Obama Outlines $30 Billion Small Business Loan Proposal

By Christine Lagorio | Feb 2, 2010

At a town-hall meeting in New Hampshire, President Obama outlined his plan to increase hiring in small businesses by granting local banks $30 billion in loans.

Naming job creation as his priority for 2010, President Barack Obama pitched his $30 billion loan program proposal Tuesday to help small businesses grow their companies through increased hiring.

In Nashua, New Hampshire, Obama said he hopes to take money repaid by Wall Street banks as part of the $700 billion bank bailout known as TARP to create the Small Business Lending Fund, which would provide capitol to community banks to spur economic growth on Main Street.

“These are the small, local banks that work most closely with our small businesses – that provide them their first loan, and watch them grow through good times and bad,” he told a crowd of more than 1,500 at a Nashua North high school.

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California Nears Financial “Meltdown” as Revs Tumble

Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:31pm EDT

By Jim Christie

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California’s government risks a financial “meltdown” within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state’s controller said on Wednesday.

Underscoring the severity of California’s cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state’s government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier.

Additionally, the revenues of the government of the most populous U.S. state fell short of estimates in Schwarzenegger’s budget plan by $827 million, Chiang said.

He warned California’s state government is speeding toward a financial disaster unless officials act urgently to balance its books.
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