Obama outlines plan for jobs, small business

The long-awaited speech was finally given this morning, with President Barack Obama laying out a plan to get small businesses hiring again by cutting taxes and making it easier for them to borrow.

The president outlined his plan for job generation in a much-anticipated speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. this morning. His key point? That the nation must "spend our way out of this recession."

But small business is just one part of the president's plan. The Associated Press reports that the package also includes spending for highway, bridge and other infrastructure projects,and a cash-for-clunkers-style tax incentive program to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.

“We avoided the depression many feared,” Obama said "But our work is far from done.”


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According to the AP: A major part of his package is new incentives for small businesses, which account for two-thirds of the nation's work force. He proposed a new tax cut for small businesses that hire in 2010 and an elimination for one year of the capital gains tax on profits from small-business investments.

Here's an excerpt from the speech:

"First, we're proposing a series of steps to help small businesses grow and hire new staff. Over the past fifteen years, small businesses have created roughly 65 percent of all new jobs in America. These are companies formed around kitchen tables in family meetings, formed when an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream, formed when a worker decides its time she became her own boss. These are also companies that drive innovation, producing thirteen times more patents per employee than large companies. And, it's worth remembering, every once in a while a small business becomes a big business ¿ and changes the world.

"That's why it is so important that we help small business struggling to open, or stay open, during these difficult times. Building on the tax cuts in the Recovery Act, we're proposing a complete elimination of capital gains taxes on small business investment along with an extension of write-offs to encourage small businesses to expand in the coming year. And I believe it's worthwhile to create a tax incentive to encourage small businesses to add and keep employees and I'm going to work with Congress to pass one.

"These steps will help, but we also have to address the continuing struggle of small businesses to get the loans they need to start up and grow. To that end, we're proposing to waive fees and increase the guarantees for SBA-backed loans. And I am asking my Treasury Secretary to continue mobilizing the remaining TARP funds to facilitate lending to small businesses."

Obama also proposed that fees associated with small businesses loans be eliminated, and that more federally-backed loans be made available.

The plan is funded by left-over money from the bank-bailout last year. But spending the nation out of recession doesn't resonate with everyone; Republican leaders say the plan is irresponsible, and that the left-over money should be used to pay down the country's massive national debt.

Here's a New York Times story on the speech, and here's another from the Washington Post.