WASHINGTON (AP) – Pledging “a new era of responsibility,” President Barack Obama unveiled a multi-trillion-dollar spending plan Thursday that would boost taxes on the wealthy, curtail Medicare, lay the groundwork for universal health care and leave a string of deficits dwarfing any in the nation’s history.
In addition to sending Congress his $3.55 trillion budget plan [...]
Entries from February 2009
February 26, 2009
Obama plan foresees record $1.75 trillion deficit
February 23, 2009
Leading Economists See U.S. Recession Deepening
(AP) The U.S. economy is expected to slide backward at a staggering pace of 5 percent in the current January-March quarter, according to the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics released Monday. That’s a sharp downgrade from the 1.3 percent annualized drop previously projected by the group.
“The steady drumbeat of weak economic and [...]
February 20, 2009
Obama Bans Gimmicks, and Deficit Will Rise
(New York Times) – For his first annual budget next week, President Obama has banned four accounting gimmicks that President George W. Bush used to make deficit projections look smaller. The price of more honest bookkeeping: A budget that is $2.7 trillion deeper in the red over the next decade than it would otherwise appear, [...]
February 20, 2009
Legislation to Yields Nearly $21 Billion in New Loans and Investment for Small Businesses
Download: 111th Small Business Committee Rules
Download: 111th Congress Small Business Committee Oversight Plan
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, released the following statement following passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
“The passage of this legislation is a victory for struggling entrepreneurs. America’s small businesses have led our [...]
February 18, 2009
GREENSPAN BACKS BANK NATIONALIZATION
(Financial Times) The US government may have to nationalize some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times.
In an interview, Mr. Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laisser-faire capitalism, said [...]
February 15, 2009
They Sure Showed That Obama
Op-Ed Columnist | Frank Rich
(New York Times) AM I crazy, or wasn’t the Obama presidency pronounced dead just days ago? Obama had “all but lost control of the agenda in Washington,” declared Newsweek on Feb. 4 as it wondered whether he might even get a stimulus package through Congress. “Obama Losing Stimulus Message War” [...]
February 13, 2009
Rail Advocates Win in Stimulus Bill
Download: Stimulus Summary
Passenger-rail advocates scored big in the final stimulus bill, reflecting the Obama administration’s successful push to make the sector a priority.
The final bill contains $8 billion for “high speed” passenger-rail service, four times the amount allocated in the Senate version, and another $8 billion for public transportation. President Barack Obama wants to invest [...]
February 13, 2009
Economists’ U.S. Outlook Dims
(WSJ) Prospects for an economic recovery this year are fading.
Economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey, while still mostly projecting growth in the U.S. gross domestic product by the third quarter, largely agree that a “second-half recovery”-a scenario that has been a common feature of most 2009 outlooks-is looking much less likely now [...]
February 11, 2009
Full Committee Hearing on “The State of SBA’s Entrepreneurial Development Programs and Their Role in Promoting an Economic Recovery”
STATEMENT
of the
Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez, Chair
House Committee on Small Business
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
“Even during times of prosperity, starting and running a small business is an enormous undertaking. From drafting their first business plan to learning how to navigate the tax code, entrepreneurs are on a perpetual learning curve. Historically, SBA has helped simplify the process [...]
February 10, 2009
ADP January Unemployment Stats indicate Small Business Job Loss
By Prof. Samuel D. Bornstein, the author of the NASE Survey
“JOB RETENTION IS AS IMPORTANT AS JOB CREATION“
The unemployment statistics issued today by ADP confirm my research that small businesses will shed millions of jobs beginning in the 4th quarter 2008 through 2012. This is due to the fact that they fell prey [...]
February 10, 2009
10 Tax Tips for SBs, SDBs, VOBs & SDVOBs
(NaVOBA) Some strategies can help you lower your taxes, sometimes by thousands of dollars. Some help you save time and money when preparing your tax return. Other strategies help you avoid costly penalties and interest for both federal and state taxes. All in all, these 10 steps will lower your blood pressure while keeping more [...]
February 9, 2009
Full Committee Hearing on “Health Care Reform in a Struggling Economy: What’s on the Horizon for Small Business?”
STATEMENT
of the
Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez, Chair
House Committee on Small Business
“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go a long way in helping entrepreneurs weather the storm of recession. But, even after it is enacted, the new stimulus won’t clear every cloud. The rising cost of healthcare continues to be a major stumbling block for small [...]
February 6, 2009
Are Planners Doers?
A new research study by Jianwen Liao and William Gartner called “Are Planners Doers? Pre-Venture Planning and the Start-Up Behaviors of Entrepreneurs” explores the relationship between business planning and the general activity levels of nascent entrepreneurs.
Download: SBA – Are Planners Doers?
SUMMARY
There are conflicting views on whether the process of pre-venture planning is beneficial to the [...]
February 5, 2009
The Action Americans Need
By President Barack Obama
Thursday, February 5, 2009
(Washington Post) By now, it’s clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression. Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked [...]
February 4, 2009
New TARP Rules: Curb Executive Pay, Bonuses, Parachutes
Obama to Limit TARP Bankers to $500K
(ABC News) Wall Street was bearish today over President Obama’s new $500,000 pay limit for executives of financial institutions who he said have come “hat in hand” asking for taxpayers’ help.
The new limits, which would affect banks that accept “exceptional assistance” from the public treasury, would also impose stricter [...]
February 3, 2009
Obama picks Gregg for Commerce
By David Rogers
(POLITICO) Sen. Judd Gregg will be nominated as the new Commerce secretary Tuesday morning, giving President Obama a fresh independent voice in his Cabinet but at a huge cost to Republicans and the larger Senate.
The run-up to the nomination has focused on backroom deals, from New Hampshire’s statehouse to Washington, to preserve the [...]
February 2, 2009
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
Texas State Auditor
An Audit Report on the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
November 2008
Report Number 09-013
Download: Audit Report Houston METRO of Harris County
Overall Conclusion
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Transit Authority) presented financial and performance reports for fiscal year 2007 that were internally consistent and supported by the Transit Authority’s information systems.
The Transit Authority [...]
February 2, 2009
Not even bailouts come free: Banks will pay for TARP aid
By James Dornbrook
Although the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program is commonly referred to as a bailout of the financial industry, banking experts say it’s no giveaway. TARP money extended to banks carries a 5 percent annual dividend rate, payable quarterly. The dividend rate increases to 9 percent after five years.
“There are a lot of [...]
February 2, 2009
Biofuel pipeline to serve Atlanta
By Dave Williams
(Atlanta Business Chronicle) A technological breakthrough in transporting biofuels soon will provide a new supply of bio-diesel to fuel distributors across metro Atlanta.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. successfully tested a plan last fall to move 20,000 barrels of a biodiesel blend through the Plantation Pipeline system, which runs through northern Georgia on its [...]
February 1, 2009
New Publication, New Entrepreneur: “EveryBody In Texas”
Alvin Castle, a young progressive entrepreneur, is the publisher of a new business networking portal and print publication called “Every Body In Texas“. He is currently seeking advertisers who want to reach a broad cross-section of inner-loop Houston and support a media institution committed to a holistic strategic health and growth plan for the surrounding [...]
