FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   

Small Business Advocacy Group Comments on President's TARP Proposal

Washington, D.C. - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) President & CEO Karen Kerrigan, and Chief Economist Raymond Keating, issued the following statements in response to President Barack Obama's proposal to use TARP funds to help stimulate small business lending:

Statement of Karen Kerrigan:

"It's time to turn towards more practical and broad-based initiatives that will impact a greater number of small businesses.  First, given the public sentiment on government spending and TARP, the President's proposal lacks momentum in the Congress. The political winds favor shutting down TARP, not expanding it or morphing it into another program.  This type of proposal has seen its day - it is time to move beyond the TARP model.

"There needs to be greater stability and certainty with regard to policy in order to build confidence in the business community.  Businesses across all industries continue to shudder at the broad array of regulatory and tax proposals that the President is pushing, including those that provide capital.  Pro-business policies, and a climate that fosters investment and business activity will get the economy moving again, and will get lenders lending again.

"President Obama will not get job creation from the small business sector if he plans on taking more of their capital away as his budget proposes. So, first things first.  Policies should first do no harm to the nation's job creators. If the President wants small business owners to have access to the capital they need to invest and create jobs, he cannot propose to tax them as well.  His efforts need to focus on bringing certainty to a variety of tax measures that directly relate to capital access and investment. For example, making permanent small-business expensing, the capital gains tax rate, individual tax rates and the death tax."

SBE Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating said:

"This transfer of taxpayer funds from one unwise government program to another will make no real difference to the overall well-being of small businesses and the economy. At this point, the major problems with small business credit are the poor economy.  On top of the fact that there is added risk for lenders, many small firms are not looking to borrow, or are unable to because of reduced creditworthiness. What we need are broad based, permanent tax and regulatory relief measures that will boost the economy, with the credit climate commensurately improving. Another government lending program is not the answer."

SBE Council is a nationwide membership advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit: http://www.sbecouncil.org/.

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