Obama’s Minority Report: Do Republican Presidents Cater to Small Businesses Better?

Present at the meeting with Commerce officials were Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu (D-CA) and Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Bobby Scott (D-VA), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) among others.”

The regional offices that will be closed are in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  The Obama administration says the closings will save $30 million annually.  The agency was created in 1969 by former president Richard Nixon through an executive order.  Its purpose was to promote competitiveness and provide access to capital and contracts to minority businesses.

So, who is coming to the rescue? Yep, you guessed it, the supposed “racist Republicans.”  Florida Congressman, Allen West has submitted a bill called the Contractor Opportunity Protection Act. The bill would prevent contract bundling, which has devastated small businesses since its inception in 1996 (contract bundling is the practice of packaging many small contracts into one larger contract, thus making it almost impossible for smalls firms to fairly compete). West’s bill was introduced on February 17, 2012, a day after the meeting where members learned of Obama’s plan to close those regional offices.

Since we’re talking about bundling, I guarantee that most of you have no idea about the history of bundling, which was created by the “first Black” President, Bill Clinton. In his attempt to streamline government procurement, Clinton tasked his Vice President, Al Gore to lead the administration’s “Reinventing Government” program. This led to the single most devastating policy affecting small and minority businesses–contract bundling.

So, let’s summarize: Bill Clinton, the first “Black president,” devastated the small and minority business community with his insidious “Reinventing Government” policy of 1996, which led to contract bundling. Then, the first “real” Black president closed all the regional offices of the Minority Business Development Agency (which was created with an executive order by former President Nixon). Then, a Black Republican, Allen West, introduces legislation to try to undo the devastation caused by two Democratic presidents. Get the picture?

Many Blacks refuse to accept the fact that small and minority firms always do better under a Republican president. I predicted that Obama would hurt the small and minority business community, but Blacks refused to see what they didn’t believe (in psychology, this is called cognitive dissonance). Just like in the movie, Minority Report, Blacks knew (or should have known) in advance that their businesses would be hurt by Democratic presidents; but unlike the movie Blacks refused to change their own future.  If they don’t change their approach to politics, their extinction will be a footnote in someone else’s minority report.

The views expressed are those of Raynard Jackson, president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine, Freedom’s Journal Magazine and U.S. Africa Magazine.