A letter I sent to Senators and Richard Carbo

Dear Senators and Richard Carbo:

I have written many times to your Committee with my ideas about helping small business gain access to capital, contracts, R&D, etc., and also to thank the Committee for its efforts in trying to help small business with its role of creating jobs. I am not a politician, but I should be able to understand legislation that might impact my ability to survive and grow. I am having trouble with both and I am confused. I don't understand how my fellow Republicans in the House and the Senate are fighting the small business lending program. There must be something that I don't understand, but then again, legislation shouldn't shouldn't be that confusing.

During the past several years, I have learned a great deal about how little most people in Washington understand about small business. Even NFIB has trouble with this and it is reflected in that they have less than 2% of small business as part of their membership. I know the top NFIB people in California and they have very little experience in small business. These are very nice people, but they don't get it. There is this disconnect between talking about small business and understanding small business.

Whether the pending legislation isn't bipartisan enough or some ideology is impacting something affecting politicians, I don't really care. I need a loan and the banks aren't lending. If it wasn't for the efforts of Chairman Ben Bernanke and your Committee, I don't think there would be much hope. My company would be adding 10-15 new employees within 36 months if we could get a loan. We have paid off 3 previous SBA loans during our almost 50 year history. Our products prevent infections in hospitals, which saves money and lives. However, we are considered too "risky" in the eyes of the banks, unless there is some incentive for them to lend. I don't care what the bankers say, many small businesses want to borrow and they aren't necessarily waiting for demand to pick up. It is incredible how little people understand about small business and the dynamic role they play in our economy.

What is at stake is Main Street America and individual freedom. I don't question the patriotism of the Senators debating H.R. 5297, I just question their understanding of small business. Small business is not a "buzz term" you use during each election cycle to gain Main Street votes. It IS America. If given a "level playing field", small business would build a new economic model that brings power back to Main Street and delivers the individual freedom we cherish in America.

A letter I sent to Stuart Varney, Neil Cavuto, and John Stossel of Fox Business News.

Gentlemen: I have written to each of you recently about the importance of small business as the solution to our unemployment crisis. I call it a crisis simply because it is a crisis. It goes beyond the number of people unemployed, underemployed, or discouraged. It goes to the fabric of what America is and the potential loss of Main Street. In those categories just mentioned, there are approximately 30 million people impacted by the loss of our economic activity. While this is creating incredible pain in every community in America, there is reason for hope, due to the fact that we are finally seeing how important "the job" is to this country. When we talk about creating jobs, we need to look to the job creator: Small Business. The Senate Small Business Committee stated that 80% of the job losses in this recession came from small business. They also stated that over 80% of all net, new jobs come from small business. Data will vary, but approximately 90 million jobs are in small business. Of the 28 million small businesses in America, approximately 6 million have employees. These 6 million small businesses are the job creators for this country and they are suffering from lack of capital, contracts, and all of the benefits available to big business. Our focus needs to be directed to those small businesses that will create a real job. I find it incredible that we worry about "risky" small business loans, while spending billions of dollars on things that lead to nowhere. $100 billion in capital infused into small business banks as a part of their capital base would generate $1 trillion in small business loans. With a shared guaranty program from the government and the small business, the cost to the taxpayer would be almost nothing. These loans could be sold to the secondary markets without the banks being at risk for anything. Simply pay them for processing the loans. Fortunately, legislation is being considered at this very moment that almost does this. More needs to be done. As important as anything else, freedom is at stake. John has been addressing this for some time now, and I also am a follower of Dr. Milton Friedman. By placing the focus on small business with capital, contracts, etc., at the same level as big business, there is a natural gravitation from the center to Main Street. When the economic power moves to Main Street, you have this process of decentralizing the economy. When that happens, you experience the benefits of both economic and individual freedom. When you don't have that, you will surely lose both. That is what Dr. Friedman was talking about. The "Possibilities Model" for small business has never been devoloped, along with a credible model for the value of a job. I am working on both of these concepts, but people need to understand that we are very close to losing something that may be very difficult to get back. Losing the entrepreneural spirit that is small business cannot be taken for granted. One can only sacrifice so much before they give up, when just a little support would make a big difference. This spirit brings innovation and a higher standard of living and America has always been the leader. If we kill small business and Main Street, we will surely not be the innovation leader much longer. I watch all the Fox Business shows, along with Bloomberg and CNBC. I do spend more time with your shows because they have something to offer every morning and night. There is a common theme will all of these shows that I believe should change. I don't know your demographics with your viewers, but I personally have a disconnect every day when the bulk of the discussion has to do with big business stock prices. Maybe everyone you are actually trying to reach is involved with day trading, etc., but I am not. To me, there is a big disconnect with stock prices, analysts expectations, things impacting Wall Street, and what is important to me and the majority of Americans on Main Street. There is also a disconnect on many days with the stock market and the real economy. Most of us live in the real economy. I suggest that you spend more time on Main Street issues and the economy that impacts all Americans. I spent thousands of hours as an adjunct faculty member trying to have my students relate what is happening around them to the economic discussions they hear on television or on the internet. If you addressed more small business and Main Street issues each day, you might pick up some of those 90 million people involved in small business that you don't already have. This is a huge opportunity to bring your message to an audience that feels very much abandoned at the moment. These are the people that will be creating the jobs. These are the people that will save the economic and individual freedom we cherish. These are the people that will create the Main Street Miracle. By the way, I am still available as a Fox small business contributor. And John, I would love to help on the small business story.

A letter I sent last month to Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I have written to you many times about small business, job creation, and Main Street over the past several years. My worst fears concerning the loss of jobs, the loss of individual and economic freedom, and the death of Main Street are happening as we speak. I stated my fears a long time ago, and it is at the point to where many of the positive actions that would have mimimized the damage are no longer available. A lot of my solutions were targeted to small business lending, but it appears that money used for stimulus funding for Big Business, Big Government, Big Unions, and Wall Street has lessened the ability of government to respond. I'm not sure the President or the Congress really care about small business, until it means something with the November elections. With 80% of the job losses coming from small business, and the fact that more than 80% of net, new jobs come from small business, it is time to do something before we have a Japanese style recovery. We are rapidly going down that path. The problem is that nobody really sees small business until conditions are so bad that it is almost too late to help. That is because the small business is no longer in business. That means that Main Street and the character of the community are lost and it can't be brought back. That could have been avoided, but nothing was done. Banks aren't lending and communities are dying. I have written so much about this I am tired of saying the same thing. This creates a permanent shift to Big Business, Big Labor, and Big Government. The job engine that truly is small business is gone and the innovation that it brings is lost during a single generation. This isn't a business cycle. This is a change in the structure of the American economy and culture. My only satisfaction with this is that at some moment in time when we run out of money or the ability to print/borrow money, we will need to get back to the basics of creating a real job. That means small business. That requires capital. That requires some creative thinking on your part because nobody else seems to have a clue. The President and Congress's solution is more unemployment benefits and stimulus programs. They don't work and they will eventually take the last of our freedoms away for good. I am requesting that you pick up your message about small business lending and develop some way to get capital to small business that creates a real job. Small business wants to borrow and grow, no matter what the banks say. The banks of today are so far removed from the banks of the past that built this country, they really don't know what I am talking about. The tragedy is that being right about this potential catastrophe is not satisfying to me or anyone else who really cares. I believe you care and you have the ability to do something about it. You mentioned one time that you didn't want to be the Chairman of the Fed during the next Great Depression. I think it would be worse to be the Chairman when we lost Main Street.