Contact Information: Contact: Christopher Gunn Communications Director American Small Business League (707) 789-9575
Bush Small Business Rhetoric a Stark Contrast to Administration Policies
Bush Praises Small Businesses While Moving to End Programs to Assist Small Businesses
| Source: American Small Business League
PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwire - April 24, 2008) - The following is a statement by the American
Small Business League:
On Tuesday, President George W. Bush issued Proclamation 8241 which stated,
"Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and my
Administration is committed to fostering an environment in which the
entrepreneurial spirit can thrive." However, an examination of the Bush
Administration's policies from the last seven years reveals a patchwork of
anti-small business policies that have been instituted to the detriment of
small businesses across the nation.
Since 2002, a series
of federal investigations and private studies have all found that the
Bush Administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small
business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the United
States. Firms such as: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, L-3 Communications, Titan
Industries, BAE and Raytheon, have all been the recipients of federal small
business contracts. The story has been covered by virtually every major
newspaper in the United States (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=138)
and by ABC, CBS and CNN.
The Bush Administration responded by issuing a press release and claiming
that it was a myth that large businesses received federal small business
contracts.
(http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/news_07-30.pdf)
In Report 5-15, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector
General 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://www.sba.gov/ig/05-15.pdf)
-- Shortly after taking office, President Bush removed the Administrator of
the U.S. Small Business Administration from the President's Cabinet, and
began to cut the SBA's budget and staffing. Today, the SBA's budget and
staffing are approximately one half of what they were when the Bush
Administration took office. In a private conversation, one SBA official
acknowledged that the agency's budget and staffing has been cut to the
point that it can no longer carry out its mission.
(http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200511/sbabudget.html)
-- Since 2000, the Bush Administration has refused to implement P.L.
106-554 to establish a 5 percent set-aside for women owned firms.
(http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS161911+04-Feb-2008+PRN20080204)
-- In 2006, the Bush Administration was responsible for the closing of the
SBA office specially designed to assist veteran owned small businesses in
obtaining federal small business contracts.
(http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2313)
-- The Bush Administration has consistently refused to release the names
of the actual recipients of federal small business contracts. (http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3359565)
-- In December of 2006, in the midst of a third investigative story by CBS
into the actual recipients of small business contracts, Bush officials
removed information from the government's Central Contractor Registration
(CCR) database that would indicate whether a firm was small business or a
large business. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=537)
-- On June 30, 2007, Bush officials adopted a policy that will allow
Fortune 500 corporations to receive federal small business contracts
through 2012. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=577)
-- The Bush Administration tried to misrepresent the actual recipients of
federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/showmed
ia.php?id=594)
-- Regarding the diversion of federal small business contracts to large
corporations during the Bush Administration, Larry Makinson, a senior
fellow at the Center for Public Integrity stated, "A lot of the money that
you would think is going to truly small businesses isn't."
(http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=38)
-- David Drabkin, a senior procurement officer for the General Services
Administration stated, "The numbers are inflated, we just don't know the
extent." (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=403)
-- SBA Spokeswoman, Sue Hensley stated, "This transition has led to the
apparent diversion of contract dollars intended for small business."
(http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=403)
The American Small Business League has won three federal lawsuits against
the Bush Administration and forced the release of information that proved
Fortune 500 corporations were the actual recipients of billions of dollars
in federal small business contracts. The ASBL is currently suing the SBA to
force the release of the actual recipients of federal small business
contracts for 2006 and 2007. The ASBL projects that by the time President
Bush leaves office more than $800 billion in federal small business
contracts will have been diverted to large corporations.