From Here to Back There

[Dennis S]

And why is it the Moms and Pops can't borrow?

[BCam]

Swampy: "The stock market says little about what is happening to small businesses. Mom and pop's with less than 50 employees can't borrow money to expand, replace old equipment or invest in new technologies, give employees raises, or hire new labor. That is the "back there" you need to be talking about.

And you haven't even touched on how inflation has eaten into the value of invested dollars."

You know, you are right. I didn't think of that.
How much HAS inflation eaten into the investment dollar between January 2009 and last night? Link?

Mom and Pop can't borrow money? From who?
The Government or a Commercial Bank?
I know that Government lending is something you are steadfastly against, so I can only assume you mean no loans from Commercial Banks. So then, in fact, you have a beef with the Banks, not Barack. FYI - present Federal Fund Rate is .25%. Look again. Not 25%, but one quarter of one percent. You'd think a Bank could seed Mom and Pop with a loan when the Bank already pays essentially nothing to get money from the Fed.

And Mom and Pop have 50 employees, so they are a small business? Really? Would you please provide a LINK to the SBA that defines a small business as "49 or less employees". Here's a hint.

Bechtel Corporation.
52,000 employees.
Total revenues for 2011, $32.9 BILLION.
According to the Small Business Administration, they qualify as a small business.

Looks like Mom and Pop have some stiff competition for their small business. No wonder they're screwed.

[swampy]

Obama care kinda sets the bar for what a small business is. A business ith less than 50 employees is exempt from Obama care or any penalties.

The new banking rules (Dodd-Frank) are too restrictive and make it very difficult for small local banks to lend to small local businesses. Besides the red tape involved is very discouraging for applications. I used to be able to walk into my local bank and borrow $15-20K on not much more than my good credit and a hand shake. Those days are gone.

[Dennis S]

I started my sole proprietorship on Reagan's inauguration day thinking he had people like me in mind when he was always talking up small businesses. I soon found out how wrong I was.

[Dennis S]

swampy wrote:
Obama care kinda sets the bar for what a small business is. A business ith less than 50 employees is exempt from Obama care or any penalties.

The new banking rules (Dodd-Frank) are too restrictive and make it very difficult for small local banks to lend to small local businesses. Besides the red tape involved is very discouraging for applications. I used to be able to walk into my local bank and borrow $15-20K on not much more than my good credit and a hand shake. Those days are gone.

The ACA has nothing to do with why banks aren't lending to small businesses of any size. And don't blame regulations. Loosening regulations is one thing that started this whole mess. One reason people like us can't get a loan like in the old days is who is going to loan any money when what caused the collapse hasn't been fixed and won't be fixed by this or any near-future congress? Who has good credit from the lender's point-of-view these days when a slip-up can bankrupt the most trustworthy of people?

It may be a little of a stretch, but considering what Mitch McConnell said about making Obama a one-term president, I think there's a good case that banks are withholding money now so they make make a bigger killing in the future when things really go their way.

[Mac-A-Matic]

BCam wrote:
Mom and Pop can't borrow money? From who?
The Government or a Commercial Bank?
I know that Government lending is something you are steadfastly against, so I can only assume you mean no loans from Commercial Banks. So then, in fact, you have a beef with the Banks, not Barack. FYI - present Federal Fund Rate is .25%. Look again. Not 25%, but one quarter of one percent. You'd think a Bank could seed Mom and Pop with a loan when the Bank already pays essentially nothing to get money from the Fed.

You would think, but have you talked to your banker lately? I talk with mine on a regular basis and the reigns of money being loaned have not really loosened. All that money that GWBush had released to the banks years ago basically sat in their pockets. If they were lent out, they were lent out back to large corporations rather than truly small businesses that needed the extra help. This has been going on easily for about the entire term of Obama.

Lately, it looks as though it's slightly easing - as my banker has been asking me recently if the company is in need of a loan (not at the moment). And I do think this is an area where the White House and Congress should be placing some pressure on the banks to distribute the wealth to get businesses running again because right now, as much as there's been hype about the economy turning around, we're not really seeing it in terms of customer transactions and our coffers. Which means that raises for staff is nearly impossible and the quality of life of the workers doesn't improve for the coming year.

[RgrF]

Dodd-Frank has little to do with the reluctance to lend or spend.

Europe has everyone on edge, if the European Union dissolves repercussions will be worldwide and since that's now becoming a real possibility, everyone is holding their breath and onto their money.