Government, Politics and the Economy Will Small Business Get a Bailout Afterall? The Obama Administration is considering a plan to use money from the $700 billion TARP program assist millions of small businesses, which officials now say are essential to any economic recovery because they employ so many people. WashingtonPost.com Employment Legislation: Two Ways to Get it DoneThere are two bills making their way through Congress, and they illustrate the starkly different ways that important employment-related legislation is created in Washington. Workforce.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Stimulus Plan: Where are the Jobs? That is the $787 billion question: Where is all that government stimulus money, and why hasn't it stemmed the rising tide of US unemployment? BusinessWeek.com Second Stimulus: Democrats Split Democrats in Congress are divided over whether to push for more deficit spending to end the recession and stem job losses, complicating the possibility of a second stimulus bill. Bloomberg.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Geithner: Economy Stabilizing, Pain Ahead Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday the U.S. economy was beginning to stabilize, but cautioned that consumers will still feel the pain of the current recession. Reuters.com Post-Recession America: A Vastly Different EconomyWith the US economy beginning to show some early signs of stabilization, people are wondering what the “new normal” economy is really going to look like? Here are some thoughts. MSNBC.com Management and Financial Issues [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Velazquez: Give Small Business a Break on Cap and Trade Small businesses need rebates to ease the higher energy costs that may result from capping carbon dioxide emissions, the chairwoman of House Small Business Committee wrote today to the Democratic sponsors of the cap and trade legislation. Bloomberg.com Small Business Credit Continues to Tighten—Just Not by as Much According to the Fed’s quarterly survey of senior bank loan officers, banks are still—for the tenth quarter in a row—tightening credit standards for small businesses, but not to the d... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy How Stimulus Money Will Flow Obama's plan relies heavily on states to dole out the dollars. That could slow and complicate some of the spending. BusinessWeek Traders Revolt: CNBC Host Mocks Obama Economic Plans In this video, CNBC's Rick Santelli and traders on the floor of the CBOE express outrage over the notion they may have to pay their neighbor's mortgage, with Jason Roney of Sharmac Capital. CNBC.com Obama to Mayors: Do Not to Waste Stimulus MoneyPresident Obama says he will call out any local gov... [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Gregg Nominated for Commerce President Obama has nominated Republican Judd Gregg to be Commerce secretary, a bipartisan gesture that the President insisted was necessary with such a troubled economy. Banks Failing to Lend Despite BailoutsThe federal government has invested nearly $200 billion in the US banking industry to spur new lending to consumers and businesses. So far, three months in, it has been a failure. Your Tax Dollars at Work: Wells Fargo's Vegas Casino JunketsWells Fargo & Co., which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, has plans for a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month. Once a leader in subpr... [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Karen G. Mills to Head SBA Venture capitalist Karen Gordon Mills is President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Small Business Administration. Kennedy Pushes Healthcare Reform Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 76, who is battling cancer, has focused his team on developing a comprehensive health care plan and getting it ready for President-elect Barack Obama soon after he takes office. SBA Announces... [Read Full Article]