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.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Department of Defense: The Black Hole of Small Business Contracts
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
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
Friday, July 2, 2010
Jobs Report Proves Congress Should Pass Small Business Bill
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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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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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Obama Administration Small Business Forum Shuns Critics
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
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.
-###-
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
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Obama Administration Small Business Forum Rules Discourage Attendance
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
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."
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Obama Small Business Conference Draws Criticism
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."
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
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."
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
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