So far, all of the billions, or should I say trillions of dollars the federal government has spent to stimulate our nation's failing economy has gone to the top 1 percent of firms in the U.S.
The nation's largest financial institutions have received the overwhelming majority of the so-called bailout funds. By now, I am sure everyone has heard that financial institutions that received over $350 billion in taxpayer dollars did not use the money to free up credit as they were supposed to do. In reality, the money was used to buy other failing financial institutions, purchase private jets, throw lavish parties and give billions of dollars in bonuses to executives that should have been fired for incompetence.
If the purpose of the stimulus bill is to create jobs, President Obama and Congress have made a significant mistake because the firms that comprise the top 1 percent of firms in America have not created one net new job since 1977.
According to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, firms with fewer than 20 employees comprise over 90 percent of all U.S. firms and are responsible for more than 97 percent of the new jobs created in America. These 26 million firms employ over 50 percent of the private sector work force.
If President Obama and Congress seriously want to create jobs and stimulate the national economy, small businesses should be the focus of the stimulus bill, not banks and Fortune 500 firms.
Some of the nation's top economic experts, such as Dr. Laura Tyson and former Hewlett-Packard President Carly Fiorina, have acknowledged the most efficient manner for the government to stimulate the economy is to direct federal infrastructure funds to the small businesses where most Americans work.
So what's the hold up here? It seems painfully obvious that directing federal infrastructure dollars to small business, is a cost effective and efficient way to stimulate the economy. Why won't President Obama and Congress simply create policies that accomplish that? It doesn't seem reasonable or logical to try and create jobs by directing federal funds to firms that essentially have not created one net new job in over 20 years.