Political Parties

In Washington these days, everyone is suddenly a friend of small business, even if an issue actually has little to do with small firms, or worse, adversely affects them.

The Small Business Administration revealed the latest figures on small business contracting, and, once again, it's time to round up the usual supsects.

The congressional debate over energy policy is heating up. But when it comes to the best approach to address our thirst for fossil fuels, small business owners are as divided as the rest...

The federal government's small business contracting program has been a low-boil scandal for years. Can congressional Democrats finally do something about it, now that they're in power?

Government bureaucracies are known for inefficiency and waste, So why are Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill up in arms over a plan by the government to change the way it buys office...

The Small Business Administration is proud of its record for promoting minority- and women-owned businesses, but it all seems to depend on how you shade the statistics, according to critics.

At first glance, a new Senate small-business lending bill looks like straight-forward attempt to help small firms. But in reality, it's a heat-seeking missile aimed directly at the Bush Administration.

On Monday, some 40 companies, including Pepsi, Safeway, Pacific Electric and Gas and takeover managers Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, have joined forces to announce the formation of the Coalition to Advance Healthcare...

Lloyd Chapman, president and founder of the American Small Business League has been leading the crusade for federal contracting reform. He finally makes some progress with the passage of a new House bill,...

Last February, I wrote about American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman and his quixotic campaign to reform government contracting laws. The new Democratic-controlled Congress finally seems to be getting the message. But...

Now he's done it. California Governor Arnold Schwarteneger has proposed a $12 billion program to require health insurance for all state residents, legal and otherwise. Putting the details aside, when a conservative Republican...

This morning's San Francisco Chronicle started a series on how health care reform is effecting California. Even Gov. Schwarzenegger, who started out as a hard line Republican, has taken the responsibility of governing...

The "word" seems to be that the new Congress will not be enacting any significant health care reform. There are some who are suggesting that the best thing Congress can do is to...

Enjoying the subtle sheen of varnished, well buffed wood, accompanied by rustic hues of an earthy palette has always been more inviting to me than the glistening gleam of chrome and glass. The...

Book Short:  You'd Never Run Your Business This Way... I am an unabashed conservative, so you might wonder what I was doing reading  A Country That Works, by union chief Andy Stern,...

Industry Update. Get ready. The headline in The Press Democrat, a Santa Rosa, California, sister - paper to the New York Times, read: Restaurants, high-end retailers feeling pinch. Another time a headline like...

Book Short:  Choose Voice! I took a couple days off last week and decided to re-read two old favorites.  One --Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead -- my fourth reading -- will take me...

Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine this week that offers a different approach to controlling the medical malpractice insurance crisis/problem. We know that...

Does that title make you laugh? Affordable healthcare for small business owners has always seemed like an oxymoron to me! If you've tried (or have) health insurance for your small business, you've probably...