I’m fired up today. Not because it’s Valentine’s Day, but because America’s small businesses still aren’t getting the attention and assistance they deserve. Though it took me a while today to properly frame my thoughts, I finally have a video for you that expresses how I feel about President Obama’s treatment of small businesses, the recent SBA changeups, and a lot more. It’s not short (just under nine minutes), but if you care at all about the well-being of small businesses and the future of the SBA, you’ll really want to watch this through to the end.
So, here’s my Valentine’s video blog for you (if video isn’t your thing, keep reading below)…
If you’d rather read what I have to say in the video above, here’s the text:
No Love this Valentine’s Day for America’s Small Businesses…
You probably know by now that I own three small businesses and in one of my companies, we finance small business owners daily… so I have a little bit of creditability when I say this: Clearly, President Obama just doesn’t understand business. That’s why his overall solution these past 3 years has been to regularly “throw more money” at things, just HOPING it’ll improve them. Except, of course, in the case of America’s Small Businesses…And, by the way, every business owner deeply understands that “hope” is a poor business strategy.
As I’ve documented numerous times, the actions, not just mere words, that he’s directed at the Small Business sector is infinitesimal. He has fallen into the same, old Washington habit of always claiming to be “for” Small Business, but rarely ever “DOING” anything for them. He simply provides empty promises and more pandering. Saying something over and over again, doesn’t make it so, even if you ARE stealing a page from various totalitarians’ playbooks.
See, it’s been shown many times how Big Business, Big Auto, Big Unions, Wall Street and others with fleets of lobbyists were the True winners of most bailout funds and other so-called “stimulus” funds. I’ve personally shown elsewhere how less than 2% of any “stimulus” dollars were actually targeted to the Small Business sector… this, despite the fact that Small Business employs half of all private sector employees, pays nearly 50% of total US private payroll, generated 65% of all net new job creation in the past 15 years, and creates more than half of the nonfarm private GDP.
So, why, you might ask, am I NOW so irritated on such a lovely holiday (as Valentine’s Day)? Quite simply, this President has AGAIN shown NO LOVE toward America’s true job creators. He’s once again just whispered sweet nothings our way…
While it’s true that his budget, released yesterday, showed just a 3% increase in the SBA’s overall budget, it’s two primary lending programs were cut 8.5% and 20%, respectively. Rather than improve existing programs of the SBA (as I’ve advocated for over the years), he has AGAIN chosen to create new, not-needed, but “sexier” programs within the SBA. Now, HOW EXACTLY does that demonstrate support for the Small Business Sector?!?
You’re certainly welcome to defend him all you want, but you should know a few key facts:
>> In his recent State of the Union speech, words and/or phrases relating to anything Small Business were 0.009% of the total words in his speech… about 66 words out of 6,983. Not exactly evidence of much dedication to this important demographic in our society…the key one he’s been quoted as saying would lead us in the “recovery.”
>> Yes but, you say, he just elevated the SBA Administrator into his Cabinet. True, he called it a “SYMBOL of how important it is to spur entrepreneurship.” Exactly, it’s merely a symbol — a ceremonial step. He’s said countless times how Small Business is the backbone of our economy and how it’s such a vital part of job creation. So why did he just now elevate the SBA Administrator into his Cabinet? He’s been on the job for over 3 years. I think it’s because this created the APPEARANCE of addressing the needs of America’s job creators. It is terrific political sleight of hand, but the fact is, his gaggle of Czars are doing the work most Cabinet secretaries used to do in other White Houses, so my guess is it won’t matter much in the long-run to folks like us.
>> And let us not forget the proposal Obama made when he announced this “Cabinet upgrading”: the SBA would be merged in with five other government offices that all purport to represent business. Call me cynical, but it’s certainly easier to marginalize them if they’re all in one “Business” department, isn’t it? The fact is, all of these other offices to be merged with the SBA, are dedicated to Big Business, not Small Business – do you ACTUALLY think the following agencies do much to help Small Business: the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corp, and the Trade and Development Agency??? This “merger” will have the effect of drowning-out the voice of Small Business in DC. Again, call me cynical, but that’s quite the judo-move to play on a constituency that doesn’t mostly vote with you, rarely donates to political campaigns, and doesn’t keep lobbyists on the payroll like the UN does peacekeepers.
>> But unemployment is down, you say? Sure it is. That’s what happens when you remove millions of people from the workforce (that is another inconvenient truth)…and it’s a demonstration of just how powerfully resilient capitalism can still be…even in the headwinds of increased regulations, threats of higher taxes, and even more uncertainty. And by the way, speaking of higher taxes and the mantra of getting “millionaires to pay their fair share”… let me reframe that argument: it isn’t about “fair share,” it about not giving Washington ANY more money to waste. Until such time as they — the Pols in DC — can spend our treasure wisely, why should we reward them with even more?!? And just because a small business reports a nice profit (above that “rich” threshold of $250,000), it doesn’t mean that business owner ACTUALLY gets a distribution of ALL of that profit. Often times, business owners leave a significant chunk of their profits in their businesses for a rainy day, among a host of other reasons – that’s called “retained earnings.” A simple understanding of business would be helpful BEFORE you try to demonize the profit motive.
>> But Obama’s “Small Business Jobs and Credit Act” helped spur SBA lending to new heights? Yes, but some of its best provisions (such as the temporary 504 loan refinance provisions and the new secondary market for 504 firsts, the FMLP program, were SO delayed in being rolled out and/or so cumbersome and complicated, that they’re nearly out of time… with nothing coming from this Administration encouraging their extensions beyond their sunset dates in late September). These would be EASY fixes…but these are REAL WORLD actions that will NEED to be taken — hiding beyond mere rhetoric and blaming the other guys for lack of leadership won’t help more of America’s Small Businesses.
>> Oh, let me guess: you’ve read up to this point, but can’t stand the SBA? In fact, you’re with the Far Right-wingers who want to abolish the SBA? Well, let me point out another inconvenient truth for you: the most ignorant thing I regularly hear about SBA loans is that they’re another form of “corporate welfare” or a “handout” to small businesses. Nothing could be further from the truth. What you may not understand, nor fully grasp, is that SBA loan guarantees are “bought and paid for” by borrower and lender fees. This is why they’re classified as “zero-subsidy” programs by the budget office. Frankly, if you don’t like Big Government (like me), then you ought to be supportive of the SBA and encourage other federal programs to be more like them: doing more with less than just about every other area of the Federal government. The SBA operates like a true public-private partnership… it provided over $30 billion worth of funding last year with its lending partners to tens of thousands of small businesses… all for less than the cost of a few jet-fighters. Thinking the SBA should be abolished in light of these facts is equivalent to defending Eugenics – and you REALLY shouldn’t ever defend something from complete ignorance.
So on this Valentine’s Day, when the Left continues to panders to America’s Job Creators, while doing nothing of substance, and the Right wrongly thinks we should simply blow-up the SBA, it’s important that you and I take a more common-sense, middle-ground approach to all of this. It’s important that we let them BOTH know that we, Small Business Owners, their Employees, and their Advisors are tired of being played the fools. The upcoming election will be quite the chance for us to make a few changes.
Few others from the small business community have said what I have today — it’s been LONG over-due, but this President treats the Small Business sector like some jilted lover…and on THIS day, THAT irritates me. People that say one thing, but do another… make it pretty difficult to have much of a long-term relationship with them.
Happy Valentine’s Day…and remember who REALLY loves ya!
- Chris
P.S. You can’t get through all that (whether you watched the video or read the text) and NOT have an opinion about what I had to say. Leave me a comment below to let me know what you think — I’d love to hear it!
Tags: Business, Chris Hurn, Commercial mortgage, Commercial Property, commercial real estate, Federal government, Mercantile Capital Corporation, Obama, President, President Obama, SBA 504 Experts, SBA Administrator, Small business, Small Business Administration, State of the Union, United States
Suzanne Shafer says:
Chris, you were singing to the choir with this one! I thought I was just imagining the “I’ll love you forever – well, at least, I’ll tell you I’ll love you forever” behavior and rhetoric.
Now how do we get people to get over feeling politically incorrect for being willing to work like maniacs to become ‘rich’. One of the hardest mental hurdles to push my consulting clients over is regardless of what the media spews, if you are capable and willing to create wealth, valuable products and services, and create decent jobs for others, you do have the right and liberty to do so, if not a moral and ethical obligation.
Just like taking care of one another is truly a job for family, friends and community, I believe that we, the small business community, must be compelled to support one another to see thru the rhetoric and learn how to ignore the empty words (from our own heads or heads of State).
Well done, friend!
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for your comments, Suzanne (my mother’s name is the same — good name).
To answer your question: we have to throw-off the Marxist tendencies that permeate our culture today — that the profit-motive is somehow a “bad” thing. The people that push this philosophy (or tacitly accept it) have been brain-washed into believing that we must first “tear-down” the “repressive” Western civilization (despite what has made it so great), so that it can be replaced by a society where riches are shared equally, just like misery. This is the antithesis of the entrepreneurial pursuit — where individual freedom and creativity trumps the collective and where those who put in the effort that the Mediocre Majority rarely do, will earn the spoils. The profit-motive has done more good globally than any treaty or executive order EVER has — it’s good to keep that in mind. If your consulting clients don’t understand this as a de facto truth, then try “threatening” the ones who have shareholders — that they have a legal, fiduciary responsibility to pursue profits (at least here in the West). Sometimes that — that lawyers will come after their property — works better. Sad, but true.
Warren Deihl says:
Respectfully enjoyed your article. You obviously are a great american appreciating who we are & the opportunities available to those willing to work for those benefits. I am deeply concerned about our young people, educated in government schools buying into Obama’s leftist ways. Four more years of the Obama/Unions coilition will doom the USA as we know it. Congress is just as bad. We need term limits.
SBA Hawk says:
Chris, Great article. Just one thing, 7a and 504 aren’t zero-subsidy. They were a few years ago but not now. The fees are at the statutory maximum and SBA still needs several hundred million dollars to run the programs. You either raise fees or spend more, that’s Congress’ choice. The economy has been tough and loans go bad. What’s worse is that the Administration is also busy cutting technical assistance (SCORE and SBDCs) that could help those businesses stay above water, talk about a vicious cycle.
Beyond all that is the sad fact that the miniscule amount spent for SBA pales in comparison to the billions blown on bad stimulus programs, and loan gaurantees to well-connected firms.
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for watching and commenting Tee Rowe. We’re both “technically” correct on the zero-subsidy issue. As you know, the Agency has to make projections on future losses. Due to the way budget projections are made (based on recent history), the proposed “subsidy” is probably WAY over-stated in my humble opinion. Yes, FY ’10, ’11, and ’12 were rough on foreclosures of these mostly commercial real estate deals (AND we were in the midst of a real estate bubble), but the Agency also chose to “walk away” from over $1.3 billion that they could have gone after to try to recover — this meant raising the borrower and lender fees to the statutory maximum (the difference between the projected fees and the projected loses in the program, gives us the budgeted subsidy). Only a few years back, I recall the 504 producing surpluses from borrower and lender fees (naturally, these “disappeared” somewhere in the behemoth of DC), so a LOT of this is typical Washington “accounting,” if you can call it that [accounting].
I have a feeling, with today’s lower, more reasonable real estate values and loans made to borrowers who are the “survivors” of the Great Recession/Panic, these projected losses (requiring more subsidies) will prove to be overstated.
Tee Rowe says:
Oh, absolutely Chris! That’s the problem with subsidy modeling, it’s always undercharging and overcharging. The loans that are bad now drive up costs for loans being made now. It’s really not forecasting at all. All the loans that go bad have been covered through the subsidy back door in the Budget Act and any overcharges go back into the Treasury, its really not well done. If you look at the economic assumptions in the budget you can’t justify the subsidy numbers at all, if those assumptions are right the current cohort will do better. To me it’s more like their doing NPV and calling it forecasting.
Bill Roberts says:
Chris, you are right, most people don’t understand what an SBA loan is. It is not a direct loan from the government but rather a “bank loan” with a partial guarantee from the SBA.
And as a “bank loan” most lenders must be concerned about their collateral for the loan.
As a business broker I have had experiences with SBA loans, both from the perspective of obtaining the financing and from dealing with the aftermath of a loan gone bad.
An SBA loan is a “cash flow” loan. It is based on the business’s ability to repay the loan rather than the value of the assets. When a business fails that ability to repay the loan evaporates and the lender repossesses very little. The SBA “loan guarentee” falls short of making the lender whole.
I think that the SBA program should be “asset based” with a loan guaranty program more like an FHA loan. This would encourage more lenders to participate in the program, and it would probably cost less.
I agree that we (all of us, the people, the government, everybody) need to encourage small business because it is the source of most new jobs and a growing economy.
Let’s hope that the next administration has a better apreciation of small business.
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks, Bill, for your comments. Let’s certainly HOPE there’s more appreciation for this important sector.
Just a quick correction, however: in the event of foreclosure on projects financed with 504 loans, the SBA generally pays off the TPL (Third Party Lender in the first position) in full since they’re typically in a 50% LTV position. What you’re suggesting sometimes happens with 7(a) loans, not with 504s. In fact, this is one of the “issues” I have with the Agency — how many of these foreclosed properties they (SBA) simply “walk away from” once the TPL is made whole. The SBA walked away from over $1.3 billion in potential collections in the past two fiscal years. Sure, that may not be much money in Washington these days, but I still consider it a LOT and collecting some of it would keep the borrower and lender fees at low levels.
Bruce Naylor says:
So true. Your thoughts are right on spot. The traditional lending sources are not there. The techniques, costs, and ease of use is a faulty perception of most government sponsored programs.
The availability of small business capital is limited. Let me hear from mercantile capital on how they can provide a supply of capital to small business.As a former CEO I have plenty of my former customers are asking for direction and possible sources of capital for the purchase of fixed assets and expansion of plant and equipment.
Let me hear from mercantile capital.
Darren Rivchin says:
Yes my friend … I must agree. We have a great location for service center and need to expand.
Obama seems to be headed in a different direction. Auto industry and manufacturing are and always
have been Americas main stay. We need a changing of the guards…
Nolin says:
Thanks for the update.
John H.Capes, CCIM says:
I can’t much to what has been said by others, but I do want to take this opportunity to Thank You for your time and effort! I did Tweet, Facebook, google, and post on linkedin. Your article will help a lot of people realize what we are facing with this administration.
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks, John. I appreciate all of that.
Terry DeWitt says:
I agree with you 100% and will forward this to all my friends and my business relationships’. Thank You
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for doing so. We’ll see where it gets us.
Samuel Berko says:
You are embarking on a wrong journey. I don’t know what your motivations are, but if you have listened to the message yourself you may have found out that you sound more of a politician than a business man. You do not sound like a businessman hit with a bad economic or business policies. Just be careful you do not lose the few followers you have. This is what is happening in my church. The Pastor hates Obama and he was misguided into thinking that because almost everyone in the congregation is complaining about the hard times they also hated Obama. He was wrong! The day he utered that the president was disgusting just like Senator Rick Santorioum did recently he lost his favorites.
People came to church to find solutions. Stay in your lane and do what you do best. Everyone of your readers is not a REPUBLICAN. My wife is a republican and I am a democrat for the 11years that we have been married never did we ever discuss about convincing the other party to cross over – never, except we force each to make sure that we all voted when it is time to vote. It may sound silly because eventually our votes cancel each other.
All I am saying is that if you are not a political leader but are interested in infusing politics into your operations; just lay the facts and allow your audience to draw their own conclusions. I would recommend that you read George O’well’s “Animal Farm” to get the concept from Old Major!
What you rather do with your perceived bad policies of Obama is to guide your readers to make the best out of a bad economic/business policy. Remember that the sea will always be boistrous but there is always a good wave that comes from time to time and that those who are circumspect in what they do are the people who able to ride high.
Good Luck and let me know when you decide to run for office.
PS. Most people turn to CNN for their political news/opinion.
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for your comments, Sam. My motivations are this: if people like me, who are deep inside the small business lending arena daily, don’t speak up about wrongful policies, misdirection, partisan hacking, and so forth, then who will?!? The average American doesn’t know about, nor care why the SBA’s FMLP program extension, for instance, would be a shot-in-the-arm of America’s small business sector. They only know that things aren’t as good as they could be and that more small businesses probably need more access to capital. If I get into the dire details, people’s eyes glaze-over.
I can sympathize with what happened at your church (and I happen to think it best to keep politics out of places of worship), but I don’t think ALL of my readers/watchers/followers are Republicans. I’m certainly NOT happy with Republicans either – that’s why I took them on near the end of my video blog (perhaps you didn’t get there either?). But the business I am in involves politics (small business lending) and I CANNOT sit idly by and just react to things. In MANY previous posts, as I’ve said to others, I’ve made constructive suggestions (some have been adopted; others haven’t) – I just happen to think this President is disingenuous about his support for small businesses (how else can you explain the more than 98% of bailout and stimulus funds that went to Big Business?).
I HAVE read, “Animal Farm,” by the way. And the last time I checked, FOX had more viewers (domestically, at least) than CNN, but who really cares? Watch/read some of my other posts and you’ll see that I’m an equal-opportunity criticizer… my MAIN constant is that I am FOR small business, unequivocally.
Samuel Berko says:
Thanks for the dialogue. Your point is well noted and I think you may be right.
Please continue to keep me posted.
Thanks.
Chris Hurn says:
BTW, Sam, since you brought him up… wasn’t it Orwell in his book, “1984,” who explained doublethink as “not saying the opposite of what one thinks, but thinking the opposite of what it true”? This certainly nails our President.
Carlo G. Frazzano says:
I read your narrative and thank you for the comments but I must frankly tell you that it was more of a political message from the Right Wing of the Republican Party.
My business has more that 400 people both here and overseas and I can tell you that we do better each year under OBama particularly in the export area – in fact due to greater ease of regulations our exports are up over 20% and are poised for another 15% this year.
What you fail to mention is the resistance of the Republicans in Congress to new job creating legislation and initiatives – in fact I am at a loss to find a single piece of legislation they proposed to enhance small business creation while President Obama sponsored 16 tax cuts affecting the middle class and small business including the payroll tax cut of 2%.
Your e-mail and video are out of decorum as it reveals you having more of a political agenda mimicking outdated Republican Right Wing ideology with your criticism of the President. He inherited a collapsed economy which resulted from the spend and borrow policies of the Bush Administration with the end result of 7,500,000 jobs lost. Since Bush / Cheney, 3,500,000 new jobs have been created which is still not enough. Where is the private sector in all of this – as it appears the Republicans want the President to be held accountable for a crisis he did not cause and is doing all possible to mitigate while he faces the obstructionism of the Republicans in Congress. This is unacceptable and hopefully the American people will recognize the need to sweep the obstructionists from office November 2012.
You, as a small business owner and operator of a SBA certified office should be more careful about mixing your personal political agenda with that of the real facts and keep your opinions where they belong. It would have been constructive if had made suggestions rather than be an organ of the Right Wing Conservative agenda that put us in this mess to start with.
Chris Hurn says:
Really, Carlo? I wonder if you EVEN got to near the end of my blog and video, when I ACTUALLY took-to-task Right-Wingers? I happen to think I’m an “equal-opportunity” offender. I have a feeling your export increase have as much to do with a weak dollar as any regulatory relief you might be getting – I here from small business owners daily as to how regulations keep INCREASING (and that’s my own experience as well) under this President.
Regarding your comments about not “a single piece of legislation they [Republicans] proposed to enhance small business creation,” you only need to review the hundreds of proposed bills that have come out of the House of Representatives. There are PLENTY there; they don’t get the coverage that the President’s suggestions do, but that’s par-for-the-course. The President sets the agenda (mostly), while Congress tries to enact what (hopefully) makes sense.
I don’t think my email is “out of decorum,” Carlo. To suggest that is to suggest limiting my speech – is that what you’re doing? Silence those who do NOT agree with your views? I think we’ve seen that before in other countries and what the outcome is. It’s also the standard response of many on the Left when some comments are too factual for them to handle – “so just shut-up! We need to revoke your right to free speech.” That’s awfully un-American, Carlo.
And the last time I checked, Carlo, this blog is MY platform, to do with as I see fit. I AM a small business advocate, but you seem to have missed my points: there is so much more this President (and Congress) can do to help America’s small businesses. Your cited facts are frankly misleading, so there’s no point in taking each one on, individually. I think my argument has already been lost on you. And CLEARLY, this “recovery” is the weakest one on record, because policies were wrongly chosen and not enough focus was shown to those who TRULY could have done the most to pull us out of the Great Recession/Panic: small business owners.
I am NOT a “SBA certified office,” as you suggest (whatever THAT is), and my opinions should NOT be silenced. You’ve CLEARLY not bothered to see my MANY suggestions I’ve made previously to this President and others before him. Your criticisms are pretty idiotic – we’ll just save us both from future frustrations and take you off our list. I probably shouldn’t have wasted THIS much time replying to you.
Mary Brown says:
Chris: I resent ANYONE taking so much time to criticize my President while rarely (if ever), expressing anything praise worthy about his many EXTRAORDINARY accomplishments!!
Every sector of our economy just about, is demanding 1st place and top consideration on President Obama’s funding, taxation and change/adjustments agenda. But I can’t help but wonder ….where was all of this national dissatisfaction when past presidents were putting small business owners and the entire country for that matter, in a position that THIS President would be forced to have to make the decisions he’s now faced with? Either yourself and the many other dissenting voices were in denial, ignorant, or, believed that the robber barons who were plundering the stability of this nation were going to get a sudden burst of gallantry, and return what they’d stolen!
I’m fed up to the gills with the bigotey, complaints, disrespect and ignorance directed at My President. And I say to you and all the others like you: come with some viable solutions to assist My President’s efforts or, go away. Go far, FAR away because I’m not “tryna” (trying to) hear you!!!
Solutions & suggestions welcomed. Complaints & tunnel vision…straight to the “waste” bin.
Chris Hurn says:
First of all, suggesting I’m “bigoted” is the HEIGHT of your ignorance. That’s typical “code-speech” defense for when someone doesn’t support your view and is primarily directed at white males (which just because you watched a video of me, doesn’t mean you even know my racial background). Ridiculous! And for that, I’ll just remove you from my list (not sure how you got on it, anyway). Life is truly too short to waste my time on someone who is ACTUALLY a racist. I completely REJECT the notion that only “oppressive” white males can be bigots! NO, any time someone makes decisions based on the color of someone’s skin, THAT’S racism. It’s quite pathetic that you resorted to that. Any “civility” in your comments went straight out the window when you chose to go there. AND Why is it so common that Leftists seem so quick to charge others with racism, especially when there’s NOTHING to suggest that at all?!? Oh yeah, it’s that ol’ “institutional racism” that’s SO pervasive and ever-present (and invisible), so no one will EVER be able to disprove it, right?!? So moronic…
Furthermore, I HAVE criticized Obama’s predecessors AND made Numerous suggestions, Numerous times – clearly you didn’t bother to do your “homework” on me, before you leveled such baseless charges. I certainly agree with you last point as it relates to your comments here… and I won’t waste any more of my time on you.
Guy Zannini says:
Chris for president….its nice to see that someone knows what us small business owners are going through,,,but how to we get the hard heads to see it…Bail out the big guy,,,let the backbone of our country sink,,, that politics..
Joe Weber says:
Kudos to Sam Belko, Carlo Frazzano and Mary brown. Well stated. Folks need to stop complaining and bring ideas to the table. Warren Deihl–you’re singing the old GOP tune that workers are the problem are they are certainly not the problem. Lack of respect and appreciation for workers is a big problem
Chris Hurn says:
Actually, Joe… you, Carlo, and Mary (I haven’t gotten to Sam’s comments yet) would do yourselves some good to review my MANY IDEAS I’ve previously made. To criticize someone who’s bringing attention to these matters — without even bothering to note ALL THE IDEAS I’VE previously made — is pretty stupid. Sort of typical partisan attacking (what you’re apparently accusing me of now).
Joe Weber says:
I find all of your so called ideas very self serving and as I have told you in the past you want it both ways, you want a big government that helps your SBA focused business and a small government. I’ve never read anything from your posts that even hints at ideas that are not self serving. Your business may be successful but you are not a big picture guy. You called me stupid. That’s very professional of you and certainly not in keeping with what the Jesuits taught you. How is asking folks to bring real ideas to the table, partisan attacking Chris? And where in my post did I make any mention of or reference you as you accuse me of doing? If you’re going to put out an opinion piece, I suggest you grow a thicker skin because not everyone thinks like you
Chris Hurn says:
Okay, I’ll bite and explain myself again to you:
1. “All of my ideas are very self-serving” simply isn’t true. I’m NOT going to go through every, single suggestion I’ve made over the years, but there are PLENTY (such as lifting the cap on specialty-worker visas, for instance) that I’ve advocated for over many years that don’t really benefit me or my businesses much. And using such over-generalizations as “all” isn’t really adding much to what could otherwise be fairly civil discussion.
2. I’ve never tried to “have it both ways.” What you apparently fail to understand is that I want a more efficient government. There are PLENTY of areas within our government that are NOT efficient right now… that could easily become so. “A big government that helps your SBA focused business” is another misunderstanding on your part – the Agency has a budget that is truly minute in Washington – it doesn’t take that much of the overall budget (well under 1% of 1%) to run the Agency, yet what it does, fundamentally, is multiply it’s efforts (with lending partners – in a well-run public-private partnership) to help small businesses. Wait a second… did I just defend a government office? Of course, because I’m not one of these far-right types that think government should ONLY exist for defense and crime prevention.
3. I’m “not a big picture guy”? Right, Joe… nearly all of my suggestions have the greater good in mind. That’s the whole point of them. Otherwise, I’d just keep to myself and not bring upon the scorn that I sometimes get from blog posts like this. I’m not that masochistic – I do it to bring attention to positive change that is needed.
4. I called your actions (criticizing someone for not “bringing ideas to the table,” when I’ve been doing that for years) stupid, not you. There is quite a difference.
5. I have NO IDEA why you’re going with “what the Jesuits taught me”? Some of them taught me Marxist “social-justice” theory as well (which I completely reject, btw), but that has absolutely NOTHING whatsoever to do with what we’re discussing here. That’s completely irrelevant.
6. You complemented two others’ comments (I don’t think Sam made a partisan attack) that made overly partisan attacks on me (one of whom wrongly called me a “bigot” – that ultimate Leftist attack when things aren’t going their way), then you charged another reader with “singing the old GOP tune” (whatever that is). You also implied that I was merely “complaining” and not “bringing ideas to the table,” when the truth is that I’ve done that in plenty of other posts, countless times. These actions would appear to be “partisan attacking,” Joe. But, maybe I’M wrong here – maybe you were calling-out others who’ve commented on this blog and not me? Who knows?
7. I have plenty of thick skin, Joe. This isn’t the first time I’ve ever suggested when things are going off-track in our government and there are always lots of people who want to defend the status quo (whomever is in the White House). And no, I didn’t delete your post, we just have lots of comments and plenty of business to attend to besides. We don’t censure people (as, I believe, one of the other commentators was suggesting for me) unless a reply becomes overly disrespectful or inappropriate. I value fundamental values, like free speech, too much to ever want to do that. I don’t play the silly “multicultural” game that wants “diversity”… that is, until such time as it disagrees with me. That’s ignorant child’s play.
BPP says:
I agree with some of you commentary, however the issues with SBA are nothing new. I must take a practical, philosophical view of our government and the overall economy. This administration did not create this problem, but you suggest that it must immediately correct it. I understand that the bailouts were directed at “Big Business” and that is fundamentally wrong, but hasn’t our government always shown preferential treatment throughout the history of America? We are simply experiencing a paradigm shift, which is now affecting some of the privileges that were almost automatic to some, but never afforded to others. Let’s face it, small businesses are vilipended because we are at the bottom of the food chain. What must we do? Push ahead and be creative! Survive. My great,grandfather never qualified for a business loan and was never offered a business loan, yet he made a way. This is for you political pundits…When you get a changing of the guards, exactly what do you expect to happen? Remember the eight years before Obama?
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for your comments.
My point has always been that Obama had both houses of Congress, plus the Executive branch — he could have gotten just about anything passed… and he DID get some things passed, but they were focused on the wrong things. His cabinet (and himself) have hardly ever had to make a payroll, balance a private sector budget and so forth — they were ill-equipped to advise him (and Obama certainly didn’t know what to do). Can you imagine how many small businesses we could have helped with what we bailed-out AIG with? Can you imagine what would have happened if we took the same drive and determination we had with bailing-out Detroit… but rather focused it on the franchising sector of our economy? Three years has been plenty of time (by historical recession-standards) to have enacted helpful legislation to turn the economy back toward positive momentum. Using Rahm’s words against him, I think we squander this “crisis opportunity.”
Alex Abbot says:
Mr. Hurn:
I enjoyed your article and couldn’t agree more with your statements. Keep your chin up and in November we can fire this guy.
susan sexauer says:
You can remove me from your list as well Chris…. you lost me when you went from offering information into offering your opinions. I am with the others you have lambasted in replies. No need to worry about me or others in my circle coming to your gateway for $$$$ you have effectively removed that option.
I am finally in the black and hiring again…. this after the debacle your preferred party got us into…. and don’t say it isn’t your preferred party….
Just like in driving…. R for reverse and D for Drive.
Chris Hurn says:
I’m worrying not, Susan, but I will congratulate you on being profitable again — if nothing else, it’ll just serve to bother those that hate the profit-motive so much.
You definitely don’t know me much… I’ve voted for your party many times, actually done work for both parties, and often criticized BOTH parties for many years!
What I don’t ever seem to get, however, is why liberals always seem to think a too-cute slogan will paper-over things. Odd. I guess it’s just easier to throw out a catchy, little slogan, than do something more constructive? Maybe I’ll try it: off the top-of-my head: R is for responsible; D is for dependent? How about R is for reliant? I’ll stop now. I’m really not that mean-spirited. We each have better things to do. Keep making your profits, Susan! Capitalism has done far more good than all the well-intentioned, socialism-loving dictators ever have.
Russell Davis says:
Just a short note. This President is by far the worst thing that has happened to this Country since I was born in 1946. He lies so much there is no way to believe anything he says. Keep up your good work Chris and if I can be of any service please let me know.
Florence says:
The US government is not a dictatorship so why are you blaming President Obama for the problems of small business? He did not create these problems and it will take the entire government to fix the problems. How can that happen though when, from the first day of his administration, there was one objective of Republicans, publically stated, to see to it that he fails. Again, the #1 objective of Republicans was not to help small business, not to get Americans back to work, not to make the American dream accessible to all Americans, but to make our President fail. That is downright sickening! Why aren’t you angry at them? Is it because you’re one of them and this is your contribution to that objective? If you choose to use your blog to espouse this nonsense, then please remove me from your mailing list. I do not choose to have such trash in my mailbox.
Chris Hurn says:
It’s so frustrating when people click-off or stop reading BEFORE they get to where I take the other side to task. Go to the 6:46 minute mark of the video. There’s your answer. I’m an “equal-opportunity” offender… all in the name of my core constituency: America’s small businesses.
What is “trash” is when you literally jump to conclusions.
We’ll happily remove you.
Pam Melia says:
I certainly hope this gets to you I would like a person call or email from you
I listened to the video that was 9 min long and I agree with every word of it
although I am very dishearten by you company I have been a small business owner for
over 20 years under 5 employees but the point is I am still in business. I have had a bad 3 years People who were working for me took me for almost 100K My identity was stolen to the tune of about 1 million dollars my credit score went from 700 to 450 over night well maybe a month I also have a house in Ft. Myers Fl that I have not made a payment on in a long time I am in the midst of a lawsuit with Country wide Bank of America The list goes on The point I am making everything above I can document and document I learned along time ago you make sure you can back up what you say and I always operate that way. I contacted your company and was told with some one with my baggage they did not think there was anything that could be done I did not need alot of money under 50 K and was brushed off like you say the president does with small business. I operate a sign company in Ohio with selling branches in Ft. Myers and In Va you can check that out on my website http://www.signsandship.com I would really welcome a call from you or an email and see if there is something that can be done because I am in hopes to be able to buy a business in VA I will await your response/
Chris Hurn says:
While I can certainly sympathize with your situation, Pam. My business is in business to make profits – I have a legal, fiduciary responsibility to try to do so. And one thing that I have to consider along that path is the ability of our borrowers to pay us back. Unfortunately, as a lender, we have to take into account your historical experience (regarding credit scores, lawsuits, and so forth). Our government’s regulators and the SBA itself, requires us to do so. Additionally, we cannot make any reasonable profits for the time commitment we’d have in it, on a $50,000 loan. We have a minimum lending threshold (it’s clearly indicated on our website) and we cannot go below that.
Having said all of that, when we have to turn someone down, I KNOW my employees do so with compassion and professionalism. We do NOT “brush people off.”
I would suggest you visit a hard-money lender as even your local banks (who might have programs to address small loan requests) will be “bound” by the same rules we have. Once you hopefully win your lawsuit and get your credit score back up again, you can pay off your hard-money loan with a bank loan and get back on the road to recovery.
Again, my apologies for what you’re going through, but my hands are tied.
Mark Lacasse says:
Chris,
Keep up the good fight for Small Business Development.
Good luck on your upcoming book as well.
Mark
Tim says:
So many things said and out of all the candidates that are out there I have only heard Romney support the small business folks.
That said, YOU have only iterated what the rest have been saying, but unfortunately, only to ourselves cause we seem to be the only ones interested.
As for me I am still one of those still struggling to succeed.
Keep it going.
TM Long,LTC, US Army (Ret)
CEO, Long Group LLC
Chris Hurn says:
I appreciate your comments, Tim.
And, of course your service too.
Bill Brar says:
Your video was excellent. I will forward it to as many people as possible.
Bo Burlingham says:
You go get him, Chris!!
Calos Negron says:
I really don’t think Obama or the SBA has nothing to do with forming businesses, rather that down payment that is asked of those with dreams of getting their dreams going forward, a lot of people of such desires play the mega lotteries and talk of winning to be able to accomplsih such dreams with the knowledge in mind that other wise they won’t be able to accomplish their dream come true.
Denise A Ramirez says:
You’re out of step with Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and George Coro. Most small businesses are exempt from any higher taxes. As regards regulation, most economists agree that the mess we are in right now was caused by a LACK of regulation under the previous Republican administration. If the Tea Party has its way, there will be no SBA and you will not have a job. The SBA was a creation of the Democrats who have protected it from attacks from Republicans. As you may recall, the Bush administration wanted to eliminate the SBA.
Don’t mix business with politics when giving financial advise.
Chris Hurn says:
1. I believe his name is “George Soros,” not “Coro”. And no, business owners of LLCs and S Corps have to pay income taxes on the profits they make… whether they fully distribute those profits to themselves or not. Not sure what “out of step” with those folks means – most of them get taxed at long-term capital gains rates (currently 15%) since their incomes are NOT termed “earned” like most small business owners I know (myself, included).
2. Dodd-Frank, giving you just one example, was passed under this President and has something like 636 new regulations for a lender like me to comply with. Hmmm… if that’s your definition of a “LACK” of regulations, I’d hate to see what you think of MORE.
3. The SBA was actually created under Eisenhower… and the last time I checked, he was a Republican.
4. There is MUCH misinformation out there about who wanted/wants to “eliminate” the SBA – obviously, I don’t support that and if more Tea-Partiers understood what I said in my video about how the SBA ought to be a model for other government programs (“zero-subsidy” and public-private partnership-wise), they’d sound an awful lot smarter to me.
5. I don’t give “financial advise,” but since the program I specialize in is involved with the government and that rather political… I think educating my viewers about these things is pretty important. I’m sorry if you’d rather be against that education.
Denise A Ramirez says:
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2009/01/sba_response.html
Read how the agency fared under the previous Republican administration.
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks. I know Fred. If you take out the one-time “stimulus” dollars that were a part of the ARRA, under Obama, the SBA’s budget has barely budged. Kind of supports my premise: yes, the Agency saw a decline under Bush (from Clinton), but it’s more or less continued (Bush amount, that is) under Obama. Hence my point that he really doesn’t care much for America’s Small Businesses. He’d rather spend his time and energy focused on Big Business, Big Union, and Wall Street (from which, no other President has received more campaign dollars – guess we should just follow the money…).
Gary Sloan says:
I’m new to SBA lending and have been working with Carolyn Skog on a 504 refi. Carolyn has been wonderful to work with, and if her customer service is indicative of your overall organization then my hats off to you. Hopefully we will close this loan very soon, and I will think of Carolyn first when it comes to the next 504 opportunity for one of my clients.
I couldn’t agree with you more about our current (and I pray soon to be ex) president in terms of his lack of understanding of business and how the free market system works best. If he actually does understand it and still prefers to pander to the unions and other socialist leaning groups which may be the case, then his actions are even more unforgivable. Bottom line, ‘anybody but Obama’ has got to be the mantra or we may dig the hole so deep that we can’t climb out.
One quick point about your video message. As far as being self-funding, there have been times when the SBA has waived its fees. My assumption is that it has to be subsidized at that point, although it still helps small businesses to create jobs which leads to more tax revenue. By contrast, the government stimulus programs instituted by Barack Obama have been more debt creators than job creators, which has just made things worse.
The SBA program is one of the few things that small business can rely on these days to raise capital, so thanks for fighting for it.
P.S. What are the other 2 businesses that you mentioned in your video?
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for your comments, Gary. And yes, your experience is indicative of how we work with entrepreneurs and their advisors, here at MCC.
And yes, when the SBA waived it’s borrower and lender fees for a few months after the ARRA passed, those “costs” were part of the stimulus bill. Out of the nearly $800 billion, the SBA was allocated about 1.89% of that total.
My other two business are: Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club (an upscale, mostly membership-based barbershop franchise – 13 locations and counting) and my own Kennedy’s Club (yes, I’m not only the franchisor, but I’m also a franchisee – it’s important and honorable to “buy” what you “sell”).
Take care.
JACK says:
Chris- Keep it up and don’t be bullied by the idealogues that are attacking your views. Last I checked it’s OK to criticize the President. GW certainly recievd his share and still does. At the end of the day, your views based on your experience actually count. My views based on my experieince of increased needless regulation that does not protect anyone but create more expense for the consumer and opportunity for the Trial Lawyers isn’t wrong it’s my opinion based on my experience. Mary and Joe please take a deep breath and relax. Share your side but stop making it so personal.
Chris Hurn says:
A few people have asked me for some of my “citations” from my video, so here are their answers:
1. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS — not exactly very partisan), more than five million (that’s 5,000,000) people have dropped out of the labor force — the greatest decline in American history and the lowest participation rate in more than three decades. Only about 6 in 10 adult, American civilians are counted as part of the labor force. This obviously affects reported unemployment figures — take 5 million people out of the denominator and PRESTO… the rate goes down.
2. Of the five government offices that I cited as possibly being merged with the SBA, someone asked me why I think those other offices primarily benefit Big Business and not small business. Well… according to 2009 Census statistics, only 1% of US small businesses export. Given that most of those other offices deal with that… BAM!… my conclusion that the SBA will get drowned-out. This merger handily eliminates the only advocate for small businesses in Washington. Oh, and his proposal would only save $300 million a year over the next 10 years. In Washington, that doesn’t EVEN cause a ripple. Maybe he should be more concerned with things that will REALLY MATTER — like fixing Medicare, for instance.
Diane D Roehrig says:
Chris: Thank you for taking the time and having the courage to speak out about the anti-business attitude of this administration. Not only do they not understand small business, they have contempt for it. All the rhetoric about “saving the middle class” is just that- rhetoric. Most real wealth in the middle class comes from small businesses.
To Tee’s comments: I must draw attention to the fact that SBA drives up subsidy levels by billions when they force abandonment of both willing owners and useful collateral during the liquidation process, leaving recovery dollars on the table.
Unfortunately, what the administration does speaks so loudly that I can’t hear a word they are saying.
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks for your comments, Diane. Brave of you to speak up as well.
Mike Pfeiffer says:
Cloward & Piven never had it so good! Alinsky would be proud of this regime’s progress! I take comfort with the knowledge that I’m not the only intellectually honest person on the planet. Now, if I can only get rid of the racist, bigot labeling that has somehow become mainstream description for people who prefer truth over rhetoric and demagoguery to satisfy the non-producers and minions of takers. The problem with turning 50 last year is that I’ve witnessed the gradual decline of Americanism. Thankfully my parents saw thru the spectre of Marxist utopianism and gave me the tools to figure it out at a very early age. I had to file my first tax return when I was 12. And I will not surrender another ounce of my freedom or yours! Keep up the outstanding work and commentary!
Chris Hurn says:
Thanks, Mike.