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Current News |
New Obama Small Business
Rescue Plan Ignores Abuses In Government
Contracting Programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2008
New Obama Small Business Rescue Plan
Ignores Abuses In Government Contracting
Programs
Petaluma, Calif. – Senator Barack
Obama's new small business emergency
rescue plan is being criticized for
ignoring a series of federal
investigations that found the government
has diverted billions of dollars in
federal small business contracts to many
of the largest firms in the United
States and Europe.
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?AmericanSmallBusines/71034c1621/3b06c96392/239089510a
In March of 2005, the Small Business
Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector
General issued Report 5-15, which
stated, "One of the most important
challenges facing the Small Business
Administration (SBA) and the entire
Federal Government today is that large
businesses are receiving small business
procurement awards and agencies are
receiving credit for these awards."
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?AmericanSmallBusines/71034c1621/3b06c96392/6851bfd05b
Since 2003, more than a dozen federal
investigations have found hundreds of
billions of dollars in federal small
business contracts have been diverted to
some of the largest corporations in the
world.
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?AmericanSmallBusines/71034c1621/3b06c96392/04b067c945
During that time, CBS, ABC, Associated
Press and CNN have aired investigative
stories which found federal small
business contracts actually went to
firms such as: Lockheed Martin, Boeing,
Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, General Dynamics,
John Deere, Microsoft, Wal-Mart,
Hewlett-Packard, Buhrmann NV a Dutch
conglomerate and British Aerospace
Engineering (BAE).
The American Small Business League (ASBL)
projects that middle-class firms are
losing over $100 billion a year in
federal small business contracts to
Fortune 500 firms and other large
businesses. Estimates from federal
officials have ranged from $65 billion
to over $100 billion a year.
In February of this year, Senator Obama
issued the following statement, "98
percent of all American companies have
fewer than 100 employees. Over half of
all Americans work for a small business.
Small businesses are the backbone of our
nation's economy and we must protect
this great resource. It is time to end
the diversion of federal small business
contracts to corporate giants."
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?AmericanSmallBusines/71034c1621/3b06c96392/d1bafafe6f
In stark contrast to this bold
statement, which was issued in February
of 2008, Senator Obama is now refusing
to even mention the diversion of
billions of dollars in federal small
business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.
He has declined to discuss it publicly,
or to mention the issue on his web site.
He also refused to include the issue in
any of his previous economic or small
business plans. Once again, any mention
of Senator Obama's specific plans to end
the diversion of billions of dollars in
federal small business contracts to
corporate giants is conspicuously absent
from his small business emergency rescue
plan.
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?AmericanSmallBusines/71034c1621/3b06c96392/0195f801cb
Small business owners are concerned that
pressure, and or political contributions
from Fortune 500 firms, which are
currently receiving a lion's share of
federal small business contracts, may
have contributed to Senator Obama's
decision to distance himself from his
pledge to end the diversion of small
business contracts to corporate giants.
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
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