UPDATE: Politics rears its head, small business loses.
Republicans block small business lending bill
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The National Small Business Association’s mid-year economic report doesn’t offer much encouragement to those looking for reasons to be optimistic about the economy.
But the report offers the best argument yet for passage of the $30 billion small business lending program being considered by the Senate.
Passage looked pretty dicey earlier this week, but a bill that would increase lending to small businesses cleared the filibuster hurdle late Thursday.
Two Republicans joined the Democrats in a 60-37 vote.
Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker voted against the bill. I doubt if they will support the bill when it comes up for a final vote, but they should.
Although the bill is imperfect, it would provide $30 billion in desperately needed capital to small businesses.
With financial regulation reform the next big thing coming out of Washington, I thought it would be fun to watch that oldie, but goodie — “Wall Street.” Great movie.
Michael Douglas as Wall Street raider Gordon Gekko delivered one of the classic lines of cinema history –“Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works.”
Gekko’s doublespeak carried the day in that scene, but by the end of the movie good triumphed over evil.
Will the same be said when the current battle over financial reform ends?
Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker and Democrat Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, are going head-to-head today as they spin their versions of what should be done to overhaul financial regulations.
Stay tuned. The spin fest is getting interesting.
Just for kicks play the dueling banjo video while reading the latest