PETALUMA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Small Business League (ASBL) was founded in 2004 on the principle that small businesses are the backbone of a vital American economy and should receive a fair portion of the total value of all prime contracts. ASBL President Lloyd Chapman issued the following open letter to Elon Musk:
I am thrilled you will be taking part in President Trump’s new administration and his campaign to “Make America Great Again.” I have some information that will truly help MAGA.
99.9% of all businesses in America are small businesses. Small businesses are responsible for over 98% of all net new jobs, over 50% of the private sector work force, over 50% of the GDP, and over 90% of all U.S. exports.
The Small Business Act, administered by the Small Business Administration, mandates a minimum of 23% of all federal contracts be awarded to small businesses. For over 20 years, a long series of federal investigations and investigative reports in the media have found that isn’t happening. A simple internet search will reveal that many large corporations are being awarded contracts that should be awarded to small businesses. Today, there are powerful people in Washington that would like to see the SBA closed to obscure rampant abuses that could be considered felony federal contracting fraud.
Compelling data indicates legitimate small businesses with 100 employees or less are only receiving around 3% of the total volume of all federal contracts. That’s a shortfall of 20%.
Data from the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee indicates for every 1% increase in federal contracts to small businesses, 100,000 new jobs would be created annually. If legitimate small businesses were to receive the full 23% of all federal contracts, that would be a 20% increase. That would create two million net new jobs annually. That would be an 80% increase in the number of net new jobs the government is currently claiming are being created on an annual basis.
If 99.9% of U.S. firms are small businesses, that means that only .01% are large businesses. A report from the Government Accountability Office found 34% of this top .01% pay no federal income tax. Compelling data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other reliable sources indicate the top .01% have not created even one net new job in over 40 years.
For decades, the overwhelming majority of all federal contracts were awarded to just .01% of all firms in America. These firms don’t create jobs, and 34% of these firms don’t pay federal income tax.
Why don’t we quit giving the overwhelming majority of all federal contracts to the top .01% that don’t create jobs and don’t pay taxes and instead give a minimum of 23%, as the Small Business Act mandates, to the 99.9% of U.S. firms that create 98% of all net new jobs?
Imagine the increase in tax revenue the government would receive from shifting hundreds of billions in federal spending away from firms that don’t create jobs and don’t pay income taxes to the 34 million small businesses where most Americans are employed that do create jobs and do pay federal income taxes.
Please review RFK Jr.’s “Small Business, Big Middle Class” economic stimulus program. If that plan were implemented, it could triple the number of net new jobs and prompt a significant economic boom across the country.
In Washington, only the .01% have a voice. They will tell you this can’t be done for dozens of reasons and that I am a conspiracy theorist. None of that is true.
During a hearing in one of the 110 legal battles I have won against the federal government over the last 35 years, San Francisco Federal District Court Judge William Alsup described me as being in a “David and Goliath battle against big government and against big business.” Federal Judges don’t make such statements about conspiracy nuts.
I do have one small favor to ask. Can you please find out why I keep getting messages from my 18,500 followers on X that they cannot see my posts? I have a lot of great information to share with the American people, and I’d like to use X to engage with the public.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Chapman
President, American Small Business League
About American Small Business League (ASBL): The American Small Business League was formed in 2004 with the goal of helping the nation’s 30 million+ small businesses and small businesses owned by women, minorities and service disabled veterans. The ASBL was founded on the principle that small businesses are the backbone of a vital American economy and should receive a fair portion of the total value of all prime contracts as mandated by the Small Business Act of 1953. For more information, visit asbl.com.
