One of the issues we are expecting to hear about in President Obama’s State of the Union address tomorrow night is the housing crisis. Economists tell us that the nation’s economy won’t dramatically improve until the housing market stabilizes and demand for new homes gets back on track. That’s how important the housing construction industry […]
A needed message in State of the Union address Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued its findings on why the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF) passed by Congress in 2010 turned into an abysmal failure in promoting loans to small businesses. Only 332 of the 935 community banks applying for the extremely low interest funds to be used for the loans were
Treasury’s failure hurt small businesses Read More »
Yesterday the Senate failed to move forward the President’s plan to invest $35 billion in the states to help keep teachers, law enforcement personnel and firefighters from being fired due to budget shortfalls. The 60 votes were needed to keep the measure alive but all 50 of the GOP Senators voted against it. So what
By Frank Knapp, Jr. The Hill’s Congress BlogSeptember 21, 2011 President Obama’s call for cutting the deficit by $3 trillion includes the roll back of the Bush-era tax cuts on the top income tax brackets, a move expected to bring in about $800 billion over the next 10 years. As expected the defenders of
Let upper-end Bush-era tax cuts expire Read More »
By JOE NOCERAThe New York TimesSeptember 20, 2011 What if everything that is happening in Washington right now is just meaningless noise? What if the Obama jobs plan, the coming deliberations of the supercommittee, the debate over taxing millionaires — what if none of it is likely to make a whit of positive difference for
In my blog on Monday, I made the following observation about the job tax credits within the President’s proposed American Jobs Act. Tax credits are taken when tax returns are prepared, not at the time of hiring. If a business doesn’t have the capital to do the initial hiring, the tax credit months later won’t
Cash flow and job tax credits Read More »
The Census Bureau reported yesterday that the United States now has 46.2 million people living below the poverty line—up 2.6 million people since last year. Median household incomes fell below 1997 levels. No wonder the biggest threat to small business is the lack of customers, not taxes or regulations. Last week I told you about
This evening President Obama submits his American Jobs Act to Congress. According to a story in The Hill most economists from Moody’s Analytics to the Economic Policy Institute think that the plan, if passed, would add about 2 percent to the GDP growth next year. The big concern Wall Street is voicing is that the
Job tax credits can work Read More »
Finally, a jobs plan that actually helps the largest jobs-producing sector to create jobs—small business. Advocates for small business were thrilled to hear President Obama speak these words last night. Everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin….So for everyone who speaks so passionately about making life easier for “job creators,”
Pass this jobs bill Read More »
Once again we are hearing the popular political refrain about small business being crucial to leading us out of the current economic malaise. Yesterday President Obama announced his proposal that he believes will boost rural, small business economic development. According to a Bloomberg report the President’s plan will include: (E)xpanded loan programs run by the Small
Here’s a change—Action instead of talk Read More »
