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President Obama today used a stop at a New Jersey sandwich shop to make another strong push for Senate passage of a bill to help small businesses, which he called the backbone of America's economy.
It was the third time in a week that the president has called on the Senate to pass the Small Business Jobs Act, which would eliminate capital gains taxes on key investments, expand successful Small Business Administration programs, and create a $30 billion small business lending fund to help community banks offer loans to these companies.
Obama said that despite the "partisan politics" and "obstruction" his administration had confronted over the past year and a half, he had told the congressional leaders from both parties at a meeting at the White House yesterday that he expected to see the bill passed before the two chambers break for the August recess.
"Surely, Democrats and Republicans ought to be able to agree on this bill," he told reporters after meeting with a group of small business owners at the Tastee Sub Shop in Edison, NJ. "When I had a conversation with [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell and [House Minority Leader] John Boehner yesterday, I told them that the provisions of this bill are things that the Republican Party has said it supported for years -- helping small businesses, cutting taxes, making credit available. This is as American as apple pie."
In a conference call with reporters laying out the benefits of the bill, Small Business Administrator Karen Mills said that small businesses create 65% of the net new jobs in America, and that half of the people who work in this country own or work for a small businesses. She said that stimulus funds had helped put $30 billion in loans into the hands of some 70,000 small businesses, but that the program had run out of money at the end of May. Mills said more than 600 small businesses were waiting in line to receive funding once the Act becomes law, a sign they are ready to hire and to expand.
Despite multiple distractions in recent days -- from the leak of classified Afghanistan war documents to the premature firing of a USDA official over misrepresented remarks she made -- the White House has been trying hard to make the case to voters that the steps the Obama administration has taken to turn the economy around are working, an argument for keeping Democrats in control of Congress.
With the midterm elections approaching, Obama is stepping up both his fundraising events and efforts to focus people's attention on the economic recovery -- whether by pushing for passage of more stimulus to help jump-start private sector hiring or by visiting auto companies that his government took extraordinary steps to help save from collapse last year. The president is set to visit GM and Chrysler plants in Michigan on Friday.
After the stop in New Jersey, Obama was headed to New York for two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee. The two events are expected to attract about 50 people each, and the maximum contribution will be $30,400 per person, according to a Democrat familiar with the events. One of them is being held at the home of Vogue Editor Anna Wintour, a fact the Republican National Committee highlighted in an email they called "The President Wears Prada" -- a play on the title of a popular novel and film about the fashion industry -- in which they listed events the president has attended with wealthy donors and celebrities.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) held a conference call to bash the president's fundraising trip and his economic policies, arguing they had creating what he called "essentially a jobless recovery."
"This administration from day one has had completely the wrong approach," Pataki told reporters. "I find it ironic today that Obama is talking about more government support for small businesses. But it's his policies that have really, I think hurt, the confidence of small businesses."
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Gremlins working overtime again? lol
Outstanding post!
You got my vote Lyn! ;0)
And 99% of the time, you get my vote, Feisty! Keep it going...
Feisty and Lyn voted!!!
You two are amazing when it comes to posting such good thoughts.
Guys have a nice evening will write tomorrow!!
Thanks Lyn and TRR!
You have a wonderful evening as well! I'm sure you are both suffering from the oppresive heat like we are here in Chi-town! UGH!
Devoid of everything meaningful, just like the teabaggers.
This is just the kind of political story that makes my stomach churn!
This was a blank article for a few minutes. Thus my comment and the ones above.
Who the hell does Pataki think he is- JoAnnaDoorknob??
I'm sorry... there is something inherently wrong with 'positioning' JoAnna and 'knob' in the same sentence! lol
Hey didya hear? The FR one woman 'wrecking crews' only retort to me yesterday was calling me a Lizard!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!
Like I said... she's a WRECK alright!
With apologies in advance to my fellow libs, it seems to me that if you hold a fundraiser at Anna Wintour's house, you're practically BEGGING for a "The President Wears Prada" headline. That was just too easy.
Next time stick with the sub shops (though that must be North Jersey - around here (which includes South Jersey) they're known by their rightful name - hoagies!)
Pataki said ..."more government support for small businesses. But it's his policies that have really, I think hurt, the confidence of small businesses?"
Crazy!!!! Maybe Pataki been hanging out with the drunkard, John Boehner of Orange and leader of the whiskey and tax rebellion. I thought it was small businesses the repubs want the
prez to take care of.
The Future.
A pragmatist, who believes our best days lie ahead, President Obama is determined to lead this Nation in a new direction--one where clean renewable energy fuels our lives; one where no child or adult goes hungry or has no place to live or suffers needlessly because they have no health care; one where every child has the best education possible; one that continues to lead the world in innovation and technology;one where entrepreneurs thrive and businesses grow; one where politics takes a back seat to doing what is right for the country; one where both parties work together to compromise and solve the huge problems in our path.
This vision is not socialist or communist; it is not republican or democratic. It is what good people believe and want if they would stop fighting each other about how or which party is the better party, which one spends or taxes more, which one keeps us safer. The way forward requires us to stop making everything political. Congressional Republicans have good ideas, democrats have good ideas--the way forward requires taking the best of both and legislating. The way forward requires both parties to put aside the campaigns, the win or loss, and work for all the people who elected them, not just their base.
It will not be easy to change America and lead it into the 21st century. It will not happen overnight but the seeds of change were planted in 2008, and with hard work from the bottom up, republicans and democrats working together for the good of all, we will have a brighter tomorrow. We have been fighting each other for 20 years, isn't it time to stop fighting and start listening to each other respectfully?
Now there's something there with a title. I decided to create my own which I see now is completely unrelated to the previously Untitled blank space. Well, enjoy it or hate it, I needed to write.
Jody - Put me in the "enjoyed" column. I would only suggest you repeat it tomorrow morning when more people are reading - it deserves a bigger audience!
Thanks, JoAnne PA. I think I will.
Jody, this is a very thoughtful post and deserves a wider audience. Take Joanne's suggestion do post in the morning. I vote for it now as I wont be able to do so in the morning.
Your posts are very good reading and I enjoy them even at this late time. Keep up the good work.
"Surely, Democrats and Republicans ought to be able to agree on this bill," he told reporters after meeting with a group of small business owners at the Tastee Sub Shop in Edison, NJ. "When I had a conversation with [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell and [House Minority Leader] John Boehner yesterday, I told them that the provisions of this bill are things that the Republican Party has said it supported for years -- helping small businesses, cutting taxes, making credit available. This is as American as apple pie."
And when the Republicans just say NO to it Obama and the Democrats will have fine fodder for their campaigns against the Republicans. With the Republicans voting against a bill with things they have claimed to support all along just because it was proposed by Democrats would prove what we have been saying all along. They are out to get Obama and don't really care about people or truly governing just getting revenge.
No particular point here other than to provide information. SBA lending programs enable banks to make loans they wouldn't otherwise make because they don't meet standard underwriting guidelines. The government, AKA taxpayers, then take on the additional risk.
From Banc Investment Daily, July 8, 2010:
"One of the current myths of the current economic malaise is that banks are not lending. Because of low capital, fear of the economy, deleveraging or tight liquidity, banks just can't put needed dollars to work to help small business.
First, we question the notion that there is anything special about small business that society should anoint with special stimulus. Yes, small business is responsible for most of the job creation, but that is because there are just more of them. Small business happens to have a higher failure rate (50% within 5 years) than larger or mid-sized businesses, so small business also hapens to lose the most jobs. In addition, wages tend to be less so those jobs end up putting fewer dollars back in the system in the form of disposable income, taxes and the like. In other words, a hihger failure rate combined with large positive and negative job changes most likely means our expected job creation is no different than promoting job creation at larger companies. As investors, what we really want to see is which investment givs us our best return for the number of jobs and wage levels. We admit we don't know the statistics here, but that is our point. Someone should really do the math before we invest another $30B.
The other faulty premise is that there is strong demand for credit by businesses, but not enough supply of credit by banks. This assumption makes even less sense. No one knows better than our industry that it is actually the demand side of the equation that is weak. There are plenty of banks willing to lend, however they just can't. Companies are sitting on record amounts of cash and are unsure about the future of demand for their respective products and services. As such, businesses of all types are slow to expand infrastructure.
Another way to look at this is economically. If there was more demand than supply, we would see healthy banks rushing in to fill the void, grabbing higher margins and demanding premium loan pricing. We are seeing none of this. On the other side of the equation, large companies have plenty of access to cheap capital given low interest rates and a record number of private equity/investment funds running around looking to make acquisitions that return 17%. We have seen these firms struggle to deploy their capital. More to that point, mid and larger companies aren't exactly rushing to take up market share by purchasing cheap retail space or opening up new factories in rock-bottom priced industrial space. With Fortune 500 companies slowing growth or shedding stores, do we really want small businesses rushing in because they know better?
We got in this mess because capital was too cheap and we enabled companies and investors to make sub-optimal decisions. Cash flows at small businesses are significantly off, so putting cheaper credit in the market to take on some of this risk is going in the wrong direction in our opinion."
If you LIBERALS want to have the country to do as you wish and you want to rid the United States of this Consertitive and my vote you can make a small donation to my ESCAPE FUND. That fund is at Paypal JoeThe1Mac@gmail.com . Remember the next election I could be the deciding vote to have a GOP member remove your guy.
Joe, save it, there will be no GOBP DOPES OF NOPE left after November.They will retreat to the new capitol of Beckistan, Foxburg..all aboard. Please don't forget the high priestess of the teabaggers. Stewart Varney will be the treasurer and Niel Capluto will be in charge of trying to fix the stupid in the GOBP WHICH THE LEFT KNOWS IS UN FIXABLE.
As he destroys their future freedom and ability to ever become rich a parent most revered dream. No small business left behind him. The only thing that needs to be fixed to prevent this country from sliding behind the berlin wall is the removal of every democrat. They have betrayed this country and the american dream.
They themselves cannot pay todays taxes let alone pay the future taxes.
Geihtner rangle owe bigtime taxes yet the hypocrits in washington who use more energy then a small city on their lavish life syles want you to cut back hard and who knows how many people will die of heat and cold related illnesses to feed their lies and make their increadably rich friends even more increadably richer.
You people live in lala land. Cluelessly destroy your own lives.
You may get it when the stores you go to charge you twice as much to keep up with the increadably bad cost of living this administration is causing.
How many people will suffer because of the blatent idocy? starve freeze heat prostration a health care system that promisses such long waiting lines you die waiting or get offered suiside pills.
IF they really wanted to pay more taxes they could it is on their tax forms but i would bet they never have. they put it on the forms long ago because hillary wanted higher taxes she has not only not paid all of her taxes but has never paid the more taxes she wants everyone else to pay.
Democrats are dangerous hypocrits.
Hey DINOS, One word: T A X
Jomana 72, Ever had a DNC operation? You should try it.