PETALUMA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the national unemployment
rate rose to 10.2 percent in the month of October, its highest point in 26
years.
Small business advocates like the American Small Business League (ASBL) believe
the unemployment rate continues to soar because the Obama Administration's
economic stimulus plan has virtually ignored middle class firms.
Firms with 20 or fewer employees are responsible for over 97 percent of all net
new jobs, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.
http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html To date the Obama
Administration has awarded less than one percent of all funds allocated under
the stimulus to those firms.
In February of 2008, President Obama 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 The
statement is based on a series of federal investigations, which have found that
every year billions of dollars in federal small business contracts are diverted
to some of the largest companies around the world.
http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html
The ASBL estimates that since President Obama took office over $100 billion in
federal contracts were diverted to corporate giants around the world.
Despite pledging to address these issues, the Obama Administration has
consistently refused to adopt any legislation or policy to solve the problem.
Consequently, Fortune 500 firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop
Grumman, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls Royce, and French giant Thales
Communications continue to receive federal small business contracts. The most
recent data released by the Obama Administration lists Fortune 500 corporation,
Textron Inc. as the largest recipient of federal small business contracts.
Textron has 43,000 employees.
"If President Obama really wants to stimulate our nation's economy and create
new jobs, he needs to help pass H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in
Contracting Act," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "H.R. 2568 offers the most
efficient and cost effective method anyone has proposed to redirect federal
infrastructure spending to small businesses. It would also solve the 10-year-old
contracting scandal the Small Business Administration (SBA) Inspector General
referred to as, 'one of the most important challenges facing the small business
administration and the entire federal government today.' "
American Small Business League
Christopher Gunn, 707-789-9575
Communications Director
cgunn@asbl.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
