President Obama has pledged “an unprecedented level of openness” and “a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration,” and observed that public participation “enhances the Government’s effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions.” Unfortunately, evidence from the 2012 Unified Agenda suggests that many economically significant regulations may be put in place over the coming year without the benefit of public involvement.

Check out the entire article here.

(Source: Washington Times, “Government by Regulation,” by Susan Dudley, former OIRA Administrator and Director of GW’s Regulatory Studies Center, and Sofie Miller, Policy Analyst at GW’s Regulatory Studies Center)

Lakers don’t go out of their way to help Celtics. Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t run ads for Starbucks. And Ford doesn’t suggest that potential buyers should consider GM trucks instead. These are just a few examples of friendly competition in the marketplace. When it comes to Washington, there are several examples of government agencies that do an incredible job working with their various constituencies and few are better at serving theirs that the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Read more here.

(Source: The Hill, “In defense of the SBA,” by former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln)

Lakers don’t go out of their way to help Celtics. Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t run ads for Starbucks. And Ford doesn’t suggest that potential buyers should consider GM trucks instead. These are just a few examples of friendly competition in the marketplace. When it comes to Washington, there are several examples of government agencies that do an incredible job working with their various constituencies and few are better at serving theirs that the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Unfortunately, last week during a Congressional hearing, two organizations  launched an all-out assault on one of the small business community’s top government advocates, the SBA. In congressional testimony, the two lobbying groups accused SBA of straying from its core mission of advocating for small businesses, and instead fighting for the interests of corporate behemoths.

Read More

(Source: The Hill, 3/21/13, “In defense of the SBA,” by former US Senator Blanche Lincoln)

Yesterday, Senator Blanche Lincoln was quoted in The Washington Post in response to recent attacks on the Small Business Adminstration (SBA):

Former senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), chair of the National Federation of Independent Business’s regulatory coalition, defended the SBA, saying small-
business employers do want “commonsense, sensible regulatory reforms” but that attacks on the agency’s work are “being driven by special interests who want to preserve an unaccountable, overreaching regulatory system.”

Read More

(Source: The Washington Post, 3/15/13, “SBA watchdog under fire for allegedly backing corporate interests,” by JD Harrison)

It’s heartening to see the U.S. economy making a recovery as the stock market ticks up and the unemployment rolls slim down. And while this is encouraging, there is still a long way to go before our nation is back where it wants to be.

Nobody knows that more than entrepreneurs and small business owners across the country.

According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all U.S. employer firms and continue to lead the country in job creation. Furthermore, small businesses employ about half of all private sector employees in the United States and account for about 60-70 percent of new jobs.

Read More

(Source: UPI.com, 3/15/13, “Small businesses may drown in regulatory tidal wave,” by Nicholas Owens, former SBA Ombudsman)

Senator Blanche Lincoln was interviewed on Huffington Post Live, where she discussed the need to “identify with small business owners “who are going to make a difference in growing the economy.”

Watch the Full Interview Here

Senator Blanche Lincoln was interviewed on Huffington Post Live and noted that “voters are frustrated with these types of social issues hijacking the real issue which is the economy and jobs, and helping small businesses in their community.”

Read More

With the looming sequester and the effort to try to make sure that goes away soon, there are a lot of small businesses concerned about how they are going to pay their bills.

Former Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln served in Congress for 16 years. Now, she is speaking out for small businesses who could possibly be hit very hard by the sequester.

Watch the Full Interview Here

(Source: WUSA9, 3/15/13, “Former Senator Blanche Lincoln Discusses Sequester’s Impact On Small Businesses”)

Imagine that you own a small but rapidly growing company in Vermont, and that your products are starting to sell in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. You would probably hate it if those states forced you to comply with inconsistent and redundant regulatory requirements.Fortunately, the U.S. has a national market. Sure, unnecessary red tape still produces headaches, but the federal system (including the Constitution) sharply limits a state’s power to disrupt the free movement of goods across state lines. Within the U.S., that movement has been a crucial engine of economic growth.

Read more here.

(Source: Bloomberg, “Cut Global Red Tape to Promote Economic Growth,” by Cass R. Sunstein)

Small business owners were more optimistic about their prospects in February, but their overall confidence in the economy remained low, according to a leading private barometer.The Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business rose to 90.8 in February, up 1.9 points from the previous month. Although the increase was positive, the group noted that reading was similar to the average from 2008, as the Great Recession was taking hold.

Check out the entire article here.

(Source: Los Angeles Times, “Small business owners’ confidence rises but remains low,” by Jim Puzzanghera)