Many A Slip
Oct 26th, 2009 | By Dawn Rivers Baker | Category: Policy MattersLast week, President Obama generated a flurry of press releases from everybody in Washington who has anything to do with small businesses when he announced his ‘new’ lending initiative.
The initiative would provide capital support to community banks, raise loan limits on the various SBA loan programs (including Microloan, up from $35,000 to $50,000), and creating a “lending conference” to solicit more ideas about other things that can be done.
Isn’t that just spiffy?
During the Maryland event where the President made his Big Announcement, he said, “This administration is going to stand behind small businesses. You are our highest priority because we are confident that when you are succeeding, America succeeds.”
Are you feeling all warm and fuzzy yet?
I hate to have to burst your bubble, Mr. President, but, so far as I can tell, we only have your word for it that we are your highest priority. By any measure, whether it is time and attention, money and investment, even your failure to redeem your campaign promise to raise the SBA Administrator to Cabinet-level status, we have no evidence that we are any sort of priority to your Administration.
I find it difficult to believe that we could possibly be such a high priority for you without being aware of it. I think you would probably have found some way to let us know.
The fact is that the Obama Administration throws small business owners a few crumbs every now and then, in between the really important things that the President is occupied with. If small businesses are a central facet of his overall strategy to end the Great Recession (hey, everybody else is calling it that), I am at a loss to understand why that fact has to be such a Great Secret.
I think the NASE’s Kristie Arslan made a very good point, via press release, last week. After the President announced his lending initiative, she said in response, “After handing out billions of taxpayer dollars to shore up big business, we feel it is time our nation’s policymakers focus on America’s smallest businesses.”
In fact, I can now safely say to you the same thing I said to your predecessor: Talk is cheap, Mr. President.
If this type of writing represents the “smartest ten minutes” in my business week, then I’m in big trouble! Give the President a break-he’s got a lot on his plate-and have a little patience.
If this type of writing represents “the smartest ten minutes in my business week”, than I’m in a lot of trouble. Give the President a break-he has a lot on his plate-and show a little patience and faith.
It was nice to get an honorable mention. Hope something good comes from it.
Lately, every time I send a customer to our biggest local credit union, to get a loan to buy one of my cars, they get sent to the ‘committee.’ The ‘committee’ is credit union jargon for NO. It just strings the customer along, and the loan officer doesn’t have to be the bad guy. Money has got to loosen-up! These customers would have qualified easily before everybody started playing with ’scared money.’