Government, Politics and the Economy Survey: Poor Sales Lead to Business Closings According to a recent NFIB survey, poor sales are the number-one problem afflicting America's small businesses. Moreover, few small business owners expect consumers to start spending again any time soon. CNNMoney.com Fed to Keep Rates Steady and Slow Bond Purchases The Federal Reserve is holding interest rates steady and intends to "slow the pace" of its emergency bond-buying program. USAToday.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Small Business: Mixed Reviews for Obama's Fist 100 Days Some are happy, others are not. Some feel the president is ruining the economy with taxes, costs and regulations while others take solace in seeing specific agenda items like healthcare reform move forward. WSJ.com Fed Keeps Purchase Targets—A Sign That the Worst of Recession Has Passed The Federal Reserve has decided not to increase its purchases of Treasuries and mortgage securities, saying that the economy is beginning to show some signs of stability. Bloomberg.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy After the Fed’s Money Flood, Will Democracy Need a Bailout? The bailouts may be the least popular government program in history, and if the Treasury needs more money to keep it going, who knows whether Congress would provide it? As a result, Treasury and the Fed have been running what Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, sees as a scam. Bloomberg.com Small Business Fights Back Against the Banks As banks pull back on lending and work to purge bad loans from their balance sheets, some small business borrowers are on the attack, filing lawsuits, putting out news release... [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Obama Argues for Stimulus Before House Expecting easy House approval of an $816 billion stimulus plan, President Obama said the nation is at a "perilous moment" that requires swift and decisive action from government. Fed to Use Every Tool to Help Economy The Federal Reserve has signaled that it will continue with the “unconventional tools” they have used so far to cushion the pain of the recession, including keeping interest rates at record lows. [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Bernanke Offers More Measures to Save the Economy The Federal Reserve chairman has outlined even more measures to help us all cope with the ailing global economy. Small Business Stimulus Given the results of the federal government's handling of the economic crisis, there is a question that needs to be asked: Why is the SBA missing from the pool of policy solutions? Start-ups Prove an Important Employment... [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Spending Our Way to Prosperity President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the national economy as he made an urgent pitch for his huge spending proposal during his first speech since his election. SBA Web Chat on Credit and Borrowing The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Web Chat series starts on January 15th with a focus on small businesses and the credit crunch. SBA Associate Administrator for Capital Access Eric Zarnikow will answer questions about credit and borrowing and other resources to help access credit. Fed Fac... [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Obama Names Richardson as Commerce Secretary New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has been chosen to join the Obama administration as Commerce Secretary, President-elect Barack Obama announced Wednesday at a press conference. Fed: Economy Darkens Heading into HolidaysWASHINGTON (AP) - The country's economic picture has darkened further as Americans hunkered down heading into the holidays, forcing retailers to ring up fewer sales and factories to cut back on production. [Read Full Article]

Politics and Government Bush: "I'm Sorry" for the Economic CrisisWASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush expressed remorse that the global financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts and said he'll back more government intervention if needed to ease the recession. Bernanke: Better Non-bank Failure Framework NecessaryFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further interest-rate cuts are "certainly feasible," but he warned there are limits to how much such action would revive the economy. Paulson: Other Rescue Program... [Read Full Article]