This week’s Small Businesses “In the News” includes the following stories:
Former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln: Obama’s Regulatory Moment
Huffington Post, 6/6/12, Opinion Editorial by Former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln
In a recent Huffington Post opinion editorial, former U.S. Senator and Coalition Chair, Blanche Lincoln, noted the large number of regulations facing small businesses. She wrote, “When you ask small business owners from Nevada to Pennsylvania what the greatest obstacle in the way of their success is, they echo what numerous studies have indicated for months: government regulations. They’ll point to specific rules like the lead renovation, repair and painting rule, which impose costly and redundant training and certification costs on painters, plumbers and remodeling contractors.
UNLV Student Body President: Welcome to UNLV, Mr. President
Nevada News & Views, 6/7/12, Opinion Editorial by UNLV Student Body President Mark Ciavola
In advance of President Obama’s recent visit to the University of Nevada (UNLV), Student Body President Mark Ciavola, wrote an opinion editorial in Nevada News & Views on the unemployment challenges, many caused by federal regulations impact on businesses, facing students when they graduate. He wrote, “At historic rates, we are met with high unemployment and few or no job prospects. Of the Class of 2012, half are either jobless or underemployed. The small business community has traditionally been able to provide those [job] opportunities – it employs about 60 percent of the private workforce – [but] growing regulatory burdens are exhausting their ability to invest or hire.”
Bloomberg Small Business Report
Bloomberg Radio, 6/7/12, Interview with former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln
Former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, who was interviewed on Bloomberg Radio in May, described a small-business owner who runs a long-term care facility in Arkansas and was fined $10,000 for a dented can of peaches and a leaky faucet in the janitor’s closet. At the end of the report, John Tucker, the anchor, noted that the number of federal regulations increased by 8% in 2010, and there are now over 4200 regulations pending.