Obama gets brunt of small business frustration

TAMPA - One of the questions President Obama was asked during the Tampa town hall meeting was about small business loans, and the man who asked the question is a business owner from Clearwater.

"Thank you, my name is Steve Gordon and I'm from Clearwater," Gordon said, introducing himself to President Obama. Gordon, the owner of a small environmental company, told the President he was frustrated at being unable to get small business loans.

"Why can't you use the Small Business Administration just like you lent directly to Wall Street, you lent directly to automakers, directly to the banks, why can't the government make small business [loans] directly available to us?"

President Obama answered that he's pumping $30 billion into small business loans, but he wasn't buying Gordon's call to bypass banks for direct government loans.

"I know you're shaking your head here," Obama said. "But if the SBA were to take over that function, we'd have to stand up a massive bu a huge one"

Steve raised his hand, but couldn't reply. He wanted to say: "we need a public option, if you can't get a loan in 60 days through a community bank, you can go to the SBA and apply directly and at the SBA they're going to evaluate your product, your market potential, your ability to create jobs."

Demonstrating his water saving device, a valve with a stick attached that hangs under the faucet, requiring only a push to release a flow of water, then quickly turning it off. Steve says he could sell millions of these water saving devices, but the banks are more interested in a credit rating than they are the potential profits.

"It's all about your credit score," Steve says. "And if you have collateral on your floor to back up your loan, but who in small business has that in America today? That's why small business is frustrated; they don't have the credit scores."

To hire more workers, Instant Off needs money for foreign patents, and for the TV ads Walmart and Lowes want before joining Home Depot stocking the water savers.

Now he's sent his appeal directly to the White House. On Thursday, President Obama told Steve,
"I'm confident you're going to succeed." But without a loan, Gordon isn't so sure.