Small Business | featured news

President Barack Obama proposed on Tuesday small business tax cuts, fresh infrastructure spending and energy efficiency rebates to boost jobs, but there were few details on the scale or cost of the measures.

The head of the largest U.S. labor federation urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to use the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund to help cash-starved small businesses as a way to stem rising joblessness.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Big banks that got big bailout bucks should return the favor by lending more to qualified small businesses, President Barack Obama says....

President Barack Obama chastised Wall Street firms on Tuesday for resisting tighter regulations of their industry and said they had not done enough to boost lending to small businesses.

Obama is set to announce initiatives aimed at boosting credit to small businesses, including measures to make it easier for small banks to access TARP.

The Obama administration is considering using money from the $700 billion financial bailout fund to provide further assistance to the nation's struggling small businesses.

Advanta Corp., the issuer of credit cards for small businesses, will halt new lending for its 1 million customers next month as the recession causes a surge in loan defaults. ... Advanta said ... charge-offs, or uncollectible debt, reached 20 percent on some cards as of March 31.

Charter reservations are sailing in for Free Spirit Yacht Cruises this year despite the turbulent economy, and co-owner Angela Motola-Donofrio attributes it to a social media push.

President Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Monday will announce administration plans to make lending to small businesses more attractive, two senior administration officials said.