On Tuesday, President Barack Obama released yet another plan to supposedly include small businesses in his administration's efforts to stimulate our nation's struggling economy.
So far, the majority of President Obama's stimulus plans for small businesses appear to have been created by his press office, since they obviously have not been designed to achieve any actual results for America's 27 million small businesses.
A quick look at the Obama administration's actual policies towards small businesses paints an entirely different picture than his pre- and post-election rhetoric.
Since 2003, over 15 federal investigations have found that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have actually wound-up in the hands of Fortune 500 firms and thousands of other large businesses worldwide. In 2005, the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) 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."
In a sampling of $13 billion in federal small business contracts, the Washington Post found approximately 38.5 percent of those funds actually went to Fortune 500 firms alone.
Investigative reports by CNN, ABC and CBS found that firms such as British Aerospace (BAE), Xerox, Bechtel, Dell Computer, John Deere, Microsoft, Wal-Mart and Rolls-Royce had received billions of dollars in government small business contracts.
During his campaign, President Obama promised to address the rampant abuses 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 campaign promise and has refused to adopt any policy or legislation to address the problem. The American Small Business League (ASBL) estimates the Obama ddministration awards up to $400 million a day in federal small business contracts to corporate giants. The ASBL's research is based on the findings of federal investigations, information from former and current federal executives, and thousands of pages of government data obtained through successful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the SBA, NASA and the General Services Administration (GSA).
According the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, firms with less than 100 employees comprise 98 percent of all U.S. firms and are responsible for over 97 percent of all net new jobs, over 50 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employ over 50 percent of the private sector workforce.
To date, the Obama Administration has specifically allocated less that 1 percent of its economic stimulus funds to our nation's small businesses. J.P. Morgan, one of President Obama's largest campaign contributors, has received more than ten times as many federal economic stimulus funds than all 27 million American small businesses combined.
In addition to refusing to halt the flow of over $100 billion a year in government small business contracts to corporate giants, President Obama is backing new legislation and policy that will divert even more federal small business contracts to many of the nation's wealthiest investors.
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and its wealthy members have been major contributors to the campaigns of President Obama and dozens of democratic leaders in Congress. In exchange for millions of dollars in contributions, President Obama has appointed several leaders of the venture capital industry to key positions in his administration. Karen Gordon Mills, a multimillionaire, New York venture capitalist and heiress to the Tootsie-Roll fortune was appointed head of the SBA. Mills has voiced support for changes in the federal definition of a small business that will allow even billionaires to participate in government small business contracting programs.
The public and the media need to quit listening to President Obama's well-written speeches as he reads them off a teleprompter, and begin to look at what he actually does. When you do, you will see a pattern of policies that could more accurately be described as anti-small business, than pro-small business.
The irrefutable truth of President Obama's policies towards small businesses can be seen in the facts. Less than 1 percent of the Obama Administration's economic stimulus funds have been specifically allocated to small businesses. Many of the largest companies in the world have continued to receive federal small business contracts every day that President Obama has held office.
If our country is going to recover from the worst economic disaster in 80 years, President Obama and Congress need to quit talking and put our money where their mouth is. President Obama needs to keep his campaign promise and support legislation like H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act, which will end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. It is also time to direct the remainder of the unallocated stimulus funds to the small businesses that create over 97 percent of all new jobs, employ over 50 percent of the private sector workforce and create over 50 percent of the GDP.
President Obama needs to learn that broken campaign promises, sound bites and PR campaigns will never create jobs.