were major contributors to President Obama's campaign. In February of 2009, a story in the Venture Capital Journal titled, "Real Change: New President Gets VC," boasted about the close relationship between President Obama and the venture capital industry. (http://www.vcjnews.com/story.asp?storycode=46450)

President Obama's close ties and political debt to the venture capital industry were clearly demonstrated when he appointed New York venture capitalist, and Tootsie Roll heiress Karen Mills to head the Small Business Administration (SBA). He appointed another venture capitalist, Winslow Sargeant to head the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. Both Mills and Sargeant were major contributors and fund raisers during Obama's Presidential campaign.

In addition to millions of dollars in contributions to President Obama, the NVCA and its members have spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress. The vast majority of venture capital industry contributions have been focused on the House and Senate small business committees. A story in AllBusiness.com described House Small Business Committee Chair Nydia Velázquez as "quarterbacking" legislation for well-heeled venture capitalists. (http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/business-climate-conditions/9077284-1.html)

In the past, the NVCA and its members have pushed for pro-venture capital loopholes under the guise of "increasing access to capital for small businesses." Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the true purpose of the NVCA political agenda is obviously to increase their access to billions of dollars in federal small business contracts and withdraw profits without paying taxes.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kauffman Foundation, small businesses employ over 50.2 percent of the private sector workforce, are responsible for more than 50 percent of GDP and create nearly all net new jobs. Legislation or policy that would divert federal small business funds away from American small businesses could have a significant negative impact on the national economy.

If President Obama truly wanted to increase access to capital for small businesses, he would not have allowed CIT, the nation's leading lender to small businesses and firms owned by women, minorities and veterans, to fail. If President Obama were sincere about helping small businesses, he would have kept his campaign promises to: implement the 5 percent set-aside goal for woman owned firms, restore the SBA's budget and staffing, restore the head of the SBA to a cabinet level position, and "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

President Obama has broken every campaign promise he made to America's 27 million small business owners. Instead he has continued to allow billions of dollars a month in federal small business funds to be diverted to corporate giants around the world. His administration has tried to cover up the diversion of federal small business contacts to corporate giants by destroying data in the Federal Procurement Data System such as the "small business flag" and the "parent DUNS number." The Obama Administration is refusing to release a wide variety of information that the public can use to monitor the actual recipients of federal small business contracts. They have also refused to release reports on prime contractor compliance with federal small business goals. President Obama even refused to accept the recommendation of his own small business advisory council to end the "Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program." This program allows prime contractors to ignore federally mandated small business goals and avoid any penalties for noncompliance.

As I have said many times, the media and the American people need to quit listening to President Obama's well written and insincere speeches, and look at what he is actually doing. When you do, it becomes clear that President Barack Obama is no friend to the 27 million small businesses where most American's work. Quite the contrary, his administration has adopted numerous policies that are clearly anti-small business.

I predict that President Obama will continue to pursue legislation and policy that will allow his wealthy contributors in the venture capital industry to hijack billions of dollars in federal small business contracts and avoid paying taxes on their ill gotten gains.

New In-depth Report Challenges Obama Small Business Track Record

2010-05-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – The American Small Business League (ASBL) has concluded an examination and report on President Barack Obama's track record for small businesses, and uncovered a dramatic disparity between President Obama's rhetoric and his actions. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf)

In its report the ASBL outlines a series of major failures by the Obama Administration. These failures represent broken campaign promises and failures by the administration to recognize the needs of America's chief job creators: Small businesses.

The ASBL investigation was spurred by the administration's refusal to stop the diversion of more than $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the United States and Europe. Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars in federal small business contracts diverted to corporate giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Dell Computer, Xerox, Office Depot, Starwood Hotels, Raytheon, General Dynamics and French giant Thales Communications.

The ASBL's report found that the Obama Administration has:

1. Failed to adopt any policies or legislation to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

2. Reduced overall transparency in federal small business contracting data by eliminating fields such as the "small business flag" and "parent DUNS number."

3. Failed to restore the Small Business Administration's (SBA) budget and staffing to pre-Bush Administration levels.

4. Failed to implement the recommendations of his campaign's small business advisory council, which provided solutions to a wide array of small business problems.

5. Failed to stop the dismantling of minority set-aside programs. During the Obama Administration's first months the Rothe Decision virtually nullified small business programs for minorities.

6. Failed to provide assistance to major small business lender CIT during the summer of 2009.

7. Failed to allocate more than 3 percent of stimulus funds to small businesses.

8. Destroyed a decade's worth of federal contracting data used to identify fraudulent contractors.

9. Reduced the availability of documents on small business contracting programs under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

10. Failed to curb widespread fraud in veteran-owned small business programs.

11. Failed to bring an end to the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program, which allows prime contractors to circumvent their small business subcontracting goals.

12. Failed to implement the 5 percent set-aside goal for women-owned small businesses.

"If you quit listening to what he says and just look at what he's done, these are not the actions of a pro-small business president," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Please click here to view a copy of the ASBL’s report: http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100526_ASBL_AnalysisObamaSB.pdf

Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Small Business Advocate Scores Another Victory for Transparency

2010-05-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Small Business Advocate Scores Another Victory for Transparency

ASBL President Lloyd Chapman Slams SBA Press Office Director Mike Stamler

2010-05-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Department of Energy Loses Legal Battle Over Bechtel Contracting Data

2010-05-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - The Department of Energy (DOE) has lost a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL). The ASBL filed the lawsuit after the DOE refused to release information regarding a $3.6 billion federal contract awarded to Bechtel Bettis Inc. The socio-economic status indicated "small business" on hundreds of millions of dollars in awards under the prime contract. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/litigation/Case_10.pdf)

The ASBL requested the information as part of an ongoing investigation into the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 corporations. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General described the problem as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

The DOE refused to release the names of Bechtel officials overseeing the contract. Specifically, DOE withheld the name of Kimon Andreos, Manager, Procurement and Materials Management, and Lisa Smith, Small Business Program Manager. The contract was awarded by DOE Contract Specialist Anthony DeNapoli.

Section 16(D) of the Small Business Act which states, "whoever misrepresents the status of any concern or person as a 'small business concern'...to obtain for oneself or another," any prime contract or subcontract with the government shall be subject to penalties of $500,000, 10 years in prison and/or debarment from federal contracting programs. (http://www.sba.gov/regulations/sbaact/sbaact.html)

The ASBL intends to uncover more evidence of contracting abuses in small business programs at NASA, the DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The organization has launched a campaign to review all of the DOE contracts awarded to Bechtel and all of the DOE contracts that have been awarded by Mr. DeNapoli.

"We will continue to use the Freedom of Information Act to prove that the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms is not miscoding, computer glitches, or honest mistakes as the government has claimed. It is clearly premeditated and deliberate," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "We will prove that the Obama Administration is diverting billions of dollars a month in federal small business funds to Fortune 500 firms. We'll prove that the DOE, NASA and the Pentagon are cheating American small businesses out of billions of dollars a month in federal contracts."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Navy Sued For Refusing to Release ManTech Contracting Data

2010-05-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Tuesday, May 18, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the Navy in Federal District Court, Northern District of California. The case was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after the Navy refused to release quarterly sub-contracting reports for contracts awarded to ManTech Systems Engineering. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/litigation/Case_12.pdf)

This is the 5th lawsuit filed by the ASBL under FOIA since the beginning of April, and the organization's 12 lawsuit against the government since 2004. Through its legal efforts, the ASBL has forced the release of thousands of pages of documents proving that large corporations have received billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts actually flowing into the hands of Fortune 500 corporations and even some of the largest firms in Europe. Report 5-15, from the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General described this issue as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

The Small Business Act requires that a minimum of 23 percent of the total value of all government contracts go to small businesses. The Obama administration has failed to meet that goal. The most recent information available indicates that the administration is diverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms like: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dell Computer, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

The ASBL plans to file a series of federal lawsuits against the Obama Administration for refusing to release documents under FOIA. The ASBL maintains that despite claims of increased transparency, the Obama Administration is refusing to release a wide range of data on small business contracting programs such as: prime contractor compliance with small business subcontracting goals, the actual names of the recipients of federal small business contracts, and the specific names of federal contracting officials that have awarded small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.

"The information that the Obama Administration is refusing to release shows that they are diverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. The fact that they are willing to go to federal court to withhold the data clearly shows that they have something damaging to hide. We will win like we always do," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Schwarzenegger Won't Back Bill to Bring Jobs and Contracts to California

2010-05-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused to back H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act, which would bring billions of dollars in additional federal contracts and thousands of jobs to the State of California. The Governor's office originally pledged to back the bill once it was introduced into Congress, but has since broken its promise.

The bill was originally drafted by the Petaluma, California based American Small Business League (ASBL) to stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses. H.R. 2568 was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in May of 2009. It currently has 24 co-sponsors, including 5 members of the California delegation, as well as the support of major chambers of commerce and business organizations across the state and nation.

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found billions of dollars a month in federal contracts earmarked for small businesses have actually been diverted to Fortune 500 firms and even some of the largest firms in Europe and Asia. Large recipients of federal small business contracts have included: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dell Computer, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

In March of 2005, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

H.R. 2568 would prevent federal agencies from continuing to divert small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. The ASBL estimates that the bill's passage could create between 400,000 and 500,000 new jobs and provide California's small businesses with over $50 billion in additional contracts over the next 5 years.

"I am really disappointed in Governor Schwarzenegger's refusal to back this bill. This legislation would do more to direct federal infrastructure spending to small businesses in California than any other legislation proposed to date," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "I would be willing to bet that 99.99% of Californians would agree that Fortune 500 firms should not be allowed to hijack federal contracts intended for small businesses. California is having serious financial problems and this is a great solution that would bring money and jobs to the state. "

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Exxon Profits Soar, Still No Windfall Profits Tax from Obama

2010-04-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that its first quarter profit earnings were up 38 percent, totaling $6.3 billion in profits due mainly to the high price of oil, which is now over $85 per barrel. To date, President Obama has still not fulfilled his campaign promise of enacting a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry. (http://bit.ly/9CrGHf)

In the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, President Obama routinely promised to enact a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry to fund a $1000 per household energy rebate. Within 48 hours of being elected, President Obama dropped the promise from his agenda. An “unnamed transition team staffer” tried to justify the decision by stating, “President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel. They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4B206W20081203)

“I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills,” President Obama said in a statement released in June of 2008. (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWAT00963020080609)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJPo5IGTd0A)

Prior to the 2008 presidential election, President Obama's promise to implement the tax was displayed prominently at the top of the “Economy” section of the Obama-Biden campaign website. On November 6, President-elect Obama rolled out his transition website, Change.gov, which also displayed the promise, before it disappeared two days later. (Pre-change, http://www.asbl.com/documents/Economy_Change.pdf ; Post-change, http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/)

The Obama administration has not made good on its campaign promise to enact a windfall oil profits tax, even with the price of oil consistently staying above $80 per barrel, couple that with the fact that Exxon Mobil paid zero dollars in federal income tax for 2009. (http://www.oil-price.net/) (http://www.oil-price.net/en/articles/How-Exxon-paid-zero-tazes-in-2009.php)

Proponents of the tax maintain that the oil and gas industry has gouged the public at the pump to reap excessive profits for nearly a decade, even with barrel prices in the $20 range. In January of 2004 the Associated Press (AP) reported that Exxon-Mobil earned $21.51 billion in profits during fiscal year (FY) 2003. Nearly doubling the company’s profit from the previous fiscal year. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60862-2004Jan29_2.html)

“A windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry would help keep the prices at the pump low, help reduce the deficit and most Americans would much rather see that than a value-added Tax.” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

NASA Sued for Refusing to Release Contracting Data

2010-04-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Wednesday, April 28, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against NASA in Federal District Court, Northern District of California. The case was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after NASA refused to release subcontracting reports for contracts awarded to General Dynamics C4 Systems Incorporated. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/complaint_GD_NASA.pdf)

The ASBL requested information from NASA on a contract awarded to General Dynamics after discovering that a contracting officer reported the award as a small business contract.

Wednesday's suit is the second lawsuit filed by the ASBL against NASA. In February of 2007, the ASBL prevailed in its first suit against NASA, forcing the agency to provide detailed information proving the agency falsified its small business contracting statistics by including contracts to a variety of Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses.

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found billions of dollars a month in federal contracts earmarked for small businesses have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms and some of the largest companies in the world. The large recipients of federal small business contracts include: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dell Computer, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

The ASBL plans to file a series of FOIA requests to NASA as a means of uncovering more federal small business contracts that were diverted to Fortune 500 firms. Specifically, the ASBL intends to uncover contracts awarded to large corporations that were coded as small business contracts by contracting officers.

Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act states, "whoever misrepresents the status of any concern or person as a 'small business concern'...to obtain for oneself or another," any prime contract or subcontract with the government shall be subject to penalties of $500,000, 10 years in prison and/or debarment from federal contracting programs. (http://www.sba.gov/regulations/sbaact/sbaact.html)

Attorneys for the ASBL believe federal contracting officials, and possibly even employees of prime contractors, could be held liable for penalties prescribed under section 16(d) of the Small Business Act for fraudulently misrepresenting large firms as small businesses.

"This issue has gone on unabated for over decade. I don't think these abuses are going to stop until people start going to prison," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Please click here to watch a clip about the ASBL's suit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx-SyChw06I

Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Small Business Task Force May Ignore #1 Problem

2010-04-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – On Monday, March 26, President Barack Obama announced the establishment of two task forces charged with removing barriers to access, and monitoring goals, for federal contracting with small businesses. Based on President Obama's track record for small businesses to date, the American Small Business League (ASBL) is concerned that the task forces will ignore the #1 challenge facing small businesses competing in the federal marketplace, which is the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations.

To date, President Barack Obama has:

- Refused to end the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants, and consistently misled Congress and the media by claiming that the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations is the result of "miscoding," and "data entry errors."

- Failed to restore the Small Business Administration's (SBA) staffing to pre-Bush Administration levels.

- Distributed less than 2 percent of funds allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) directly to small businesses.

- Allowed for the dismantling of small disadvantaged business and minority owned business contracting programs. (http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/policy/USA001376-09%20Signed.pdf)

- Destroyed a decade's worth of federal contracting data that has been used to prove that Fortune 500 firms have illegally received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts.

- Refused to release a wide range of information including the names of recipients of small business contracts, and documents showing prime contractor compliance with small business subcontracting goals.

The ASBL is concerned that one of the top recommendations issued by the Obama Administration's two small business task forces will be a change to the 57 year-old federal definition of a small business, as being independently owned, to include firms owned and controlled by venture capitalists. The ASBL believes the change will be made under the guise of increasing access to capital for small businesses, while actually hurting small businesses by diverting small business contracts to some of President Obama's wealthiest venture capitalist donors.

In order to provide the small business community with greater contracting opportunities and stimulate our nation's economy, the ASBL recommends the Obama Administration take the following actions:

1. Maintain the current definition of a small business as being independently owned, and prevent the diversion of federal small business contracts to firms owned and controlled by wealthy venture capitalists.

2. End the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program, which currently allows large prime contractors to ignore their small business subcontracting goals.

3. Issue an executive order that would stop the diversion of billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large businesses.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Department of Energy Sued Over Bechtel Contract Data

2010-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - On Tuesday, April 20, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The suit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The DOE is refusing to release information about a $3.6 billion contract that was awarded to Bechtel, which listed the giant contractor as a small business under the socio-economic field. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100420_doe_bechtel.pdf)

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found fraud and abuse leading to the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. The ASBL is attempting to gather information in accordance with these federal investigations that would once again provide evidence of fraud; and refute government claims that the problem is the result of miscoding, computer glitches, and honest mistakes. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

Attorneys from the ASBL believe federal contracting officials, and possibly even employees of prime contractors could be sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating section 16(D) of the Small Business Act.

Section 16(D) states, "whoever misrepresents the status of any concern or person as a 'small business concern'...to obtain for oneself or another," any prime contract or subcontract with the government shall be subject to penalties of $500,000, 10 years in prison and/or debarment from federal contracting programs. (http://www.sba.gov/regulations/sbaact/sbaact.html)

Despite campaign promises of increased transparency, and an end to the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants, the Obama Administration is refusing to release a wide range of information to the general public. The administration has refused to release information such as: the names of recipients of small business contracts, the names of federal contracting officials who awarded contracts to large corporations, the specific names of individuals responsible for misrepresenting large corporations as small businesses, and prime contractor compliance with small business subcontracting goals.

"We expect that by the end of 2010, through our freedom of information requests and lawsuits, that we will prove once and for all that the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants is not honest mistakes, miscoding, or computer glitches. Our efforts will prove that the government has adopted specific policies that divert small business contracts to large corporations, and in many cases the government has allowed federal contracting officials and prime contractors to get away with blatant contracting fraud," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

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Please click here to watch a clip about the ASBL's suit against the Department of Energy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFYZ5BMpdyM

Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Army Sued For Refusing to Release Contracting Data

2010-04-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - On Wednesday, April 14, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Army under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The suit was filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The Army is refusing to release information regarding the compliance of its prime contractors with small business subcontracting goals. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100414_complaint_mantech.pdf)

The ASBL originally requested the most recent quarterly subcontracting reports for contracts awarded by the Army to ManTech Telecommunications. Prime contractors are required to produce subcontracting reports for each contract awarded by the federal government.

The ASBL maintains that the Pentagon's refusal to release information regarding prime contractor compliance with small business subcontracting goals is a further indication that the Pentagon is falsifying compliance with its small business contracting goals.

The Small Business Act requires that a minimum of 23 percent of the total value of all government contracts go to small businesses. The most recent information available indicates that the Obama Administration is diverting billions of dollars a month in government small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms like: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dell Computer, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea, and the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

The ASBL maintains that the Pentagon's refusal to release this information is a clear indication that it has something to hide.

"The Obama Administration is withholding these subcontracting reports because it knows that these reports will show the federal government and prime contractors are falsifying their small business contracting numbers," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

Despite promises of increased transparency, the Obama Administration is refusing to release a wide range of data on small business contracting programs such as: agency phone records, the actual names of the recipients of federal small business contracts, the specific names of federal contracting officials that have awarded small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms, the names of specific individuals at Fortune 500 firms that have misrepresented their firms status as a small business, and SBA bonus recipients.

Wednesday's action is the third lawsuit filed by the ASBL since late March. The ASBL's efforts to expose fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs have recently been chronicled by articles in the Washington Post, HispanicBusiness Magazine and Andrew Beitbart's BigGovernment.com. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/11/AR2010041103341.html; http://63.149.249.152/news/newsbyid.asp?idx=187049&page=1&cat=&more#; http://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2010/04/14/small-businesses-sue-government-goliath/)

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Small Businesses Sue Government Goliath

2010-04-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

by Lurita Doan

A small business association called the American Small Business League (ASBL) did something unexpected this week. ASBL President, Lloyd Chapman, decided to take the Obama Administration to court and expose the growing divergence between the Administration’s stated goals to meet the federal statutes for small business participation versus the Obama Administration’s total failure on federal, small business contracting.

By any measure, Obama’s record on federal, small business contracting has been abysmal. The recent, National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Small Business Economic Trends Report confirms that “for small business owners, 2009 ended with a thud.”

Many factors have contributed to the disaster in small business contracting. A rush to push the $787 billion Stimulus funding quickly gave federal contracting officers no real options other than to dump the additional federal money onto existing federal contracts that are held by the largest companies. There just was not enough time to conduct procurements to encourage the participation of small businesses. So, small businesses received very little of any of the new federal business or the loans anticipated from the $787 billion Stimulus spending, even though President Obama and Democrats in Congress stated that awards to small businesses were the primary goal.

Worse yet, Obama decided to delay the long-overdue need to increase the number of federal contracting officers that are in critical short supply. Ten years ago, each federal contracting officer was responsible for an average of $300 thousand dollars of federal contracts. Today, each federal contracting officer is responsible for $50 million dollars in federal contracts. Put bluntly, contracting officers have been stretched thinly and no longer have the time needed to open procurements to small businesses.

Many contend that it is simpler and faster to add funding to an existing federal contract or to bundle many disparate governmental needs into huge omnibus contracts that often top $1 billion in size. This may be a bad policy and a poor return for taxpayer dollars, but it is the most expedient process for a federal procurement officer that is required by Congress to get the billions of dollars of new federal money committed quickly.

The Obama Administration has further rigged the deck, for construction contracts, by forcing small businesses to seek Union participation prior to bidding on federal construction and infrastructure jobs. This move, might be great for the Unions, but it destroys innovation and further burdens small businesses with foolhardy regulatory burdens.

The American Small Business League’s decision to bring suit against the government represents one of the few times that a trade organization has mustered the courage to tell the truth about what’s really happening in federal procurements. The fact is, the government has been doing a poor job in contracting for years, but under the Obama Administration, small businesses have been hit especially hard.

To read the rest of this article please click here: http://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2010/04/14/small-businesses-sue-government-goliath/

CNBC with ASBL President Lloyd Chapman: Small Business Optimism Falls

2010-04-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

ASBL's Lloyd Chapman to Appear on CNBC April 13

2010-04-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning the President of the American Small Business League, Lloyd Chapman, will be live on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street with Erin Burnett and Mark Haines at approximately 10:30 am EST / 7:30 PST. He will be on with Columbia University Business School Professor Clifford Schorer discussing the biggest issues facing small business and how to fix it.

Additionally, this morning the Washington Post ran a story titled, "Big businesses winning contracts meant for small ones, groups charge" by Dion Haynes. In the story, Haynes discusses the diversion of small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms, the American Small Business League’s lawsuit against the GSA, and the SBA’s response to allegations of fraud and abuse in its procurement programs. Please click here to access the article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/11/AR2010041103341.html

SBA Sued for Refusing to Release Information on Public Relations Contracts

2010-04-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - On Tuesday, April 6, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed suit against the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The SBA is refusing to release detailed information on four public relations contracts.
(http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100406_FOIA4_complaint.pdf)

The ASBL suspects the SBA has spent American tax dollars to hire consultants to help them obscure the SBA's role in diverting billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses around the world.

In one case, the SBA paid $30,000 for a one-day meeting with APCO Worldwide Inc, a multinational communications firm specializing in crisis management. The SBA is refusing to release the complete details on that contract. In another example, the SBA paid $16,500 to the White House Writers Group. The SBA is refusing to release all of the details on that contract.

The SBA is also refusing to release any information whatsoever on two additional contracts for public relations consulting services.

The most recent information released by the Obama Administration found large recipients of federal small business contracts such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dell Computers, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce, French giant Thales Communications, Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in South Korea and the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA.

Since 2002, the SBA has claimed that the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations was the result of "miscoding." In May of 2007, the SBA even went as far as to claim that it was a "myth" that large corporations received federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)

In SBA Report 5-15, the agency's Office of Inspector General 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) Another report, from the SBA's own Office of Inspector General found that the SBA itself had reported contracts to large businesses as small business awards, including Dutch conglomerate Buhrmann NV with more than 26,000 employees worldwide. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-14.pdf)

On March 12, 2010, the Obama Administration removed 10 years of historical data from the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG), which has been used by the GAO and inspector generals from a variety of federal agencies to uncover fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs. The ASBL has filed for an injunction to force the Obama Administration to restore the data.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Faces Court Battle Over Contracting Data

2010-03-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - On Tuesday, March 30, the American Small Business League (ASBL) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in United States District Court, Northern District of California against the General Services Administration (GSA). The purpose of the injunction is to force the GSA to restore more than a decade's worth of federal contracting data. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_Prelim_Injunction.pdf)

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 used the field to identify large firms who had fraudulently misrepresented themselves as small businesses to illegally receive billions of dollars in small business contracts.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars in fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs.

In Report 5-16, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) found large businesses had received federal small business contracts by making "false certifications" and "improper certifications." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

In Report 5-15, the SBA IG stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards." 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)

The ASBL has estimated that over the last decade nearly $1 trillion in contracts intended for small businesses have actually ended up in the hands of Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large businesses.

Current federal law prescribes stiff penalties for fraudulent misrepresentation of a business as a small business in order to compete for federal contracting opportunities. Violators are subject to penalties of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $500,000 per occurrence and debarment from federal contracting programs, according to the Small Business Act.

The ASBL is concerned that the destruction of ten-years worth of historical contracting data could prevent further investigations into fraudulent contracting activity, and prevent large firms from being prosecuted under section 16(D) of the Small Business Act.

The ASBL's motion for a preliminary injunction will be heard on a 35-calendar day track, according to court documents.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Federal Investigation Finds Corporate Giants Received Billions in Small Business Funds

2010-03-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – The Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) has released the latest in a series of investigations, which found billions in federal small business contracts have been diverted to corporate giants. The SBA IG investigation found that the SBA itself awarded federal small business contracts to large businesses. (http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_report_10-08.pdf)

Report 10-08 uncovered that during fiscal year (FY) 2008 the SBA awarded more than 30 percent of its contracts to large businesses, and 92 percent of the contract actions contained blatant errors. Additionally, the report found that during FY 2009 the percentage of misleading data jumped to a record 97 percent.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have found the SBA played a key role in the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to large businesses around the world.

- In Report 5-14, the 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-14.pdf)

- 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

- 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." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)

President Barack Obama recognized the magnitude of the problem and promised to stop it during the 2008 presidential campaign. (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

Despite this series of federal investigations, the SBA has simultaneously claimed that the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations was a "myth" and the result of "miscoding." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf) The SBA has never been able to explain why, for over a decade, 100 percent of the time the "miscoding" always reports awards to large businesses as small business awards.

"There have now been over two dozen investigations, over the last eight years, which have found a clear pattern of blatant fraud and abuse in SBA managed programs," American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman said. "It is time for the FBI to step in and get to the bottom of this. To date, the Obama Administration has done nothing to halt these abuses."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn (at) asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Jobs Bill Will Allow the Diversion of Federal Small Business Funds to Corporate Giants to Continue

2010-03-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – President Barack Obama signed the new jobs bill today. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate failed to include provisions in the bill that would halt the diversion of up to $120 billion a year in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses.

Small business advocates had hoped that President Obama would include a provision in the bill to make good on his February 2008 campaign promise to, "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found that every month billions of dollars in federal small business contracts are diverted to large businesses around the world. For five consecutive years, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) has referred to the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the #1 management challenge facing the agency. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html ; http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_reports_tmc_fy10.pdf)

The American Small Business League (ASBL) estimates that over $10 billion a month in federal small business funds are diverted to large corporations.

"I don't think this jobs bill is going to work. It's too little, too late. I think it's important to realize that while President Obama signed the jobs bill this morning, he'll allow over $400 million in federal small business funds to be diverted to large businesses today alone. This diversion has gone on every day that he has been in office, and apparently it's going to continue throughout the remainder of his presidency," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "Ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses would put more money into the middle class and create more jobs than anything President Obama or Congress have ever proposed."

The ASBL does not believe this jobs bill is going to work long term. The provisions of this bill will be a temporary boost at best, while at the same time increasing the national deficit.

In May of 2009, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. If passed, the bill would create millions of jobs by halting the flow of federal small business contracts to large businesses and redirecting more than $120 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending to legitimate small businesses. Although the bill has bipartisan support with 23 co-sponsors, to date President Obama has refused to endorse the legislation. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf)

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Destroys Incriminating Contracting Data

2010-03-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – In March of 2005, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General found large businesses had fraudulently represented themselves as small businesses to illegally receive federal small business contracts. Report 5-16, stated large businesses had committed fraud by making "false certifications," and "improper certifications." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

On Friday, March 12, the General Services Administration (GSA) destroyed all of the information that had been used in that investigation.

Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found that Fortune 500 firms have received federal small business contracts. In 2004, the SBA Office of Advocacy found large businesses had received federal small business contracts fraudulently through what they referred to as "vendor deception."

As a result of the deletion of the data it will be significantly more difficult, if not impossible, for federal investigators to conduct investigations into fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs. Despite public outcry over the proposed changes, the GSA has eliminated the data under the guise of upgrading the system and making it easier to search.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) maintains that the GSA eliminated the data to destroy evidence, which clearly shows that some of the nation's largest contractors, primarily in the defense and aerospace industry, have committed felony federal contracting fraud. Section 16(d) of the Small Business Act prescribes a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $500,000 fine per occurrence and debarment from federal contracting programs for such abuses.

In February of 2008, the ASBL sued the SBA for the release of the names of Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses that had received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. The SBA withheld the information until directed to release it by United States District Judge Marilyn H. Patel. In the court's ruling 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." (www.asbl.com/documents/26-2.pdf)

"At some point in the near future it is going to be clear that the GSA destroyed evidence of hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "I think Congress and the FBI need to investigate the GSA's role in this matter. When it does come out that evidence of fraud was destroyed, the GSA officials responsible need to be prosecuted."

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Federal Judge Clears the Way for Destruction of Incriminating Contracting Data

2010-03-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2010

United States District Judge William Alsup has denied the American Small Business League's (ASBL) request for a temporary restraining order, and cleared the way for the Obama Administration to destroy over ten years worth of federal contracting data.

On March 12, 2010, the Obama Administration intends to move forward with a plan that would destroy years of incriminating contracting data by eliminating the socio-economic field, "isSmallBusiness," found within the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG). In the past, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) and other agencies have used the small business flag to uncover evidence indicating that large businesses have fraudulently received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts.

In Report 5-16, the SBA IG found large businesses had received federal small business contracts by making "false certifications" and "improper certifications." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-16.pdf)

The ASBL has estimated that since 2000, between $500 billion and $1 trillion in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms and other clearly large businesses.

"I want people to understand that this is the Obama Administration reducing transparency, and helping to cover-up hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contracting fraud," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

In February of 2008, the ASBL sued the SBA for the release of the names of Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses that had received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. The SBA withheld the information until directed to release it by United States District Judge Marilyn H. Patel. In the court's ruling 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." (www.asbl.com/documents/26-2.pdf)

The ASBL believes the move by the Obama Administration to eliminate the embarrassing data is the result of its successful lawsuits against the government, which have increased transparency and opened the public's access to the data.

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA-7) has already sent a letter to GSA Administrator Martha Johnson and GSA Inspector General Brian Miller requesting that the GSA postpone the destruction of historical contracting data, and that the GSA IG conduct an investigation into the matter. The ASBL expects a dozen other members of Congress will follow suit. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100309_sestak_ltr.pdf)

In response to the court's ruling, the ASBL will be filing a request for a preliminary injunction by the end of the week.

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Obama's Exemption from Capital Gains Tax Will Benefit Investors More than Small Businesses

2010-02-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama has stated he will back an exemption from capital gains tax for small businesses. He has also stated he will support an exemption from capital gains tax on investments in small business.

You can be sure any exemption from capital gains tax for small businesses or for investments in small businesses will be written to benefit the wealthy venture capitalists that backed his campaign, as opposed to struggling small businesses.

Currently, the average small business owner only needs to pay capital gains tax when they sell their business. That said, how is an exemption from capital gains tax going to create jobs? The answer is, it won't.

An exemption from capital gains tax on, "investments in small businesses," would be a huge benefit for the venture capitalists that have contributed millions of dollars to President Obama's campaign. That is why he has appointed several prominent venture capitalists, like Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen Mills, to key government positions.

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and its members have been lobbying for an exemption from capital gains tax for years.

The NVCA and its members have contributed millions of dollars to President Obama and key leaders in Congress. They have consistently lobbied for a two-phase change in federal law that will allow them to participate, and conceivably dominate, the government's $150 billion a year small business contracting programs.

Phase one for venture capitalists is to push legislation that will change the 57-year-old definition of a small business in the Small Business Act as being "independently owned." Venture capitalists want the definition changed to include firms that are majority owned or controlled by investors. They have been successful in having bills introduced into to Congress, H.R. 3567 and H.R. 2965, with that goal in mind.

Phase two is the exemption from capital gains tax "ON INVESTMENTS IN SMALL BUSINESS." With the capital gains tax exemption in place, wealthy investors will be able to start or inexpensively acquire small businesses. Their well-financed pseudo-small businesses will be able to easily take on legitimate small businesses competing for federal small business contracts.

When the profits are withdrawn from a successful enterprise, it will be in the form of tax-free capital gains.

Billions of dollars a year in federal contracts earmarked for small businesses will be diverted to firms owned or controlled by some of the nation's wealthiest investors. Thousands of legitimate small business will be forced to close their doors and countless jobs will be lost.

I don't think President Obama gives a damn about small businesses. If you look at what he actually does about issues facing small businesses, he appears to be anti-small business. Small businesses create over 97 percent of all net new jobs in America, and yet the Obama Administration allocated only 2 percent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to small businesses.

Need more proof that Obama is anti-small business?

Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have found billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts are diverted to Fortune 500 firms. During his campaign, President Obama promised to end these rampant abuses. In February of 2008, he released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

To date, President Obama has failed to honor his promise. The most recent government contracting data shows the Obama Administration itself has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. I would imagine 100 percent of middle class Americans would agree that firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Bechtel, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics should not be receiving federal small business contracts.

If President Obama were sincerely interested in helping small businesses, he would back legislation or issue an executive order halting the diversion of over $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

Look at the facts.

President Obama has allocated only 2 percent of his administration's stimulus funds to small businesses. Every day of the Obama Administration hundreds of millions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to corporate giants. Does that sound like a pro-small business President to you?

My predictions.

President Obama will continue to read speeches about helping small businesses while continuing to divert over $400 million a day in federal small business funds to some of the largest companies in the world. He will back an exemption form capital gains tax on "investments" in small businesses, which will be written to benefit his billionaire venture capitalist buddies. The scariest prediction is that President Obama will bankrupt thousands of legitimate American small businesses by backing a change in the federal definition of a small business as being "independently owned" to include firms that are actually owned or controlled by some of the wealthiest investors in the country.

Finally, the most frightening thing about all of this is that President Obama will get away with everything because the mainstream media has refused to cover it.

Justice Department Pays Legal Fees To American Small Business League

2010-02-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Justice has been forced to pay the legal fees incurred by the American Small Business League (ASBL), after the ASBL substantially prevailed in a recent court case under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The ASBL sued the Small Business Administration (SBA) after the agency refused to release the names of Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses that had received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts.

During the course of litigation, the SBA tried to claim that it had no information regarding the specific names of firms that had received federal small business contracts.

In the court's ruling, United States District Judge Marilyn H. Patel ruled in favor of the ASBL and 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." (www.asbl.com/documents/26-2.pdf)

The information the ASBL obtained through the litigation supported its assertion that billions of dollars a month in federal contracts earmarked for small businesses had been diverted to Fortune 500 firms such as: General Dynamics, Xerox, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace (BAE), Dell Computer and French giant Thales Communications. http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf

Previously, the SBA claimed that it was a “myth” that large firms received federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)

This spring, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear another case between the SBA and the ASBL in which the SBA is claiming that it does not have access to its own phone records. The ASBL requested the information under FOIA after several journalists complained that the SBA was aggressively contacting the media in an attempt to erode the credibility of the ASBL and its president, Lloyd Chapman.

The ASBL is preparing to file up to 10 federal lawsuits against the Obama Administration within the next 60 days. The Obama Administration is refusing to release a wide variety of data related to small business contracting issues such as: contracting officer information, phone records, the specific names of individuals within Fortune 500 firms that have claimed small business status, and the names of domestic and foreign owned companies that received federal small business contracts.

"I think it is time for someone in the media to ask President Obama why his administration is giving small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and then refusing to release the data that proves it,” Chapman said.

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Please click here to watch a short message from ASBL President Lloyd Chapman regarding the ASBL's legal victory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAyBEddowdE

Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Continues to Ignore Small Business Contracting Abuses

2010-02-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

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

Obama Small Business Plan Criticized for Hypocrisy

2010-02-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

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)

A Letter to President Obama From an American With Common Sense

2010-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - The following is a letter to President Barack Obama from American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman:

I just finished watching your State of the Union address.

You said something that really caught my attention. You said, "let's try common sense." I have some common sense suggestions for you. Creating jobs and trying to boost our nation's struggling economy is obviously the number one issue all Americans want you to address.

Based on the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, small business are responsible for virtually 100 percent of net new jobs in America. So far your administration has allocated less than 3 percent of stimulus funds directly to small businesses. Wouldn't it make sense to shift more money to small businesses?

Current federal law requires that a minimum of 23 percent of the total value of all federal contracts and subcontracts be awarded to small businesses. (http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/fedgovernment/sba/sbact.html) That certainly makes sense. What better way to invest hard earned taxpayer dollars than to reinvest those funds with the small businesses where most taxpayer's work and nearly all net new job are created?

Unfortunately, since 2003 over a dozen federal investigations have reported that billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms. Based on data from the investigations it appears that between $75 and $120 billion a year in federal small business contracts are diverted to large businesses. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

In 2005, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (IG) referred to this problem as, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today." Recently, for the fifth consecutive year, the SBA IG reported the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as the number one management challenge facing the agency. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf; http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/oig_reports_tmc_fy10.pdf)

According to the most recent data released by your administration firms counted as small businesses included: Xerox, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, British Aerospace (BAE), Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and Finmeccanica SpA, which is located in Italy with 73,000 employees. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)

You seemed to recognize the magnitude of this problem during your campaign when you released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

It is now time to honor that campaign promise. You could issue an executive order directing the SBA and every federal agency to immediately halt the practice of diverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses.

You could also solve this problem by passing a bill I wrote titled, H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. To date, H.R. 2568 has 20 co-sponsors. (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2568ih.txt.pdf)

Redirecting $75 to $120 billion a year in current federal infrastructure spending back to the small business that create 100 percent of net new jobs would clearly slash unemployment. It would also put more money into the middle class economy than anything you or Congress have proposed so far.

Most importantly, it is what you said you would do. Now that's common sense.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama State of the Union Address Will be More Rhetoric and No Substance for The Middle Class

2010-01-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

By Lloyd Chapman
President, American Small Business League

I can already hear the empty pandering to the middle class in President Obama's State of the Union speech. He will be reading one of the most well written speeches of his presidency since he and his handlers realize their reign in Washington could be on the ropes.

President Obama has a documentable track record of broken campaign promises and policies that have virtually ignored the middle class.

In my perfect world, every network carrying President Obama's State of the Union address would be required to run a scrolling banner of my up to the minute commentary on the bottom of the screen.

When President Obama starts to roll out his impassioned B.S. about his concern for small businesses and the middle class, I could throw-up some of the actual data on his policies to date.

As people watch President Obama on the screen, I want them to see that small businesses in the middle class are responsible for over 97 percent of all net new jobs in America. To date, President Obama and the democratically controlled Congress have allocated approximately 2 percent of the stimulus funds to small businesses.

When he starts to talk about small businesses, I would run some of the latest government data that shows every day of his administration, hundreds of millions in federal contracts that by law are earmarked for small business have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms.

I would love to run the names across the bottom of the screen as he spoke of some of the firms the Obama Administration is currently giving small business contracts. I wonder how President Obama's most ardent supporters would feel when they saw billions of dollars in federal small business contracts going to Bechtel, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.

The largest recipient in the latest government small business data was Textron, a Fortune 500 corporation with 43,000 employees, and $14 billion in annual revenue. That's a small business right? Textron received nearly $780 million in federal small business contracts in a single year.

I wonder what affect it would have on his poll numbers if every American knew the Obama Administration was giving U.S. government small business funds to some of the largest corporations in England, France, Italy and even South Korea.

After all the shocking statistics ran, I would run a statement President Obama released almost two years ago in February of 2008, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

I think most people would be much more informed if they skipped President Obama's State of the Union address and spent that time looking up some of the stories on what he has actually done instead. Google "Lloyd Chapman Barack Obama small business" [Do not search with the words in quotes] and see what you find.

There is a staggering abyss between what Obama says and what Obama does.

One of the best examples is President Obama's campaign promise to enact a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry. On every campaign stop for two years, President Obama promised to enact a windfall profits tax on oil companies. If you want to find out how much you can trust what Barack Obama says, try and find his excuse for completely dropping the windfall profits tax.

So when you watch the State of the Union address or any Obama speech, realize that the man gives $2 billion a week in federal small business funds to some of the largest companies in the world. Realize that his two top campaign contributors, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase are making record profits in the middle of the worst economic meltdown in 80 years, while bankruptcies for small businesses are up 44 percent over last year.

People need to begin to realize that President Obama should have received an Oscar for best actor instead of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wednesday night he will read his lines with passion and conviction, but Thursday morning his policies will continue to ignore the middle class and the small businesses where most Americans work and that create over 97 percent of all net new jobs.

The only change the middle class going to get from President Obama will be the pocket change that's left in their bank accounts at the end of the month.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Obscures Federal Contracting Data

2010-01-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - The Obama Administration has removed a critical field from the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS - NG) that has been used by federal contractors to indicate their status as a small or large business. Obama officials at the General Services Administration (GSA) removed the "small business flag" on all future and historical data.

Over a dozen federal investigations and numerous investigative stories by organizations such as ABC, CBS and CNN have used the small business flag to uncover billions of dollars in federal small business contracts that were fraudulently diverted to large businesses. (Report 5-15, http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf; ABC, http://www.asbl.com/abc_evening_news.wmv; CBS, http://www.asbl.com/cbs.wmv; CNN, http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1170)

The removal of the "small business flag" will make it difficult if not impossible for any future federal investigations to uncover large businesses that have fraudulently claimed to be small businesses prior to 2009.

In addition to removing the small business flag, the GSA has forced all firms that obtain federal contracting data from the GSA for dissemination to the public, to sign an agreement, which severely restricts their release of the data. The GSA's "GETLIST RULES OF BEHAVIOR" warns, "parties failing to sign the agreement and comply with the terms will be denied access to this service."(http://www.fpds-ng.com/downloads/FPDS-NG%20getList%20Rules%20of%20Behavior.pdf)

In one example, the agreement stipulates a firm would be in violation of the agreement if they create a report that "show[s] socio-economic information but which contains none of the requisite SBA rules of exclusion."

The American Small Business League (ASBL) has challenged the SBA's "rules of exclusion" since there is no basis in the law for the practice. The Small Business Act stipulates a minimum of 23 percent of the "total value of all prime contract awards for each fiscal year" shall be awarded to small businesses. (http://www.sba.gov/regulations/sbaact/sbaact.html) The ASBL believes the SBA has arbitrarily created the "rules of exclusion" to artificially inflate the percentage of federal contracts awarded to small businesses by removing billions of dollars in major prime contracts from their calculations.

The GSA's "GETLIST RULES OF BEHAVIOR" would prevent firms from releasing accurate data on the actual percentage of all federal contracts awarded to small businesses. In the past, information released by private firms on the percentage of all federal contracts awarded to legitimate small businesses has been significantly lower than the percentage claimed by the Small Business Administration.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Bechtel Denies Landing Government Small Business Contract

2010-01-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. - On December 17, 2009, the American Small Business League (ASBL) issued a press release reporting that Bechtel Corporation had received a $128 million federal contract, which had been coded as a small business contract in the government's socio-economic field in the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG). http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf

In response, Bechtel Corporation prompted a January 7, 2010 story on ProcurementLeaders.com titled, "Bechtel hits back at ASBL over $128m federal contract win." In the article, Bechtel Bettis spokesman Francis Canavan denied the fact that Bechtel has received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts coded as small business. Additionally, Canavan attempted to explain that Fedmine had erroneously tagged the socio status as small business. ASBL points to the fact that Fedmine obtains all of its information directly from FPDS-NG and does not modify the data. Fedmine.us is a database driven web application that aggregates data from FPDS-NG. http://www.fedmine.us/fedmine/Home.html

The ASBL has uncovered data in FPDS-NG that indicates that dozens of contracts awarded to Bechtel were coded as a small business in the socio-economic field. The largest of which is a $230 million contract awarded to Bechtel Bettis during FY 2008 by the Department of Energy (DOE). http://www.asbl.com/documents/20100119BechtelSB_DOE2.pdf

A series of federal investigations have found that billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms. Investigative stories by ABC, CBS and CNN have found billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to firms such as General Dynamics, Xerox, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace (BAE), Dell Computer and French giant Thales Communications.
(ABC, http://www.asbl.com/abc_evening_news.wmv; CBS, http://www.asbl.com/cbs.wmv; CNN, http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1170)

"This situation with Bechtel is really just the tip of the iceberg. It is time for President Obama to make good on his campaign promise to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. http://bit.ly/4fRrGq The best way to do that is with H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act." ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "That bill will redirect more money into the hands of the middle class than anything President Obama has proposed to date." http://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Republicans Push to End Federal Programs for Small Businesses

2010-01-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

Still No Windfall Profits Tax From Obama After Oil Tops $80 Per Barrel

2010-01-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2010

Petaluma, Calif. – In the two years running up to the 2008 presidential election, President Barack Obama routinely promised to enact a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry to fund a $1000 per household energy rebate. Shortly after being elected, President Obama quietly dropped the promise from his agenda. An anonymous transition team staffer tried to justify the decision by stating, "President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel. They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that." http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4B206W20081203

On Monday, the price of crude oil topped $80 per barrel, reaching $81.39, according to a Bloomberg energy report. Many experts are predicting that oil could top more than $100 per barrel in the first half of 2010. http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/

"I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills," President Obama said in a statement released in June of 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWAT00963020080609
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJPo5IGTd0A

Prior to the 2008 presidential election, President Obama's promise to implement the tax was displayed prominently at the top of the "Economy" section of the Obama-Biden campaign website. On November 6, President-elect Obama rolled out his transition website, Change.gov, which also displayed the promise. However, within 48 hours of being elected the campaign promise was quietly removed without explanation. (Pre-change, http://www.asbl.com/documents/Economy_Change.pdf ; Post-change, http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/)

Proponents of the tax maintain that the oil and gas industry has gouged the public at the pump to reap excessive profits for nearly a decade, even with barrel prices in the $20 range. In 2003, when the average price of a barrel of oil was $30.06, big oil companies reaped record profits. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/crude2.html In January of 2004 the Associated Press (AP) reported that Exxon-Mobil earned $21.51 billion in profits during fiscal year (FY) 2003. At the time the mark nearly doubled the company's profit during FY 2002. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60862-2004Jan29_2.html

Responding to the abrupt and unexplained disappearance of President Obama's campaign promise, in a December 2008 blog, columnist David Sirota wrote, "If oil prices are down and oil industry profits are truly down, what's the harm in passing a windfall profits tax?" http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008124903/mandate-watch-obama-backs-promise-pass-windfall-profits-tax-big-oil

"Implementing a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry is a reasonable, efficient and effective means of keeping energy costs down and helping American businesses and families," American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman said. "Now that oil has topped $80 per barrel, it will be interesting to see what President Obama's new excuse is going to be for not honoring his campaign promise."

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House Jobs Bill Falls Short of Real Solutions

2009-12-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

House Stimulus Bill Criticized for Being a Sham

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2009

Petaluma, Calif. - Leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives have narrowly passed a, "Jobs for Main Street Bill," and once again failed to heed strong recommendations from America's 27 million small businesses. The bill has drawn strong criticism from both Republicans and Democrats:

"As the old axiom goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. With that in mind, it's astounding Speaker Pelosi would repeat the same mistakes with her second stimulus as she did with her first."
- Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL), December 16, 2009

"I believe Congress must continue taking strong action to create jobs, but any jobs package should have significant support for small businesses. I have been arguing for months that expanding small business lending is critical to getting our economy moving again, and this bill should have had far more small business support."
- Congressman Gary Peters (D-MI), December 16, 2009

Congress' jobs bill, H.R. 2847, allocates $75 billion in redirected TARP funds for "targeted investments." However, the bill fails to address the diversion of more than $100 billion a year in government small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of corporate giants. The American Small Business League (ASBL) maintains that the House's bill does little to address widespread fraud, abuse and loopholes in small business contracting programs, which continue at the cost of countless jobs every year.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 50 percent of America's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector work force and more than 97 percent of all net new jobs. A recent study from the Kauffman Foundation found that firms less than five-years-old are responsible for nearly all net new jobs. http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/where-will-the-jobs-come-from.aspx

"If Congress wanted to pass a jobs bill, it would pass H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009. That bill would redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure dollars to small businesses directly," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "Congress' latest blunder is a one time hit, and a repeat of an already failed attempt to stimulate the economy. The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act is the simplest and most effective stimulus proposed to date and would continue to help small businesses year-after-year." http://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf

The House's, "Jobs for Main Street Bill," allocates less than 2.5 percent of the total volume of stimulus dollars invested by the government to small businesses which create virtually 100 percent all net new jobs.

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575

Obama Administration Gives Bechtel Bettis $128 Million Small Business Contract

2009-12-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2009

Petaluma, Calif. - The American Small Business League (ASBL) has uncovered a $128 million small business contract awarded to Bechtel Bettis by Obama officials. Bechtel, a Fortune 500 corporation, did $31.4 billion in sales during fiscal year (FY) 2008 and maintains more than 44,000 employees. In the government's database under the category "socio status," the contract was reported as, "small business."
http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf

During the 2008 presidential election cycle, President Barack Obama promised to, "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Yet to date, the Obama Administration has refused to adopt any policy or legislation to honor that campaign promise. As a result, every month the Obama Administration diverts billions of dollars in federal small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses where most Americans work and into the hands of corporate giants.
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php

Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have uncovered the diversion of billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the world. The ASBL estimates that every year this issue diverts more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of multinational corporations. http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html

The most recent data available from the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG) indicates that a majority of small business contracts awarded by the Obama Administration have gone to Fortune 500 firms and thousands of large businesses in the United States and Europe. In addition to Bechtel, Obama officials have awarded small business contracts to: General Dynamics, Xerox, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace (BAE), Dell Computer and French giant Thales Communications. http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf

In May of 2009, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009. To date the bill has bipartisan support from 19 co-sponsors. The ASBL maintains that H.R. 2568 is the simplest and most efficient way to stimulate the American economy by redirecting more than $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending to America's chief job creators, its small businesses. Firms with 20 or fewer employees are responsible for over 97 percent of all net new jobs, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau data. http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html

"This issue is going to continue until journalists from the mainstream media begin to ask President Obama to explain why he is allowing billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to be intentionally and in many cases, illegally diverted to Fortune 500 firms and large businesses worldwide," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "If you want to know who the real President Obama is, take a look at this issue."

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Small Business Group Wants President Obama to Answer Questions

2009-12-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2009

Petaluma, Calif. - In a recent speech, President Barack Obama said, "What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs right now, in the near term." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-jobs-summit-real-progress-pr-stunt/story?id=9232219

Since president Obama has voiced his concern about stimulating the economy and creating new jobs, the American Small Business League (ASBL) would like a member of the mainstream media to ask President Obama any of the following questions:

1. In February of 2008, you released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Why is your administration continuing to give federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms?

2. During the campaign you promised to implement the 5 percent set-aside goal for women owned firms. Why hasn't that program been implemented?

3. Since 2003, twenty-five federal investigations have found widespread fraud and abuse in virtually every program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). What does your administration intend to do to stop the abuses in those programs?

4. Recently, you have talked about allocating TARP funds to help small businesses. Does it make sense to come up with new programs while billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts are being diverted to corporate giants?

5. H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009 is designed to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants and redirect billions of dollars in current federal infrastructure spending to the middle class. Will you be backing H.R. 2568?

6. You said you were going to exempt investment in small businesses from capital gains tax. Wouldn't that just be a loophole for venture capitalists to avoid paying taxes?

7. Will you oppose any legislation or policy that would divert federal small business contracts to firms owned or controlled by venture capitalists?

8. Since you have taken office, federal contracting programs for minorities have largely been dismantled. Do you intend to restore those programs?

9. Since U.S. Census Bureau data shows that small businesses create a vast majority of all net new jobs, why has your administration allocated such a small portion of stimulus funds to those firms?

10. The staffing at the SBA is at a 30 year low. Why haven't you restored that agency's staff?

11. In February of 2008, you released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." Recent shows that your administration is still giving small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. Why have you failed to make good on that campaign promise?

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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575