John Kerry Offers Plan for Small Businesses

[JI7]

< CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Recalling his days as a muffin and cookie shop owner, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is proposing new measures to help small businesses, including making it easier for them to compete for federal contracts.

Kerry, in remarks prepared for delivery Friday, called for less bundling of federal contracts, which groups together smaller contracts and can make it harder for small businesses to compete for them. He said the number and size of bundled contracts has reached a 10-year high.

Although the total number of federal contracts has increased 7 percent under President Bush, according to Kerry, the small-business share has dropped by 14 percent to just 21 percent. He wants to increase that to 30 percent.

In 1976 Kerry opened a cookie and muffin shop called Kilvert and Forbes in Boston's Quincy Market, which he said gave him firsthand knowledge of the challenges of running a small business. >

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3577796,00.html

[Octafish]

1. JK's headed that Senate Small Business subcommittee...

... for YEARS. He knows how important they are to the total economy and employment. Gee. Unlike so many of the candidates and Bush, it seems JK would know WHAT to do as President.

[flpoljunkie]

2. Yes. Let's send them a candidate for President. Not just an angry message.

A candidate who would continue his lifelong fight for Democratic ideals--the ideals upon which this country was founded.

Imagine a President who is totally equipped to assume the presidency from day one and begin the turnaround of Bush's failures at home and abroad and actually move this country and the world forward in the 21st century.

That candidate is John Kerry.

[curse10]

3. I had no idea he owned a shop!

Ya learn something new everyday. :-)

[JI7]

15. i found out some months ago

in some article about candidates and their favorite food. and they mentioned kerry's was chocolate chip cookies and how he owned a cookie shop. i saw him mention it in a speech at least once also when he was talking about small businesses. i think the shop still exists but was sold to someone else.

[mouse7]

4. Too bad mega-corporations have killed small business

Walmart means NO small retail business. Storefronts can't compete.

[Monte Carlo]

5. They're not dead quite yet.

Small business will remain because they have to. Huge corporations like Wal-Mart eventually become too bloated for their own good, and small businesses are vital for competitive technologies and such.

[sandnsea]

6. Small business is the main creator of jobs

That other poster is on ignore, so I don't know what they said. But small business is a huge generator of jobs and most importantly they also create alot of new inventions and technologies as well. They're really important in the economy. I wish more people would pay enough attention so they would know exactly what John Kerry had done for small business and their employees.

[JI7]

7. yeah, i was surprised

when i first read at what percentage of people are employed by small businesses as opposed to large corporations i was pretty surprised. i remember in a debate a woman asked about needing help for her small business and gephardt gave an answer but it did not apply to her at all. but kerry was able to understand what her problem was and propose a solution which would be helpful to her.

[mouse7]

11. Not in the retail sector.

Walmart has crushed retail small business, especially in rural areas.

Kerry needs to break up the Walmarts to help small business.

[Monte Carlo]

14. They're still going strong in the cities.

So now Kerry has to topple the biggest multi-national in the world? Market forces are going to do that, not direct legislation. The dynamic needs to change, and we can only encourage that in our economy, not demand it.

[blm]

8. That's why Kerry has been fighting to make sure that at least 1/3 of govt.

contracts are given to small businesses and break the stranglehold that large corporations have on govt. contracts. Letting small businesses bid on those contracts assures better prices/values for the taxpayers, and a boost to the economy all around since we aren't also paying for unnecessary corporate perks from the greed creeders.

[JI7]

9. i wish

these things were discussed more in the big media. i saw an interview with wolf blitzer where he would ask kerry questions and keep interjecting in some stupid polls about how bush is doing good so does kerry's plans matter and other crap. as if different issues and agendas should not be discussed just because a recent poll had the fool with high approval ratings. but kerry does a good job of staying on his message and not allowing the whore media to distract. this is also why they don't have him on much or lie about him. remember they claimed the candidates were not discussing gun control ? when kerry had many times and made it a big part of his formal announcement speech in south carolina.

[adadem]

19. Because

big media and big business honchos know that Kerry will stand up to them. If Kerry could be prez you know that the media consolidations would be broken up...that's why they give him so little positive coverage. They're giving him just enough to appear "balanced".

[mouse7]

12. Which is the exact WORST way to help small business

US Government contracts are by their nature of standardization for a large buyer, the worst place to attempt to help aid small businesses.

Just making ball point pens for the US Govenment takes a major enterprise.

The way you help small businesses is by reducing the footprint of mega-corporations on the economy.

You want to help small business? Anti-trust action.

[blm]

16. Kerry is for going after the corporations, as well...but, you're wrong

about allotting 1/3 of government cpontracts to small business. That is alot of money and power to take away from the large corporations who feed at that teat now. It will also bring savings to the taxpayer who won't have to pay up for corporate executive perks that are packeged in their deals.

[JI7]

17. and get them to pay taxes

get them to pay taxes rather than locating offshore to avoid paying taxes and putting the burden on the middle class.

[zulchzulu]

13. Hey! I agree!

I find Walmart to be just as much of a threat to America as al-Qaeda. Well maybe not as much of a threat, but pretty close.

[adadem]

18. I haven't

stepped foot in a WalMart in over two years.

[JI7]

20. i will never with current practices

with walmart's current business practices i will NEVER shop there. i actually have never bought anything from there and haven't really ever been there. there really aren't any that close to where i live so i'm lucky there. i have been inside once for a few minutes with a relative because they were looking for something and most other places were closed although we ended up not buying anything from there.

[oasis]

10. Kerry's sober approach on domestic issues will be a tremendous

confidence booster in the market place during the transition period after the change of administrations.