What did small business get out of the stimulus? Not much. Democrats and Republicans alike are always free with praise, stressing the importance small businesses play in the economy. They got that right -- firms with fewer than 20 employees are responsible for more than 50 percent of new jobs. But when push came to shove in the final days of negotiations, help for small business was all but obliterated.
In the early days of campaign talk and bill drafting, small business did pretty well. Candidate Obama talked of eliminating all capital gains for small businesses and ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. Early versions of the bill included $600 million to waive or eliminate government loan fees and a 50% boost to $3 million in the cap on government-backed 7(a) loans.
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