Dev Blog

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2008-10-09T19:46:43Z

checking new admin feature for modifying additonal author info

Rescue Package Hostile to Small Business?

2008-10-01T20:47:12Z

The American Small Business League, a nonprofit organization that represents small businesses across the nation (100,000 by its own count), today expressed fears that the revised $700 billion financial rescue package being considered in Congress this week could allow the federal government "to completely ignore the federal government's small business contracting goals," according to a statement from the group. The latest version of the Senate bill, which is expected to be quite similar to the one defeated in the House of Representatives save for stronger homeowner protections, could contain language, as did the doomed bill, that would waive provisions of federal acquisition law pertaining to small businesses. "It's just a typical Bush Administration move where they'll put something in a bill that doesn't need to be there just to give themselves more power," says league president and founder Lloyd Chapman.]]> The American Small Business League, a nonprofit organization that represents small businesses across the nation (100,000 by its own count), today expressed fears that the revised $700 billion financial rescue package being considered in Congress this week could allow the federal government "to completely ignore the federal government's small business contracting goals," according to a statement from the group.

The latest version of the Senate bill, which is expected to be quite similar to the one defeated in the House of Representatives save for stronger homeowner protections, could contain language, as did the doomed bill, that would waive provisions of federal acquisition law pertaining to small businesses. "It's just a typical Bush Administration move where they'll put something in a bill that doesn't need to be there just to give themselves more power," says league president and founder Lloyd Chapman.

Chapman says such a loophole would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to ignore federal rules that direct billions of dollars in government contracts to women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses. "This allows the Bush Administration complete leeway to abolish federal contract laws that affect small businesses," he says.

Entrepreneur is seeking a response from the federal Small Business Administration.

As things stand, Chapman points out that the federal government has already diverted federal small businesses contracts to major corporations, some of them based overseas. A Department of the Interior Inspector General report (PDF) from July states that federal small business contracts have gone to the likes of Home Depot, John Deere and Starwood Hotels. "Fortune 500 firms are getting billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts," Chapman says.

"Let's put a provision in the rescue package that says they can no longer do that."

Paul Newman Leaves Entrepreneurial Legacy

2008-10-01T18:38:03Z

When Paul Newman died over the weekend, he left behind not only a canon of postwar films unparalleled in Hollywood--Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Color of Money--but he also bequeathed the legacy of one of the most successful marriages of star power and consumer-product branding ever to hit supermarket shelves.

The ace actor and expert race car driver cofounded the Newman's Own brand of salad dressing in 1982 with friend and author A.E. Hotchner. The idea was to use Newman's name and image to sell food products that would benefit charity. The brand's lineup--each product uses an artist's sketch of the late thespian--has since expanded to include spaghetti sauce, lemonade, wine and other products. The company claims to have donated all profits, nearly $250 million since its inception, to nonprofit organizations. One of the beneficiaries has been the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps--summer getaways for children with serious illnesses.]]> When Paul Newman died over the weekend, he left behind not only a canon of postwar films unparalleled in Hollywood--Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Color of Money--but he also bequeathed the legacy of one of the most successful marriages of star power and consumer-product branding ever to hit supermarket shelves.

While many entrepreneurs probably think they could benefit from having a Hollywood legend endorse their products and services--with change to spare for charity--experts argue that Newman's Own has more than big-screen pedigree going for it. "Paul Newman changed the mode of a celebrity getting into the food business," says John L. Stanton, food marketing professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. "If consumers didn't believe profits were going to charity, if they didn't think the product tasted good or wasn't good for them, they wouldn't buy it."

He notes that many celebrity-endorsed food ventures, from Planet Hollywood restaurants to the supermodel-endorsed Fashion Café chain, have failed to launch. A celebrity's good name, he says, only guarantees entrée to free press and initial consumer interest: The brands must bring consumers a quality experience in order to see them return again and again. For that reason, Newman's Own will likely live on. "As long as they mange the legacy and live up to the promises to charity Paul Newman made," the professor says, "it can go on for a long time."

Get Involved: Help SBA Reform Federal Regulations

2008-10-01T18:35:10Z

OK, so the nearly $1 trillion Wall Street rescue is all but assured, but the benefits to small business remain to be seen. In the long run, more credit should become available for entrepreneurs who need funding to start a business or expand an existing one, but for now it's the big players who will lap up the taxpayer-sponsored river of capital.

Even if the plan works perfectly and the federal coffers become flush with cash over the next several years--decades?--how can this be seen as anything other than a catastrophic failure of a system that is supposed to self-regulate as a way to avoid such collapses?

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While the feds and the fallen financial gurus on Wall Street sort out this 13-figure debacle--even sports agents have to cringe at numbers that big--there is another $1 trillion small-business owners can do something about. The Small Business Administration estimates that business owners in the U.S. spend $1.1 trillion annually to comply with federal regulations. Now may not seem like the time to get into a deregulatory fervor--since deregulation is largely responsible for the credit and mortgage mess we are in--but too many rules for businesses are outdated, shortsighted or just plain silly. And they need to be removed or updated.

To that end, the SBA's Office of Advocacy, through its Regulatory Review and Reform (r3) initiative, is asking business owners to nominate federal rules that are in need of review and reform. Once compiled, the list will be whittled down to a Top 10 list and r3 will submit the suggestions to the appropriate federal agencies. Click here to learn more and nominate a rule.

"Changing markets, technology and competition make it imperative that federal agencies periodically review how their current regulations affect small business," says Thomas M. Sullivan, chief counsel for Advocacy.

Among the mandates on the 2008 Top 10 list, one in particular could help the widest range of entrepreneurs: Simplify the home office business deduction. SBA is calling for a rule to permit a standard deduction for home-based businesses. With 53 percent of all small businesses run from the home, kinda makes sense.

The rules that make the 2009 list are up to you.

$1 Trillion in Context

2008-10-01T00:14:54Z

Treasury Department is making with its plan to buy up the bad mortgage loans that are throttling the U.S. economy. The bailout plan as written calls for $700 billion, but no one really knows how much the questionable loans add up to, so it could reach $1 trillion. A trillion. That's a one with 12 zeros after it.

Numbers like that don't even make sense to the average American consumer. How can someone earning $100,000 put that into perspective? Well, if you saved $100,000 per year without benefit of earning interest, you'd have to save for 10 million years to be a trillionaire.

What are some other ways to think about a trillion?]]>

No matter how long you think your day has been, it's still made up of 86,400 seconds. In a mere 31,546 years (allowing for the fact a day isn't exactly 24 hours)--that's 11,522,176 days--you will have lived for roughly 1 trillion seconds. Get back to us on that whole climate change thing.

A $1 bill is roughly six inches across. It would take 10,560 of them to stretch one mile. The circumference of the Earth is roughly 24,902 miles. A trillion $1 bills would circle the Earth not quite 3,803 times.

If our government felt like spreading that $1 trillion around to every citizen of the U.S., all 300 million of us would get $3,333.33, with a little left over for a barbecue.

A Population Reference Bureau survey estimated in 2002 that the all-time world population was 109 billion. That means everyone who has ever lived could have almost $10 if the $1 trillion were split up evenly.

Need a way to keep your children busy? Ask them to count to 1 million. Have them do that 1 million times, and they will have counted to 1 trillion.

The land mass of Los Angeles is 469 square miles, or 156,899,635,200 square inches. One trillion $1 bills would cover L.A. 95 times.

If stacked, a trillion dollar bills would reach a height of roughly 65,000 miles--a little more, a little less depending on the wear and tear of the bills. For reference, the farthest the moon ever gets from us is 252,088 miles.

If you're reading this, chances are you'll never be faced with any sort of economic indicator that reaches beyond the trillions, but in case you're interested, the number after 999,999,999,999,999 is 1 quadrillion--15 zeros and a whole lot of people wondering who makes this stuff up.

New Post New Post New Post New Post New Post New Post

2008-09-30T17:51:34Z

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New Entry @ 10:34 AM PST

2008-09-30T17:36:16Z

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Tester testing this out

2008-09-30T05:26:37Z

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Valetudo usitas ut paratus torqueo tation. Hendrerit singularis velit, esse in duis augue at usitas, bis tego abico multo. Epulae eum et exputo facilisi quibus, oppeto autem cui mauris aliquip dolore pecus commodo.

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Testing Headline #1

2008-09-30T05:25:37Z

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I just finished installing Movable Type 4!

2008-09-30T03:01:57Z