it is a full $5 million small- business loan program. many small businesses are suffering. i hate seen vacancies in the small business corridors. we have to get to incentivizing business to get in there. i have and investing in neighborhoods strategy. we will use the loan program to incentivize that. i think we will get a lot of bang for the buck. scores of companies are lined up to get help. the loans will go fast. the board has devised us there will be more to come if those businesses get activated. it will be producing a lot more jobs. >> you are listening to the commonwealth club of california radio program. mayor ed lee is discussing the future of san francisco in his first elected term as mayor. san francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the united states. now we have a huge rental bubble going on. what is the city doing to promote affordable housing? >> we have a big setback when redevelopment was eliminated. i complained with 10 other big mayors. the governor had to do it we were doing the right thing. we never got criticized for anything. that redevelopme

program will work. it will work because it is done and led by those small businesses we have been asking to advise us, and in fact, there has not been a failed loan in this program for all this time. all of these loans have been successful. i think we have already been paid back to the tune of $250,000 with the success of these programs. so with that, jennifer, thank you. this is a good announcement, consistent with everything we are doing to activate and not be sitting back while our economy tries to make sure we get a full recovery. [applause] >> i would like to introduce board president david chu, followed by scott wiener, two of the strong supporters of small business on the board today. >> thank you, jennifer. i wanted to come here for a couple of reasons. i made a resolution this new year's to go to the gym a little bit, in part, because of brenda's and all the food i have eaten here. also as a resident of pulp street, this establishment has been an anchor for what we are trying to do all up and down polk street. as we bring ourselves out of the great recession, what happens to small businesses will have to drive our economic success. last

for small businesses who are trying to become compliant. under this loan program, we can provide financing for small businesses up to $100,000. those are the small businesses who have been sued, and there are small businesses trying to preempt of a protect themselves against these issues. i will talk about the second rocket first. for the small businesses out there that have been hearing about compliance issues and what to protect themselves and make the improvement and have inspections done, we are willing to work with you and willing to look at the plans that you have any inspections you have to enable you to have tenant improvement to become compliant. for those folks, we would recommend that you go and get a task report done and see whether the contractor can lay out the plan and complete the requirement and then come to us and show us your plan. [inaudible] and have had complaints against them because of compliance, we are also able to work with your peer the fundamental requirement for those is that we need you to finish the lawsuit or settle the lawsuit bef

for their restaurants, and many businesses may have to install new equipment -- fats, oils, and grease. we parted with opportunity loan fund to help provide a specific program for this new regulation for businesses, and we have also had many businesses experience some drive-by lawsuits, and understanding some of the financial needs in dealing with the losses, making the 88 improvements. again, we partnered with opportunity loan funds to help businesses comply and to deal with their legal needs and with these losses. also, we held businesses understand, if you want to do business with the city and county of san francisco, while we do not regulate that, that is not within our office, but we hope you through the process, and connect with the city agencies who are doing the programs, what we classify as an lbe, we are only able to classify as a small business, but not a minority or woman- owned business. to talk about what kind of contract you would be able to engage in, we also have a unique feature in that we hear some of the issues that businesses are experiencing and doing business with in san francisco, and so can help work with our policy makers, our legi

there was a bill that created the gap loan program for small businesses. there was a lot of activity in terms of providing tax relief for individuals and businesses that were affected and most notably, of course in sales tax for 13 months it raised about $1 billion ultimately use topped firned those -- when i think back now and when i was thinking about what i wanted to say about this event, i was thinking dwhroon the -- thinking about what to say, i was thinking they couldn't do that today. even with those efforts that were taken by the legislature and at the state and federal levels, and the federal government provided -- almost $1 million from fema. i think altogether there was $3 billion in action put together by congress and other businesses so there were a lot of state and federal things came together. but it became clear that a lot more needed to be done to generate rebuilding on this scale. and the private sector and government secondors to meet needs otherwise not met. we have a great panel of speakers this morning who are leaders and represent di

. >>> bloomberg business week writing about the energy loan guarantee program. many saying the failures in the president's job creating efforts were evident with loan guarantee programs. but the chief executive officer of bright source telling lawmakers today that the $1.6 billion guarantee for his solar energy generating facility in california will create 1,400 construction jobs in its peak. executives say the program has encouraged investment and that the projects were awarded after rigorous u.s. review. questions from republicans including jim jordan of ohio are critical of the president obama this before the subcommittee. you will hear from the president ceo of bright source energy. >> mr. wool rd, do you agree with cats that the program is working and it has worked well? yes or no? >> i believe that the project works very well for project financings. >> do you think it worked well in your particular case? i think on page five of your testimony i'm quoting the process was thorough. so you thought it worked well in your situation? how much money did you get f

he added and expanded loan programs for small businesses. is the pot calling the kettle black as your staff pointed out in the presentation of this segment. they're the one that's said at the very beginning in the caucus room in washington, d.c., that we're not going to work with this president and we want him to fail. and if he fails, that means unfortunately what? the country fails. that is divisive. >> governor chris christie attacked the president when he was addressing kentucky republicans. he said "president obama cared more about posing and preening than congress" and joe walsh, a constituent attacked the president, and congressman walsh listened. >>. >> she should have said it, he said i believe in socialism, communism, whatever, and say this is where i want to lead the country. >> how ever you want to label and define it, done you think now after three and a half years as a country, now we have a really good idea where the president wants to go. >> exactly. >> i mean, real ugly kind of crazy shrill language being entertained and in

businesses took it really hard. and we were able to step in and give access to the capital markets with our loan guarantee programs through the recovery act. and we made helping small business a top priority. what have we done? i want to make sure one point is clear. small businesses like tax cuts. right? well this administration has put through 18 tax cuts for small businesses. and if you don't know what they are, come to our website and we'll walk you through them. we want to make sure you have taken advantage of all the potential tax cut opportunities. tax cuts for hiring unemployed workers, veterans, allowing small businesses to write off the full cost of new investments, things like new machines against last year's taxes, and the president recently called on congress in the to do list to pass another tax cut for small business as one of his top five priorities. number three on that list is a small business tax credit of 10% tax credit to firms that create jobs or increase wages in 2012. and we want to extend the 100% expensing. that's the accelerated depreciation for all businesses in 2012. we also passed the recover

loan program. >> i am a big fan of marketing. let us know if you have a small business in there that we can patronize. thank you. -- in that area that we can patronize. >> i have a company here in san francisco. like all small businesses, working for the city of san francisco is difficult. cash flow is a problem. invoices' get paid anywhere from 60 to 120 days. being cash for, i do not know how that would help me qualify for a loan, but it is a problem. so my question is, where do you go, if you do not have a lot of collateral, you do not have a lot of credit, have the you go about securing a line of credit? i have a lot of contracts for the next two years, but as my company grows, i cannot keep up with payroll. >> we have made loans in those situations. if you have contracts and can show us how they are going to be paid, if your credit is good, we would certainly like to take a look at that. we do not currently offer -- i should be careful. it is on and off whether we have a true line of credit. sometimes it can be structured in such a way to meet your cash flow needs,

businesses took it hard. we were able to step in and give access to the capital markets with our loan guarantee program. we made helping small businesses a top priority. i want to make sure one point is clear. small businesses like tax cuts, right? this a administration has put through 18 tax cuts for small businesses. if you do not know what they are, go to our website. we want to make sure you have taken advantage of all the potential tax cut opportunities. tax cut for hiring unemployed workers, veterans, allowing small businesses to write off the full cost of new investments. the president called on congress to pass another tax cut for small businesses. number 3 on the list is a small business tax credit 10% tax credit that will create more jobs in 2012. we want to extend the wonder% expensing -- 100% for all businesses in 2012. we also passed the recovery act, -- small business job at -act that was the most important piece of legislation in 10 years. this gives us the flexibility to do more to help you grow your business is. we have supported 79 billion dollars since 2009. we brought 1000 community b

banks to lend money to small businesses knowing full well that the government was standing behind those loans. that made some moneys available. we looked for creative new programs to help our small businesses, one in the treasury department to help. we also looked at helping our states in partnership with our states. i know that in maryland, the additional funds that we made available in washington to help build the state program has made many more loans available to small companies in maryland. all of that has helped in providing opportunities for our small businesses. the reauthorization, the sbir program and the sttr program has made a huge difference. since 1983 in my own state of maryland, $1.5 billion of funding has come from the sbir program. for those who are listening who may not know what this program is about, it's innovation. it's small companies that are involved in the biotech and cyber tech areas where they use innovation to create jobs. in my state and your state, madam president, they are using these funds to create the opportunity for america to be competitive internationally. we can state chapter and verse for national defense research or for

businesses took it hard. we were able to step in and give access to the capital markets with our loan guarantee program. we made helping small businesses a top priority. i want to make sure one point is clear. small businesses like tax cuts, right? this a administration has put through 18 tax cuts for small businesses. if you do not know what they are, go to our website. we want to make sure you have taken advantage of all the potential tax cut opportunities. tax cut for hiring unemployed workers, veterans, allowing small businesses to write off the full cost of new investments. the president called on congress to pass another tax cut for small businesses. number 3 on the list is a small business tax credit 10% tax credit that will create more jobs in 2012. we want to extend the wonder% expensing -- 100% for all businesses in 2012. we also passed the recovery act, the small business job act -- that was the most important piece of legislation in 10 years. this gives us the flexibility to do more to help you grow your business is. we have supported 79 billion dollars since 2009. we brought 1000 community b

and on the student loan program itself, anderson, i've just got to say i don't know why the federal government is in the student loan business to begin with. this is something the private sector should be in. the government nationalized the student loans. >> the private sector was in the business and they ripped off students and charged them usury rates and people had the federal government come in for very good reason, to regulate an out-of-control greedy business. >> they didn't regulate it. they took it over. >> let's go back to the issue that ari raised which is where's the federal budget and how are these priorities being set? because the truth is that actually federal spending is down. when we look at the overall increase in jobs and -- they're increasing in the private sector not in the public sector. so what we have is a necessary choice about priorities to make, and when the republicans push tax cuts instead of helping needy folks in the preventative health or food stamps or day care, just the very things they're going to be voting on, on monday. on monday, the house budget committee is going to vote on a $300 billi

loan program. it used to be run through private banks, where they originated and serviced those loans and the government guaranteed it. now that the government is in this businesse having all these problems that are created by that takeover. jenna: let's focus on what lies ahead and how to maybe fix some of these issues. some suggest providing loans and backing them actually makes colleges less affordable. in fact the secretary of education for reagan had this to say, william bennett, he says if we keep interest rates low, will colleges reciprocate by keeping tuition low, and he goes on to say there's been a four -- 400 percent increase in the last 20 years for college tuition. do you have a game plan to deal with the rising cost of education especially in a bad economy, would you consider tapping the cost of education, for example? >> i'm sorry, consider which? jenna: maybe tapping the cost of education? >> well, i think the cost of education is always a big issue, if you're somebody who's going to school. there are programs available to help team who -- people who need it and that's what the stafford loan program does, it affects one third of all government l

business. they might have a great idea, but because of this loan burden, it's a real challenge. so, what we've done is, it used to be banks were the middlemen on student loan programs concerned about is congress potentially doubling the interest rates on student loans, which is not a good time to do it, especially when so many young people are already struggling and their parents are struggling because they're helping make it possible for these kids to do great stuff. >> jimmy: and you want kids to go to school. i mean, this is going to deter kids from going. >> no bigger priority for the country. obviously, it's important for young people, but when you think about what made us an economic superpower, it's because we had the best educated workforce. it's because, before most countries did, we instituted public schools. we instituted public high schools. we had land grant colleges that eventually developed into the best network of colleges and universities in the world. and that's still a crown jewel of this country. but if we keep on under investing in education, if we're not able to compete, if we're not producing enough engineers, scientists, math majors, you kno

the head start program, because of president obama's healthcare law they say at 22 julia would be covered by her parents' insurance. at 42 they say julia would be getting a small business loanvernment and tax breaks, then finally at 67 she would retire and start collecting social security, but they say none of that is likely to happen under a president romney. critics condemn the ad saying it paints the picture of a woman who is dependent on government policies throughout their life. joining me now mike gallagher a syndicated talk host and fox news contributor. and alan colmes who is the host of the alan colmes radio show. look at mike loaded forbear. take it away gallagher. >> i wonder if julia might be the president's composite girlfriend. this whole campaign is turning into a figment of someone's imagination. there are two take aways from this ridiculous thing. when we say cradle to grave, government, nanny state, what is exactly what we mean. imagine the obama campaign bragging will somebody dependent on government help and assistance all of their life. number two it really indicates how desperate the obama campaign is, they are trying to run from the record. let's have

program is really structured on would components. microlending to food beverage and hospitalities businesses that we know and then coaching, mentoring to not only get a loanay the loan back. >> tell us your favorite success story from this. >> there's a woman named lucy. we started in boston. she was very passionate about coffee. loved making really great coffee. brewing. i could identify with that. and so she got a $3,000 loan to buy one of those fancy express o machines. she would make awesome coffee and finally she got a $10,000 loan to help start a coffee shop, and now she got voted best coffee in boston. >> that's so neat. >> and she has 20 employees. >> what's the name of the coffee? >> voltage coffee. >> that will do it. >> love it. >> thank you for coming. >> jim koch, boston beer company. >> cheers. >> we'll be right back. today i'm talking with melonie who loves to garden but doesn't think walmart has all her favorite brands. you want to check it out? let's go. yes. ok, you're a gardener -- you're going to love this. low prices on round-up, miracle-gro -- it's a miracle! did you know walmart had the same great brands as every other gardening sto

loan, sound like a bailout your business plan? >> it wasn't a bailout of the business plan. it was putting in place senior debt financing which is one of the primary goals of the 1705 program. >> could you get that financing anywhere else? >> we utilized the program that was there. we, the banks -- >> could you get the financing from the private sector? >> it is possible we might have been able to, that is speculative whether we would have or not. i'm sure we would have found a way. >> did you try? or did you just choose to go solely into the 175 program? >> well we went to the market. >> yeah. >> and we had, my recollection was four commercial bankers, investment houses, make proposals. john hancock made the best proposal. so we basically went with john hancock to see if we couldn't put together a commercial loan. and john hancock made the application to doe because that program was available and it was a great assistance for them to be able to do that. i don't know if hancock would have done it without the loan guaranty. they said they might. they, but obviously the doe loan guaranty helped them make their decision. >> well -- >> we weren't involved with that. i mean, we

businesses compared to be financing customers under harp. so that we are clear about how the program works in practice, would you describe the differences again? also the great terriers that prevent you from competing with loan originators that also service the loans they are refinancing? how would the menendez-boxer bill remove those barriers? >> appreciate the question. i cannot speak to what the fhfa denies or does not deny but from a practicality perspective we have conversations with the gses on a regular basis and we looked at the guidelines. we understand how they operate so today i have to do a full underwrite on that transaction. i do fully underwrite an common assets and everything associated with it as they would with a normal loan. the same service or does not do that. there's no verification of income or verification of assets and it's a very streamlined process. there is also less risk because at the end of the day, if we originate loan and document incoming assets and for some reason there is a mistake in the origination process the gses will put that loan back to us. when you take a look at the ltp, when you start looking at at increasing loan-to-value above 125%, you will see that those loan

loan in september 2010? it sounds like a bailout of your business plan. quits it was not a bailout. it is putting in place senior debt financing which is one of the goals of the program. >> could you get that financing anywhere else? >> we utilize the the program that was there. >> could you get from the private sector? >> it is possible we might have been able to. it is speculative. >> did you try tax? >> we went to the market. my recollection was for commercial bankers. john hancock made the best proposal. we went with john hancock to see if we cannot put together a commercial loan. this program was available. it was a great assistance for them to be able to do that. i do not know if john hancock would have done without the loan guarantee. they might. the d.o.e. loan guarantee help them make their decision. we are not involved with that. we were not the applicant. we were the recipients of the john hancock money. >> you have the plans in place. you file the application. you say that you have had an opportunity in the private sector but for what ever reason you opted not to utilize those loans, probably because this will is a better rate. he repaid existing dollars.

taxes on small business people, we give back to students the money that they should have had the benefit of when the other side took over the entire health care -- whole student loan program before. if you want a result, please vote "yes." if you want more debate and delay, vote "no." mr. harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: the president has already said that if the republican measure were to pass and be sent to him, he would veto it. that's a nonstarter. surely my friend from tennessee does not want to cut out all of this funding that we do for hepatitis screening, colorectal screening, diabetes prevention, vaccinations for our kids that are all funded -- all that have would be ended -- ended -- by their amendment of i don't know what my friend is talking about in terms of student money and this and that. their provision takes all of this money out of the prevention and wellness fund. that is not what we want. we don't want to keep our kids from getting vaccinations or hepatitis screening or diabetes prevention in order to keep the interest rates low. let's close the tax loophole that's been talked about that senator reid, bot