AN IDEA WORTH TRYING !!

Today a proposal was made by Sen. Mark Warner (D - Virginia) to take approximately $50 billion of the previously appropriated TARP Funds and match that with private sector banking commitments of at least 10%-20% ($5 - $10 billion) and create a new loan program designed to assist small businesses to survive and expand. The idea is a reflection that most new jobs in America are created by small business, and with a terrible jobless rate and achingly slow growth in the GNP, that small business expansion is the primary way this country's joblessness and economic growth problems will be solved.

This proposal by Warner will cost not an additional dime - the funds already exist and are sitting in TARP reserves. Commercial Banks were not helped by the TARP program, only Investment Banks. Commercial Banks were not the cause of the financial collapse, only Investment Banks. It seems only fitting that the principal engine that drives our local, regional and national economy, small business health and growth, be given a helping hand when it is needed. And we need it now, especially in Fall River.

This proposal is a no brainer. A program to make an alliance with Commercial Banks and already appropriated TARP funds to expand small business across the country is precisely the tool we need at the precise time it is needed. Local banks being able to make local loans, allowing local workers access to permanent, good paying jobs - who could be against this?

I'll keep watching developments with this proposal and will report back to you on a regular basis. If this City hopes to pull itself out of its unemployment horror and build not only its micro economy but its self esteem back to where our old timers remember, this type of program will be instrumental in making it happen. Now, real business development could happen, for the arts, for ethnic restaurants, for the Waterfront and to fill the Industrial Park. Maybe it's time to ask Barney Frank to support this effort as well. Like I said, it's a no brainer, and he's probably the smartest guy in Congress.