Hey, it's Small Business Week.

This is the week that gets set aside every year for the President and the Congress to turn to us and say:

"We won't invest in you or craft policy that helps you to compete against corporate giants but we want you to know that we think you're nifty and we really, really like you a whole lot."

They probably won't put it that way, of course.

Both the House and the Senate will pass resolutions noting that America's small businesses are quite swell. President Obama will undoubtedly issue a proclamation of some sort, saying essentially the same thing.

Of course, if he is as smart as we all think he is, then the President will recognize the opportunity this week offers him to retrieve an important campaign promise.

It's time to keep your word, Mr. President, and elevate SBA Administrator Mills to a position in your Cabinet.

You may not think it matters. Possibly, you think we have forgotten or don't really care. And some of your advisers may even counsel against making small firms loom too largely in your overall economic outlook.

But Chairwoman Landrieu nailed the situation nicely when she said that there will be no recovery without small businesses. I think it's high time you did something to indicate that you know that, Mr. President.

The things that remain on that small business recovery to-do list will get done a lot faster if Administrator Mills has the additional clout that comes with a Cabinet-level designation.

She will be able to advocate more effectively for small businesses, too, if she can meet the other Cabinet Secretaries as an equal.

And you need to demonstrate in some concrete way (that might counter the hundreds of billions of dollars that have already been thrown at Corporate America) that you meant all that guff you said on the campaign trail about how much small businesses matter, sir.

We're still waiting.