Trade Pacts Urged for Export Growth By Angus Loten, Wall Street Journal July 28, 2011 With a target of doubling exports by 2015, the Obama Administration needs to push through pending free-trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to level the playing field for smaller U.S. exporters, House lawmakers said Wednesday. “Until the administration and Congress act on these… Read more »

Lawmakers Revisit Some Worries About Consumer Bureau By Ben Protess, New York Times July 28 With the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau formally opening its doors this month, a year after Congress created it to oversee Wall Street’s biggest banks, some lawmakers have begun sounding alarms once again about its impact on community banks… Read more »

Treasury Releases Funds to Spur Business Lending By Glenn Somerville, Reuters July 7, 2011 Six community banks will get $123 million from a special fund at the U.S. Treasury Department that was created to spur lending to small businesses but has drawn criticism for being slow to kick into action. Treasury said the disbursements, the first… Read more »

House Panels Probing Contract Awarded to Perelman-Affiliated Company By Eamon Javers, CNBC   Two Congressional committees are investigating how a company affiliated with financier Ron Perelman won a massive federal contract for smallpox antiviral medicine, CNBC has learned. At issue is whether or not Perelman’s Democratic political… Read more »

Eye on Albany: Hanna Hopes to ‘Harvest’ Jobs By Robert Harding, Auburn Pub Rep. Richard Hanna unveiled his plan to grow jobs in upstate New York this week. Hanna’s plan, called the “HARVEST” plan, focuses on seven areas: High-tech manufacturing, agriculture, reforming taxes, veterans in the workforce, education, strengthening small… Read more »

  Measure Would Bar Order for Contractors to Reveal Political Gifts By Jill R. Aitoro, Washington Business Journal A new bill in Congress aims to block the Obama administration's draft executive order that would require contractors to reveal political spending during the bidding process. On Thursday two House Republicans — Reps. Sam Graves of Missouri and Darrell Issa of… Read more »

 If you want a federal contract, better be nice to Obama By: Examiner Editorial President Obama neatly summed up his political philosophy last year when he advised Latinos to "punish our enemies" and "reward our friends" on immigration issues. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., took a brave stand against that philosophy Tuesday, announcing his opposition to a draft… Read more »

Lawmakers Take Issue With White House Proposal on Political Donations Fox News Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle aired their grievances Thursday about a draft proposal from the White House that makes federal contractors disclose their political contributions. "Doing this ahead of the fact; doing this ahead of the contract award and having that information out there can serve no… Read more »

  Republicans Find More to Cut From the S.B.A. Budget By Robb Mandelbaum  March 18, 2011 In April, House Republicans plan to lay out the broad outlines of their budget to fund the federal government for 2012, but this week the chairman of the House Small Business Committee revealed his spending priorities for the Small Business… Read more »

  Tough Choices on SBA Budget By Kent Hoover, Portfolio The House Small Business Committee doesn’t like much of anything the Small Business Administration has done over the past two years. This dissatisfaction could cost the agency nearly $100 million. That’s how much the committee recommends be cut from the SBA’s $985 million budget request for next year. These reductions can be… Read more »