Kerry Tries To Resuscitate Capital Program

[Mass]

Good to see that some people recognizes Kerry's work on SBC. It is clear that Kerry recognizes that micro enterprises can be a way to help fight poverty, particularly among women and minorities who sometimes have real trouble finding real jobs.

http://sbc.senate.gov/democrat/record.cfm?id=247593

Kerry Tries To Resuscitate Capital Program
Microenterprise Journal
Monday, October 24, 2005

For an Administration that is working to relieve poverty, the White House seems strangely reluctant to get behind low-income entrepreneurship

October 24, 2005 — I can only imagine that the folks over at the Small Business Administration must be wishing that Senator John Kerry (D-MA) would take a long vacation to Baluchistan by now.

The Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has been an ongoing thorn in the SBA's side, having evidently decided that somebody needs to take oversight of the agency seriously. There's not much evidence that the Chairpersons of either the House or Senate Committees is doing much there, that's for sure.

Among other things, Senator Kerry has recently inquired into the status of the Women's Procurement Program, has tried to light a fire under the SBA to speed small business hurricane relief, and has made discontented noises about the SBA's oversight of small business federal contracting. He is now looking into the lack of implementation of the New Markets Venture Capital (NMVC) program.
...


It has been perfectly clear for a very long time that the current Administration does not accept the viability of small business development among low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs as a poverty alleviation strategy. That's curious course of action from an Administration that assured the world, only about a month or so ago, that it was ready to work hard to address the poverty that generated international shock, if not awe, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

And it illustrates the worth of what we were all taught in grade school: it's not what you say that matters, it's what you do.

[TayTay]

1. Hahahaha! So Kerry is being a pain in the butt to the SBA

Good for him. I am very happy about his work with the SBA, especially what he has done after KAtrina. I hope the SBA folks actually listen and start releasing that money.

[karynnj]

2. So you think the SBA wishes that Kerry

were the lazy Senator that the RW still wants to pretend he is.

I would never have believed in the 60s, 70s or 80s that a Republican adminstration would be so totally bad for small businesses. This really stands the old respectable main street (banker) Republican stereotype on its head.