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December 16, 2005
Tempest in a Committee teapot
I suppose we could look on this one as the House Small Business Committee's final holiday gift to those of us who enjoy these political dramas, one final pass-the-popcorn moment to close out 2005.
It all started with Committee Ranking Member Nydia Velazquez, who came out swinging on Wednesday with a demand for the resignation of SBA Administrator Hector Barreto.
I'll have to confess, that one was a bit of a shocker even for me. I knew, of course, that Congresswoman Velazquez has been suffering an agony of frustration with her well-behaved GOP yes-men colleagues and with the SBA's congressional relations people but I didn't realize she was quite this furious.
She cited the SBA's "inadequate" response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes (claiming that 80% of loans have been declined, a figure I'm not in a position to confirm right now), their failure to adequately oversee federal contracts to protect small business interests in the federal marketplace, their ongoing refusal to implement the women's procurement program, and all the problems with 7(a).
"For an agency tasked with the sole purpose of providing assistance to our nation's entrepreneurs, it is inconceivable to think that Mr. Baretto — a former small business owner himself — has simply run the SBA straight into the ground," she is quoted as saying in the press released distributed by her staff earlier this week.
Interestingly, Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-IL) already had a press conference scheduled for Thursday, to discuss his analysis of the SBA's performance in the aftermath of the Gulf Coast disasters. However, in light of what Congresswoman Velazquez had already had to say on the subject, that press conference wound up being a bit augmented.
Manzullo rather predictably found that the SBA did just fine during the disaster, pointing out that it doesn't make sense to chide them for turning down loan applications. They still have underwriting standards that apply and, in many cases, they are doing disaster victims a favor by turning down those loan applications, since you can't qualify for a FEMA grant util you've been turned down for an SBA disaster loan.
Besides, Manzullo pointed out, given the scope of the disaster (which was unprecedented, let's not forget) and the levels of poverty in the stricken area, the SBA wound up in a "no-win" situation. "It is understandable that those affected by the disaster want to get their loans as soon as possible. At the same time, taxpayers demand accountability and a reasonable expectation that the loans will be paid back," Manzullo said in his statement.
The SBA issued its own press statement, of course. Here's one thing that Administrator Baretto apparently had to say: "I greatly appreciate Chairman Manzullo’s efforts to give a true, balanced picture of how the SBA is responding to this year’s hurricanes."
I don't know why but this statement struck me as uproariously funny. Possibly it's because of the way Republicans have appropriated words like "balanced," as if they and their supporters are immune to churning out their share of partisan spin.
The fact is that there was nothing at all 'balanced' about Manzullo's account. But it does have the advantage of being quite a bit more rational than what Velazquez had to say.
And the augmentation part was absolutely in direct response to the demand for Barreto's resignation, although nobody actually said so. They rounded up all the small business lobbying outfits they could put their hands on for a show of support for Mr. Baretto and the job he is doing. (Among all the usual suspects, the National Association for the Self-Employed was conspicuous by its absence.)
The show of support was a meaningless gesture, of course. All those organizations have to work with whoever is in charge, so they do what they have to do to maintain reasonable relations. That doesn't mean they agree with how the SBA is being run or that they think the current administrator is particularly competent. It just means that they bow to political reality.
On the other hand, I'm not so sure it makes sense to come down on Administrator Baretto for implementing what are clearly Bush Administration policies -- which is the bulk of what Velazquez was complaining about.
(Let her yell at Bush. She can even demand his resignation, if that would make her feel better.)
I'll say this, though. It did get their attention. Usually, they ignore her but not this time. Of course, their response was still indirect, a sort of "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" response that did nothing to address most of her complaints. But that's what they usually do with Velazquez — try to paint her as a lone lunatic who has no support from anybody else in the small business policy space. To a large degree, it works, too, but that's only because she keeps playing into their hands like this.
Talk about political theater! The only unanswered question at this point is whether this was a one-act play, or whether the show isn't over yet.
Posted by The Journal Blogger at December 16, 2005 08:15 AM
