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Small Business Jobs Continue to Decline

Government, Politics and the Economy Small Business Job Losses Continue The mass-layoffs in the economy may have slowed, but small companies are still dropping employees to stay afloat. CNNMoney.com SBA's Mills Has the Answers for Small Business SBA chief Karen Mills discusses the challenges facing small business as well as her role in getting struggling companies the help they need. WSJ.com US Unemployment Slows Unemployment slowed last month and the overall un... [Read Full Article]


Treasury to Buy SBA Loans

  Government, Politics and the Economy Treasury to Buy SBA Loans The Treasury Department is finalizing its plans for a $15 billion initiative to stimulate SBA lending by using federal bailout money to buy up SBA loans. WashingtonPost.com Global Warming Bill Will Hit Homeowners and Small Business the Hardest A Heritage Foundation analysis of the Waxman-Markey global warming bill predicts the bill will result in sky-high costs averaging $393 billion annually and destroying over a million jobs from 2012 to 2035. Heritage.org Management and Operations [Read Full Article]


Bill Introduced to Restrict Small Business Contracts to Real Small Businesses

  Government and Economy Bill Restrict Small Business Contracting to Real Small Businesses Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), has introduced a bill that would ensure that small business government contracts go only to true small businesses, rather than being awarded to subsidiaries of large companies. WebCPA.com Emerging 200 Program: Training Entrepreneurs to Save Cities Starting its... [Read Full Article]


Obama to Credit Card Industry: End Deceptive Practices

  Government and Economy Obama Meets with Credit Card Industry—Wants to End Deceptive Practices Executives from the nation's credit card issuers met with President Obama, who is pushing for consumer protections that go beyond proposals approved yesterday by a US House committee and rules issued last year by the Fed, to argue against new limits on fees and interest rates. Bloomberg.com BofA's Lewis: Feds Pushed Merrill Purchase According to New York's attorney general, federal officials pressured Bank of America Corp. CEO Ken Lewis with threats to his job security to complete the bank's purchase of Merrill Lynch. Breitbart.com [Read Full Article]


Online Sales Taxes May be Around the Corner

  Government and Economy Stimulus Sought for Equity Financing With equity investments in new companies drying up, venture capitalists and angel investors are pushing the federal government for financial relief and to open up to them small business programs traditionally reserved for noninvestor-backed businesses. WSJ.com Internet Sales Tax Coming? House and Senate bills expected to surface in the next week could eliminate the "physical presence" requirement in the tax law that has, thus far, kept the various levels of government from levying sales taxes on the Web. BusinessWeek.c... [Read Full Article]


COBRA Catch 22

When President Obama’s stimulus bill—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—was passed, a much-lauded provision in the legislation that allows laid-off employees to get COBRA health insurance through their former employers at 65% off went into effect. Sounds like a great deal, right? Well, there is just one little catch. The government has no intention of being out any money, so the employer is on the hook for that outstanding 65% of the premium. The employee pays the other 35%.  April 18th, 2009 is the deadline for employers to mail out the notices to eligible employees who have been laid off since September 1st, 2008. The coverage itself is retroactive to March 1st, 2009. This means employees must pay their 35 percent share on three months of COBRA premiums through May. In other words, they have to pay 3 months worth of premiums.  In an article on Workforce.com, Jennifer Kluge, COO o... [Read Full Article]


Obama's Small Business Plan—Will It Work?

  Government and Economy Obama's Perplexing Tax Hikes There is general agreement that it's not a good idea to raise taxes during a severe recession. Yet, here we are in a long, deep recession, and President Obama's budget includes a large number of tax increases. What's the deal? SBECouncil.org Can Obama's Plan Stimulate Small Business Lending? The Obama Administration offered a plan to spur lending and help for small businesses, but the program carries some real risks for the government. BusinessWeek.com Management and Financial Issues [Read Full Article]


New GOP Bill Requires Secret Ballots in Unionization Votes

  Government and Economy Obama's Plan: Its Effect on Entrepreneurs The President didn’t offer new proposals geared directly at entrepreneurs, but he did discuss several new plans that will certainly affect them. The Wall Street Journal President’s Budget Overview Backs $28 Billion in Small Business Credit for FY 2010 President Barack Obama’s FY 2010 Budget Overview offers full support for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s credit programs, authorizing SBA to support loan guarantees of $28 billion to small businesses. Small Business Administration [Read Full Article]

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