Speaker 1: The federal contracts that should go to small businesses. So
that's our primary. But California, where we are based and
where I live, is you know, suffering from these kind
of policies, and it's just a head scratcher, right, you know,
how do you begin to re educate a population that
could appreciate positions that could help them and long term
and who's got patients? If you need that kind of
a job right now, or you need that you think
you need that kind of a minimum wage. So now
it's an animal chasing its own tail and a bad cycle.
Speaker 2: You're listening to Carrie.
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Speaker 2: And welcome you are listening to and watching the Financial
Survival Network. I'm your host, Carry Lutz. Well today, Bruce
Detres is with US now and he is director of
communications the American Small Business League, and we're talking pre
call Bruce. We got a few issues to talk about.
But what's been on my attention lately is the boondoggle,
the disaster of the state that used to epitomize American
ingenuity and entrepreneurism. I'm talking about California and their twenty
dollars minimum wage rate that they've implemented. Actually it's like
twenty dollars and thirty five cents, and it's leading fast
food places, Starbucks, all sorts of small businesses to shut
down in the fast foods now RFK. Junior might be
happy about it because then people will be eating less junk.
But the people who are losing their jobs here, Bruce,
no one ever thought about them. And yet we have
so much research that proves exactly what's happening now is
so predictable that when you raise the minimum wage, you
hurt the most, the least paid, poorest workers. Nothing changes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a symptom of decades of terrible economic
policies and also bad education, so that this is what
young people could support, which ultimately, you know, a policy
that sounds like short term, quick cash in their pocket,
but long term it's destructive of businesses. And we've got
a mile high view from the about the federal contracts
that should go to small businesses. That's our primary. But California,
where we are based and where I live, is you know,
suffering from these kind of policies, and it's just a
head scratcher, right, you know, how do you begin to
re educate a population that could appreciate positions that could
help them in long term and who's got patients?
Speaker 2: If you need that kind of a.
Speaker 1: Job right now, or you need that you think you
need that kind of a minimum wage. So now it's
an animal chasing its own tail and a bad cycle.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So obviously you talk about re education and not
in the North Korea or the Soviet Union China sense
of the word, but actually re educating people to understand
economic truths, because nobody should be surprised about the fallout
from that policy in California. There has been so much
research done post World War Two about the minimum wage
and that it's a job killer. And you know, to
see you Starbucks close three hundred stores in California, it's
you know, I'm surprised they're not closing more.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, And you know, forgive me for you know,
cutting to not cutting to the chase. But maybe extrapolating
to the end of the line, which is again I
accuse this of being a symptom of decades, maybe a century,
of policies that have squeezed small businesses, that are squeezing
small businesses that the person who can work for themselves.
This used to be a nation of individuals working on
the farm, small businesses.
Speaker 2: And maybe one.
Speaker 1: Could argue, well, it's just industrialization. It's been modernization, Bruce,
you're talking about, you know, the Industrial Revolution. It's one
hundred and fifty years of development. Hasn't it been natural?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: I don't see it as being very very natural, And
I certainly see it as a betrayal of the American
people because we are a small business nation. Ninety nine
percent of all businesses or small businesses by the government's
definition about the five hundred employees. Ninety eight percent of
all businesses in America have less than one hundred employees,
and the vast majority of federal contracts go to support
the big businesses. It's a complete betrayal of who and
what we are. And the education's part of it. And
these are the macro things that we're obsessed about talking
about obviously.
Speaker 2: Right, so and obviously the country's policies, the government's policies
towards small business it seems to be not even in
the dialogue here. I mean, I heard what's her name,
Kelly Loffler talking about fraud in Minnesota. That's the only
thing I've heard her say since since she became secretary
or whatever of the head of the Small Businesses SBA.
She's a business association.
Speaker 1: Yes, administration exactly. Yeah, we accuse the federal government of
doing next to nothing for small businesses. For all the
balloons and confettis and press releases at the SBA under
every administration for decades now, they pretend and pose as
if they're doing anything for small businesses, but they're not.
And I could go into kind of you know, specific
accusations along those lines.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So yeah, tell us like, you know, not only
not doing anything to help, but going out of their
way to harm at times too, right, I agree. Yeah.
Speaker 1: For instance, like I said, ninety eight ninety nine percent
of all businesses in America or small businesses, we see
ninety nine point nine percent of small businesses with that
five hundred employee definition, okay, Yeah, and they're represented by
the SBA. Is protecting their interests. Well, the SBA is
always under attack by every administration. It's got one of
the smallest budgets. Hmm, shouldn't it have one of the
biggest budgets, representing as it does, such almost the totality
of American businesses. Whereas the Department of Commerce has a
ten billion dollar budget, I believe her an eight billion
dollar budget, and the SBA has a budget of less
than a billion and it's been cut in half I
think by Trump last year, down to something like six
hundred million dollars. So right there, whoa wait a minute,
what's the disconnect?
Speaker 2: Right there?
Speaker 1: But then folks can go to our site asbo dot
com and see our documentation that the twenty three percent
of federal contracts that are supposed to go to small
businesses every year don't don't even though the ESBA announces
every year we met that goal, we surpassed that goal.
How about alone. They really don't want you to know
that our small businesses could and should be applying for
federal contracts. That's our that's the elephant in the room
that we're in the business of exposing.
Speaker 2: Right, So it's education for the small businesses too.
Speaker 1: Right, well, for all America, because well just especially for
small businesses, because most don't know, huh, there's billions of
dollars in business I could be applying. For those that
do attempt to do that typically give up because it's labyrinthine.
It's it's very hard to qualify to see exactly what
to do. In other words, the giant corporations that have
a lock on those federal contracts carry then they don't
want to make it easy, and the ESBA doesn't help
myke it easy. You click ity click into how to
get started and things like that, and then all of
a sudden you're pretty much in the weeds. But it's
the best that's out there, and we're just trying to
call attention to it because maybe one brave Congressman or
senator could introduce legislation or squeeze a plank into some
bill that's advancing that could declare and show how the
emperor has no clothes. The big businesses that get these
contracts a year after year, carry they're already big. They
don't create any new jobs to do this work, whereas
real small businesses would create right now with the numbers.
If you don't change the numbers. If they really got
their contract you know, the contracts that they're supposed to
small businesses would create more than likely around two million
extra new jobs each year on top of the new
jobs in America creates every year. It would be an
economic boom as intended by the nineteen fifty three Small
Business Act that created the SBA to steer a fair
portion that's what it said in a federal contracts. Now
it's twenty three percent, and also provide loans and other
kind of you know, assistance. But it's part of the
corporate capture of the federal government across the board.
Speaker 2: So you know, like I said, always having been in
small business myself, some larger, some smaller small business. Now
the capabilities of small businesses with technology have never been greater.
And with AI now you could bang out an RFP
in minutes on any of these contracts. How are we
using AI to help educate or re educate small business people?
Speaker 1: Well, a lot more couldn't should be done. We don't
particularly use it a lot because of our efforts are
focused on the way that we're trying to get the
word out there. But I'm glad you appreciate the opportunity
in the palm of our hands. There are thirty six
million small businesses in America. Thirty two million are in
the nai CS codes of the things that the government buys.
The federal government is the world's largest.
Speaker 2: Purchaser of gun services.
Speaker 1: They buy everything on the planet. And thirty two million
of them could and should know, like I could apply
for these contracts, and it should be a lot easier
to do that. There's only a small fraction of our
thirty six million small businesses that ever get a federal
contract every single year. And to the small business who
hear this and say, I'm a hair salon, I clean gutters,
I repair garage doors, I'm never going to apply for
a federal contract. I don't care about this stuff. Wait
a minute, you do, because the small businesses in your
community that would get those or could get those contracts
and hire all those new hires. They need haircuts, they
need their garage there's fixed, they need their gutters clean
and bloom and raise, you know, the whole economy.
Speaker 2: Across the board. Yeah. So, you know, when I think
of this, where's that movie comes back to me? War Dogs?
If you remember they were they were bidding on contracts
in Afghanistan and other places, and there was a small
business set aside, and these guys got like super wealthy
and they were cutting corners and everything. How how do
we protect because, like I said before, Kelly Loffler, the
head of the SBA, said, there was like millions and
millions of dollars worth of fraud in Minneapolis. We've got
to be able to make sure that only the people
who deserve to get these contracts, who will faithfully perform
them are are awarded them.
Speaker 1: Right, Yes, and to that extent, the light needs to
be shine on that malfeasance. The caution is do not
let that be used as an excuse to say and
we're ready to hear this any day. Uh, the SBA
is so bad at doing that, we're going to push
all of its functions into the Department of Commerce or
the Department of the.
Speaker 2: Treasury where it's better.
Speaker 1: Managed, and it'll be lost in the fog of bureaucracy.
So yes, please find and clean up and prevent that
kind of fraud. But it's almost a joke because last
year around March, I think we learn it was announced
that the SBA had mismanaged about six hundred million dollars
in loans, and we're going to phase out the Department
of Education, and we're probably going to give the one
point seven I think trillion dollar student loan portfolio to
the SBA to manage. Wait a minute, you just said
they couldn't manage six hundred million dollars in loans. You're
gonna give them almost two trillion in loans to manage.
While at the same time last year, same time, they
announced we're cutting they budget in half, which presumably will
shrink the SBA staff in half. And we have seen
that happening over the last year plus. We're closing offices
because of they're resisting, you know, federal federal policies. So
it's this assault on the SBA, which fine, if they
eliminate it, and they eliminate these programs, then no one
will ever talk about one hundred percent of the federal
contracts going to big businesses while there's a law on
the books that says twenty three percent ought to go
to legitimate small businesses. So we need to know about
another scandal in Washington, like we need a hole in
the head. But here's something that speaks right to our
hearts and into our wallets. And it's not a Republican
or Democrat thing. It's a main street thing that absolutely
if we're very you know, we're outraged about it. We've
got the you know, the facts and figures, and we
just need some brave people and bless you, you know,
for facilitating this kind of a conversation about it.
Speaker 2: All right, well, so what can you do about it?
I mean, besides writing your congressman, which we know how
good that's going to be. Well, that's that's.
Speaker 1: Still a We apply the eighty twenty rule off the
top of my head to that. That's the primary thing
we educate folks about, and then to find more to do.
We have a project called Don't Cheat Women. I recommend
folks go to the site don't Cheat Women dot com.
The major goal we're asking for is raised from five
percent to fifteen percent the federal contracts that must go
to women owned small businesses, the extra you know, the
extra revenue and jobs that would get created, the political
benefits to women so they can compete for office more
effectively when they are worth as much as men. That's
all listed there. But to your point, the page called
what you can do it does start Kerry, we say,
with swipe the letter we have there that explains this problem,
and click the links that we show right there, how
to find your senators, how to find you congress person,
how to reach to the White House, and Kelly Loffler
at the SBA and say, we've you know, we're aware
of this, this is the problem, please fix it. And
so many Americans never do anything to fight city Hall.
Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, so you know,
it's another symptom of the last hundred years making life
harder and harder. Are scrambled just to survive. And the
mush that generations have in their heads now about how
or to participate in civics, to you know, to do anything,
to lobby for a position, to you tug on the
sleeve of your representative, let alone run for office. There's
not nearly enough Americans engaged in doing that that kind
of stuff. So that's you know, the shotgun answer to well,
what can we do about it besides writing them? Well, first,
let's write them and harass them on a regular basis,
and then brainstorm about how because until until there's an
Act of Congress, it doesn't get fixed. So how do
you influence Congress with every advocacy group under the sun.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, So let me ask you who is
the leading proponent for small business in the in the
House and in the Senate.
Speaker 1: Well, the leading targets would be the chair people of
the Senate Small Business Committee, on the House Small Business Committee,
because how can they avoid an appeal to this issue.
And then it's the you know, the dozens or so
that are on each committee. And then it's your candidate
in your district. Confront them with this, with these claims,
Confront them with what's on asbo dot com and see
if one can pry an acknowledgment of it at it
because if you google search of things I just told
you carry, you're going to think, well, Bruce is wrong,
because it's it's gleaning from the official pronouncements of this,
you know, corporate captured government we have the pleasure of
living under these days.
Speaker 2: If I didn't know better here, Bruce, I would say,
you sound a little cynical here.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm more curious. Tell me about this War Dogs movie.
When did it come out? And who's in it?
Speaker 2: Jonah Hill and I can't remember the other guy and
there he's like they're both kind of down and out,
and the one guy starts getting rich doing military contracts
for Afghanistan the Middle East, and it's all about their
wacky antics of the doing this and then wind up
going to jail. And you see them often quoted about
procurement fraud. You know they were He just went through
there's lists and lists and list of contracts and just
bid on them. He knew how to bid. It's just
preparing the bid packet. And now with AI, I meant
anybody could do this. I mean, what should I do
if I want to go get some government contracts just
for fun and profit? What what could I do here? Bruce?
Speaker 1: Don't Youat women dot com we have another page called
resources where we've got the best of the most publicly available,
you know, first doors of how to learn how to
apply for a contract. You know, like I warn you,
it's it's it's cumbersome, but at least we're trying to
put it in one place. So okay, that's where you
start with the basics, and then you dig into it
harder and hardy. You try to hold your personal represent
you know, your district's representatives, feet to the fire, your
senator if you're lucky enough to catch their ear and
push push push.
Speaker 2: Although I might.
Speaker 1: Sound cynical, I'm very, very uh convinced about good things
will happen when enough of us know, because our strength
is in our numbers, and we are under bombardment for
decades from propaganda and psychological operations to make us fear
and hate each other for thousands of reason.
Speaker 2: And that's what you're so spot on that you're so
spot on. It's a psyop, right, Yes, it's all a psyop.
Speaker 1: And when you dig into the you know the true
history behind things. I'll mention I looked into nine to eleven,
for example, and wrote a book about that and many
other things that uninformed people call conspiracy theories. Whereas when
someone really sees you know the history behind things, you
become an adult and you realize there's a dragon to sleigh,
and it's ever been to us. This is what happens
with power, and this is what happens with republics, and
is we are in late stage dissolution.
Speaker 2: And yeah, mind, the ideals of.
Speaker 1: The Founding could still save us if enough of us
knew and cared and got inflamed about it as protectors.
Not only about our own life, the children and the grandchildren,
and all the generations that are relying on us to
create conditions that allow them to come.
Speaker 2: You're like you're preaching to the choir here, my friend,
I'm about to expose a major scandal. I've got a
book coming out myself. It's called, and it's hopefully going
to be this week, called America's Great Parking Scam, You've
been Robbed, and it deals exactly with what you're talking about.
Parking is like the fundamental syop in America that millions
of you deal with every single day. I don't want
to give anything else away, suffice it to say the
book is going to be a killer. It's combined with
a lawsuit in US District Court for the Southern District
of Florida, and I'm expecting it to explode literally all
over the pages and websites on the web and YouTube
and everywhere else. So wait, it's the title again. It's
called America's Great Parking Scam, You've Been Robbed? And I
will shoot you a copy of the cover. The cover
is Yeah, I love the cover. It's like one of
my favorite creations I have ever made. I'm going to
shoot it to your right. Now, check the chats.
Speaker 1: What's the main website where people can find that and
any other.
Speaker 2: Well, they just go to my site, to Financial Survival
network dot com. Okay, thank you. You see the cover,
that's the book cover there.
Speaker 1: I'm going to first just quickly click on all these links,
so my tabs are open. Oppositions over.
Speaker 2: We're the same situation that's called being a power user.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, hoping that my system hopefully won't crash. But
blah blah blah.
Speaker 2: Good. Oh, I liked.
Speaker 1: As a guy from New Jersey. Your cover speaks.
Speaker 2: To me, speaks to everyone. Nobody is happy. But I've
I got involved. I got a ticket wrongly in a
little beachfront community here in Palm Beach County, and it
didn't look right, and I just started researching, and I
kind of tell you I was a guess because it
was so there's so many layers of illegality. I'm not
going to get into it. You have to get the
book to find out, but we will shoot you an
announcement when we got it. I appreciate you coming on.
Just tell us again, how do we find your organation?
How do we connect with you?
Speaker 1: Thank you asb l dot com. Also Don't Cheat Women
dot com.
Speaker 2: Love it and you know, the parking industrial complex has
been one of the most injury injurious entities for small retailers,
for local retailers because the more difficult, the more extractive
parking becomes, the less people want to go into towns.
Originally they go to the mall to avoid having to
go through the parking and getting tickets and all that.
Now they just they just buy online and avoid it all.
So anyway, the book will be out soon. Appreciate you
coming on. Any questions and comments for Bruce myself email
k L at Carrie lets dot com. Also, I'd love
to know where you're from, what city state you're listening from.
It's just out of curiosity and Bruce, we will talk
to you again. Appreciate thank you for coming on. I
love it.
Speaker 3: Thank you Carry thanks for listening to Carrie Letz's Financial
Survival Network, your solution to today's trying times. For the latest,
go to Financial Survivalnetwork dot com. Financial Survival Network now
more than ever