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Some baffling comments by President Obama in today’s press conference.

Asked how how and why small business loans would help small business, President Obama replied:

If [small businesses] can get the bank loans to boost their payroll… they will do so.” He further claimed that in his “travels” he has spoken with small business owners nationwide, and they see optimism and new customers.

I’m curious where these travels took him? A land inhabited with a fairy, children, and a flying boy in a green suit?

Unfortunately, a Presidential decree that small businesses are ready to hire, even from this President, does not make it so. In truth, small businesses are not excited about their 2010 prospects. They need to be. As a Wall Street Journal economic report states, small businesses are stymied:

“Optimism has clearly stalled in spite of the improvements in the economy in the second half of 2009,” said William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the lobbying organization. “Small-business owners entered 2010 the same way they left 2009 — depressed.”

Yet, our President advocates taking loans for the purpose of boosting payroll — in the middle of an economic draught. It just makes no sense. Unnecessary risk is not what strengthens and repairs the backbone of our economy — small business.

Going into debt for the purpose of maintaining payrolls you cannot afford is not how capitalism works. It’s not how industries recover.

It was how the Soviet Union worked, however — before it imploded.

And to think McCain was the one who claimed a weakness in economics. Would that other leaders were as honest.

Small businesses need a long term commitment to conditions necessary for growth — long term. They need to be shown that their taxes will stay low, and they need to be shown that their government will help them, by getting out of the way.

They don’t need false hope, and neither do we. 

View all comments (71) |

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.9.10 @ 5:31PM

Robert, thank you.
The most concise "go thee" I have seen.
I have presided over fortune sized companies turnarounds...and I have "started up" two successful businesses.
...brilliant blog.

John - TMF| 2.9.10 @ 6:33PM

Wowsers... who'd a thunk it? The One thinks that businesses borrow money to pay their employees. I was wondering where that er um STOOPID idea came from then I realized something that my wife said about him before the election.

"He's never held a real job, never managed a clean-up crew, or even a McDonalds that anybody knows about, anyway!"

Well, now the only full time managerial job that the Bamster is now Peter Principled himself into big time, and his big push is to get businesses to go into debt even further to hire people that it can't actually employ to do or make anything.

WAIT!!! That's the Federal Government!

So The One is actually speaking from the only experience that he has. Run up massive debt with no hope of paying it off, line your pockets, and disappear before the entire mess dissolves into a hopeless mess. Hum... sounds like the description of a Con-artist to me.

r/The Mighty Fahvaag

gerry| 2.10.10 @ 8:33AM

Actually, Obama DID work at a Baskin Robbins ice cream parlor. His friends said he used to give them free ice cream cones.

http://www.canadafreepress.com.....icle/18519

That's about right, isn't it?

JanineC| 2.10.10 @ 5:57PM

If Barry gave away ice cream to his friends, then he was a THIEF!! He stole from his employer...it means he was unethical and had criminal thinking even as a kid. Typical leftist behavior...

John - TMF| 2.9.10 @ 6:37PM

And that last paragraph is what I meant it to be... The Bamster has made a real mess of things... it is rapidly becoming a hopeless mess... He was hoping for something, wasn't he? Change from bad to worse wasn't what he was expecting I wager.

-TMF

rusino| 2.10.10 @ 7:40AM

"... it is rapidly becoming a hopeless mess... He was hoping for something, wasn't he? Change from bad to worse wasn't what he was expecting I wager"

I am convinced the 'hopeless mess' is exactly what he was expecting . To quote a famous 'retard' R.E. "never let a crisis go to waste". Their mantra -if there is no crisis create one!

Pingback| 2.9.10 @ 6:49PM

Latte Links (2/9/10) | Caffeinated Thoughts links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…in America by Joe Carter The Foundry: Could Trillion Dollar Debt Kill Obama Health Care Reform? Mere Orthodoxy: The Emerging Church is Dead (?) by Matthew Lee Anderson The American Spectator: Obama’s Lack of Business Sense Michelle Malkin: Things I don’t miss about George W. Bush Principalities and Powers: Tyranny at Home, Naivete Abroad by David C. Innes Top of the Ticket: President Obama Day 386: What happened…

Richard Baker| 2.9.10 @ 7:31PM

An Economic Illiterate, among his many talents. This guy went to College? Really? Truly?

BigDaddy| 2.9.10 @ 9:08PM

Do we get someone who knows economics,,,
no! we get a "Post Turtle"...

When you are driving down a dirt road and you
come across a fence post with a turtle balanced
on top, thats a "Post Turtle".

You know he didn't get there by himself,
He doesn't belong up there,
He doesn't know what to do while he's up there
and you feel like you want to help the dumb
ass get back down where he belongs

Becky| 2.9.10 @ 9:30PM

He can't be serious. Where is the press "calling him out" as he likes to say? He makes those of us in small businesses feel like economic geniuses.

That clunker idea he had last summer is coming back to bite not only the businesses that sold that product, but the customers that need a vehicle in that price range. He's not only anti-business, he is anti-consumer also.

Is the constitution sufficiently living to allow the incapacitation of the President to include complete ignorance of what he is trying to control? He's doing a lot of damage to citizens.

Jared Taylor| 2.9.10 @ 11:32PM

This is post is quite right that certainty is important to both markets and businessman. However, I think many conservatives overestimate the importance of taxes in job creation. Remember, if you don't make money, you don't pay taxes. Many small businesses won't be making money this year. My business (LLC- pass thru entity so I pay the taxes) has taxable income in the range of $400,000 to $1,500,000. I would say this is a pretty small business. Anyway, while taxes are obviously important, if business is bad I probably won't be paying much tax, and I won't be hiring. More important to me is regulation and litigation risk. Why don't Republicans talk about litigation reform and regulatory reform? I know I'll have to a tax rate of around 40%, but these frivilous lawsuits come from out of nowhere. I wish Republican would address this.

BHG| 2.10.10 @ 4:18AM

How can the MSM call him out when most of them have never run businesses. Low-level somthing on Wall Street, organizer, college instructor, elected official - all his "jobs" came from entities, which with one exception, weren't going anywhere. None of his entourage, none of his influences are any better.

Pecos Pete| 2.10.10 @ 7:31AM

Jared Taylor: Exactly. Good post.

It ain't just taxes. I retired because of spending most of my time discussing issues with attorneys about various regulatory agencies ... instead of running my business.

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 7:48AM

The B&R Wednesday Massachusetts Edition | Bob Parks: Black & Right 2010 links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…McCain: Tea Party Statements Reflect “Racism” John, your daughter ain’t helping at all Michael Jackson: The Naked Truth At some point, they’ll leave this man alone Obama’s Lack of Business Sense Off prompter again Sarah Palin Sends Out Fundraising Appeal With Grammatical Error Seeing how they blew off Democrat errors, I don’t know if they really want to open this door Toyota…

E.Patrick Mosman| 2.10.10 @ 8:00AM

Under Article II Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution the President swears to "Preserve. protect and defend the Constitution of the United States". Under Section 2 the President "Shall be the Commander in Chief" of the U.S.military. Article II of the US Constitution clearly codifies the duties and responsibilities of the President and Executive branch of government. The President and executive branch have no constitutional authority to own, mange, dismantle or sell, a legally constituted corporation or to deny owners and debtors of their legal rights in such an entity. There is no constitutional requirement for the federal government to provide social engineering services, particularly to 'save failing states' that went on profligate spending sprees or to 'create employment', a job for the private sector, or 'investment in human capital.
Impeachment is the removal process.

Gerry in Maine| 2.10.10 @ 8:26AM

We have a business idiot in the White House. May God help us.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 8:31AM

Has anyone in this Administration ever held an actual private sector job?

Old Virginian| 2.10.10 @ 8:47AM

I've been a small business owner for the past 26 years. No more. I worked 60 - 80 hours a week year after year without a single vacation and I paid an outrageous fortune in taxes just to have the liberal loons give my hard-earned money away in stimulus scams. The basic problem is that the politicians giving the money away haven't earned it so they don't value it. The only way I can think of to stop the insanity is to take the money away from them so they can't squander it.

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 8:59AM

Obama Knows Nothing About Business | Patriotic Dissent links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…tell me this isn’t true, but based on a recent press conference it looks like he does: “If [small businesses] can get the bank loans to boost their payroll… they will do so.” He further claimed that in his “travels” he has spoken with small business owners nationwide, and they see optimism and new customers. Obama has never run a business, I’m baffled why anyone thought…

TennesseeVolunteer| 2.10.10 @ 9:00AM

Let me make sure i have this right...
He wants to have community banks give SBA loans to small businesses so the small businesses, who already are keeping more people than they need, can HIRE MORE PEOPLE THEY DON'T NEED.
As a small businessman in the manufacturing of construction related products, which is pretty much Ground Zero economically, I need sales, not employees. I need sound fiscal and tax policy so people will begin to consider to invest again.
Mr. President, our biggest problem in American capitalism is no one trusts you or the looney tunes you have running things beginning with Geithner, Summers, Axelrod and the Mao loving Czars you have appointed who have never run a lemonade stand.
Limited Government...less taxes, more personal freedom and we will solve all of your problems.
It really is that simple!

Nick in Virginia| 2.10.10 @ 10:42AM

He said that during his travels, he talks with small-business owners, "a lot of them".

Since there are about 30,000,000 small businesses in the country, I think it is safe to say that 0bama has not spoken with a statistically significant sample of the small business owners. This is just this man's ego talking, trying to prove how knowledgeable he is.

What he is proving (more and more) is that he doesn't have a clue.

Joan| 2.10.10 @ 10:45AM

All the administration, and most of the heavies in Congress are lawyers who probably couldn't make it in firms. They are definitely not businessmen, and don't have a clue how hard it is to make honest money.

thecommish58| 2.17.10 @ 3:17PM

I think you are on to something here. It seems pretty clear that a country or business that is run by lawyers is doomed to failure. We need a much more balanced approach - not Dem vs Repub but we need to move toward a majority of people who acutally ran a business and operated under the restraints of a budget.

AndyJ| 2.10.10 @ 11:41AM

I have "Gone Galt". I listened to the local bankers and other wise people back in 2007. Obama was touting huge tax increases. McCain was not going to fight Congress. In 2008 the interest rates on replacement equipment got silly. We pulled the plug. Now Obama pops up advising that we put payroll on our credit cards -or bank loans- and never offers a word about -HOW- we pay back the loans... we need a stable, predictable, economic environment. The new labor regulations, new taxes, new business regulations all make it an hard to predict... We invest our own money. We are not spending "somebody else's money"... We know where it comes from and where it goes and who we can trust at every step along the way...

Big Govt need big companies and big unions to control/manage all the "wage-slaves". They do not know how to deal with a free independent business person. Everything is geared at mollifying the slaves from their first job thru death with promises of "security"... Hollow promises that will be betrayed by someone else in the future... In politics; the conversation never ends, the bill never arrives, and trust is all smiley face and happy talk.

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 11:55AM

The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense | All Topics Blo links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

: Obama's Lack of Business Sense | All Topics Blog All Topics Blog What was I thinking!? Home | Blog The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense no comment Posted by Darren Murph wrote an interesting post today on   Here’s a quick excerpt   by Matthew Lee Anderson The American Spectator: Obama’s Lack of Business Sense Michelle Malkin: Things I…

Doctor Sam| 2.10.10 @ 12:58PM

The tradgedy is of course i that most of us knew this , and muc more about him before the election.
What made so many believe that he would change
his ideas and beliefs WHEN he became pres.?
What makes so many believe that someone with virtually no experience and few if any manageral skills other than securing government subsidies and subsistance funds could somehow run this country.....economically and/or defending from enemies? ...You knew all this....and eleted him anyway.
You should remenber Einstein's defination of insanity which goes somewhat like this:
'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again somehow expecting a different result...
Eg. The new 'jobs' bill he has recentely cooked up

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 1:20PM

The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense « Internet Cafe links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…miss about George W. Bush Principalities and Powers: Tyranny at Home, Naivete Abroad by David C. Innes Top of the Ticket: … Read more from the original source: The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense No Comments » No comments yet. RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL Leave a comment Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website…

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 2:18PM

The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense Mobile links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense Mobile About Mobile The Sponsors The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense Tags: david, future-liabilities, george, got-lots, naivete, obama, principalities, rotating-capital, things, tyranny SAP cuts business flights by 25% | ABTN Oregon…

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 2:24PM

Noya Khobor » Blog Archive » The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Bu links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

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Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 2:25PM

Professor in Chief — Winds Of Jihad By SheikYerMami links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Republican vice presidential nominee told a frenzied crowd. Okay then. Lets call him ”light-skinned with no negro dialect” and we’ll be OK, no? Here’s some baffling comments by President Obama in today’s press conference. Any criticism of the big ‘O’ is of course wacist. ….don’tcha know…. Share and Enjoy: Tagged as: obama, professor 'racist' Join the…

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 2:43PM

The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Sense Michelle Malkin: Things I don’t miss about George W. Bush Principalities and Powers: Tyranny at Home, Naivete Abroad by David C. Here is the original post: The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI Leave a reply Name (required) E-mail (required, never displayed) URI Recent Posts Eric Whitacre on Choral Writing…

Dan| 2.10.10 @ 2:53PM

Here is the ACTUAL quote from the press conference. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but the context changes some....when the actual quote is read.

THE PRESIDENT: The small businesses I talk to --- and I've been talking to a lot of them as I've been traveling around the country over the last several months -- their biggest problem is right now they can't get credit out of their banks so they're uncertain about that. And they're still uncertain about orders -- do they just have enough customers to justify them doing more.

It's looking better at this point. But that's not the rationale for people saying, I'm not hiring. Let me put it this way. Most small businesses right now, if they've got enough customers to make a profit and they can get the bank loans required to boost their payroll, boost their inventory, and sell to those customers, they will do so. Okay?

LauraD| 2.20.10 @ 12:10PM

He STILL doesn't know anything about business, even with this actual quote. If a business is making a profit, why would they borrow money to boost payroll? Boost inventory, yes. Make capital improvements, yes. No real businessman who has any sense would borrow money to "boost payroll".

Pingback| 2.10.10 @ 3:31PM

The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense | americantoday links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Orthodoxy: The Emerging Church is Dead (?) by Matthew Lee Anderson The American Spectator: Obama’s Lack of Business Sense Michelle … See the original post here: The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Obama's Lack of Business Sense Share and Enjoy: Tags: north, obama, sense iBusiness Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Headlines America abc and- bac bbc best…

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Pingback| 2.14.10 @ 1:20AM

Tone Deaf: Dems Brush Off Uncertainty Caused By Job-Killing Policies links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Democrats’ job-killing agenda.  Republicans have proposed a “ no-cost jobs plan ” that gets Washington out of the way so small businesses can help get our economy moving again. American Spectator: Obama’s Lack of Business Sense If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Posted in Debt, Economy, Government Spending & Waste, Leftist Agenda, Obama, Recession, Regulation, Taxes,…

Pingback| 2.14.10 @ 1:54PM

Reading Tea Leaves « ORBIS links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…problem with his economic policies is not substance, just spin. Well, when his cup of popularity runs out, he should read the tea leaves at the bottom. More discussion on deficit spending: Obama’s Lack of Business Sense Barack Obama’s Keynesian Mistake Keynesian Doublespeak Obama signs on to Keynesian pyramid scheme Obama Gives Keynes His First Real-World Test In Defense of Keynes: Aggregate Demand,…

Pingback| 2.16.10 @ 8:35PM

New Anti-Obama Billboard, This Time It’s Wisconsin » Right Pundits links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…they can make payroll. So much brilliance, I’m Chris Matthews, I’m tingling. “If [small businesses] can get the bank loans to boost their payroll… they will do so.” Obama, February 9 And then those companies will gladly place a “closed” sign on the door and start collecting welfare. Critics of Carter’s plan — and Congress’ now — say that the…

thecommish58| 2.17.10 @ 3:22PM

All business leaders are concerned with the support Obama has give to "Card Check" legislation. While we can debate whether we should "borrow" to make payroll - we should all agree unions and government lackeys are trying to pull a fast one

Obama | 2.20.10 @ 6:09AM

Obama is criminally insane communist mobster and most likely not even a citizen. He should be impeached immediately before he destroys what is left of our economy. If the Democrats really want to stay in office they should impeach this man.

Pingback| 2.22.10 @ 9:52AM

~ A Bit of Financial Advice for the President: For The Sake of the Economy, Let Loose links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…business is transacted.  He knows nothing about what it means to run a company, meet a payroll, balance a ledger or hire and fire employees.  (Don’t believe me?  Obama thinks it’s  standard business practice for small businesses to take out loans to cover payroll.) Let’s face it — he simply doesn’t understand what’s obvious to the rest of us:  businesses need a financially…

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Why Free Hosting Can Destroy Any Online Business! | Cheap Low Cost Hosting links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Article Submission Service: Tһіѕ Common … Accessible Design Mаkеѕ EхсеƖƖеחt Affair Sense | Care2 Healthy … Obama's Lack οf Affair Sense Mаkе Superfluous Cash Online – Looking At Trading Opportunities Mаkе Superfluous Cash Online – Looking аt Trading Opportunities News … Ways Tο…

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More Blog Posts by Robert P. Kirchhoefer

http://spectator.org/blog/2010/02/09/obamas-lack-of-business-sense

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