The Small Business Administration PPP Debacle - Jeff Wiersma

The federal Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program ran out of funding for their small business loans this week. This has left many business owners scrambling.

There are 3 major problems at play in this debacle.

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Problem #1: Big businesses getting loans meant for small businesses.

A federal crisis fund of $350 billion established to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic ran out this week, leaving thousands of companies waiting desperately for help.

But several giant companies with hundreds of stores, thousands of employees, and whose executives make millions announced they'd received the maximum possible payouts under the small business program. 

"Unfortunately, they were in line as soon as the window opened for this program and took a lot of resources away from those small business owners where this was their only option," said Holly Wade, director of research with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) lobby group.

Big business already holds an extremely privileged position in our nation's economy.  To see them gobble up relief meant for small businesses which are the lifeblood of local economies is flabbergasting.

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Problem #2: The crisis fund is out of resources and Congress still has not been able to reach a deal that would appropriate more funds.

Negotiations to refill the PPP purse are set to continue over the weekend. Republican have pushed for a straightforward bill to add $251 billion to the program.

Democrats have pushed to set aside a portion of the additional PPP funds for lenders that work with underserved communities, and also provide $150 billion for states, $100 billion for hospitals and an increase to food stamp allocations.

Yes, those things that the Democrats are pushing for to be included in the bill are all worthwhile and important, but why hold up an agreement to replace crisis funds if Republicans wouldn't agree to include those things? Small businesses need that money right away! It's so exasperating!

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Problem #3:  Our warped budgetary priorities as a nation mean that we will spend $718 BILLION on the military this year.

According to the Congressional Budget Office’s projections, if the plans described in the 2020 FYDP were implemented, DoD’s costs would increase from the $718 billion requested for 2020 to $776 billion (in 2020 dollars) by 2034.

Endless wars and empire (800 bases in 70 nations) do not come cheap.  How in the world can we justify that type of expenditures in the first place, let alone when we are in a public health and economic crisis.  War profiteering corporations have always had far too much influence in Washington D.C.  The 2010 Citizens United decision has only made the situation worse.