In a conference call with reporters earlier today, Senator Patty Murray joined local business leaders to praise the Senate passage of a long-stalled small business bill. The bill creates a $30 billion fund within the Treasury Department that aims to encourage community banks to increase the supply of small business loans.
Jeff Newgard of Yakima National Bank, a community bank with $182 million in assets, said that an extra $4 million from the program could translate into $45 million in additional loans to Yakima Valley small businesses. “As a small bank, it has felt like our voice is pretty soft,” Newgard said. “I thank Patty Murray for listening to the small voices of community banks.”
The Dino Rossi campaign is characterizing the bill as “another bank bailout” and has decried the use of taxpayer dollars to fund what Rossi is calling “TARP-light.”
When asked about Rossi’s claims, Senator Murray chuckled and replied: “Rossi needs to read the bill… I know this is going to make a difference.” Murray cited Congressional Budget Office reports that show a savings of $1.1 billion to taxpayers over the life of the program, refuting claims that the bill will add to the deficit.
The bill passed the Senate 61 to 38, with two Republican senators crossing the aisle to lend their support. Senator Murray expressed confidence that the bill would reach the President’s desk swiftly. The bill now moves to the the House of Representatives, where ample support is expected. The House passed a similar piece of legislation earlier this year.
We have effective leadership in Senator Murray. Rossi is just more failure.
Glad to see one of the two necessary preconditions for US job growth being handled: loaning of capital to US small business.
The other one is Trust Busting of the Too Big To Fail firms.
We’re still waiting on that one.
While I’m certainly anti-Rossi, I wonder if Patti Murray truly read the entire bill herself. Given that she is known to be an intellectual lightweight among her peers, I kinda doubt it. Most Senators seem to think acutally reading a bill is for staffers.
Republicans are pissed because the money for capitol should come in a form a massive tax break to the top 3% to spur investment and essentially create jobs. But the tax cuts to the top 3% doesnt guarentee that any of it would go to capitol to create new jobs.
What the Democrats (and two Republicans) did was have federal money go directly to small banks to boost capitol and investments.
@3,
It’s pretty much impossible to read bills in their entirety, not if you actually want to get shit done.
I’m going to go to my neighborhood bank and ask them if I can get a small business loan for a startup.
It’s not like this money will go to a lot of Democrat contractors, right.
I mean, it’s for everyone.
Right…?
@6 there’s no such thing as Democrat contractors.
Now, if you’d like Democratic contractors, those proud American workers are available, SROTU.
Given that she is known to be an intellectual lightweight among her peers
To be fair, I don’t know how smart Murray is, but her peers include or included Saxby Chambliss, John Cornyn, David Vitter, Mary Landrieu, and Norm Colman.
And Feinstein, who probably has a reputation as a heavyweight, didn’t get around to reviewing some pretty important stuff during her lunch break about one of Bush’s Supreme Court nominees that could have made a difference if she had known what questions to ask..
only in loony Bailo-land does this party preference box exist on loan applications.
but then again- denigrating, no matter how idiotically naive, a net good for small businesses & the middle and working classes has become the tired new teabagger crying point of late.
pathetic.
Murray has a very solid reputation amongst her peers. She’s an outstanding senator — bright, dedicated, effective and engaged.
Rossi’s full of crap, of course — starting with the fact that TARP was a Republican program, not a Democratic one, and if he’d been a senator then he would have voted for it, beyond any possibility of doubt, whatever he claims now.
@6
If you just walk in and ask for a small business loan then no, you probably won’t get any money.
If, however, you come in with a business plan for a viable business and all of the other things that would be expected from everyone else requesting a loan then yes, I guarantee nobody at any bank gives a shit if you’re right wing, left wing or anything. Banks are in this to make money. If they think you will pay back the loan with interest they will lend you money. Now, take your head out of Michelle Bachmann’s ass and think a little.