Political Quotes

“if I could address the statement made by my colleague from New York where she said up-front fees can exceed $50,000, the issue is how much of an increase would there be if we get the subsidy eliminated? Well, on a $1.5 million loan, the biggest increase would be $3,500, and over a period of 10 to 20 years, that sum is almost negligible. On loans over $700,000, the fees have never changed, and what is going on with the total amount of the dollar loan is the SBA is concentrating on small businesses. It is the small businesses themselves that are asking for the dollar amount. They are the ones that are driving this. So I think it is extremely important that the Small Business Administration concentrate on giving these loans to the real small businesses. In fact, those that are at $1.5 million, I am sure they can afford an extra $3,500 over the course of the next 10 to 15 years. Now, small firms received $160 million less and 1,000 fewer loans through the 7(a) program from the first half of fiscal year 2006 as compared to the same time the previous year. But this mixes apples and oranges. Lending under $150,000, regardless of the exact size of the small business, is down slightly from FY 2005 levels, but it is slightly higher than the FY 2004 levels when there was no loan subsidy and lower fees.…”