The SBA is not a Small Business advocate

The original message was censored. Three claims were made as to why:

1) It was 'blog-like'. No explanation of what that means. I was referred to the Rules of Conduct which speak to nothing remotely related to this.

2) I was double-posting. The post that was removed has never been posted anywhere on .gov and is completely new information never posted here by anyone before including me. No evidence was given of the claimed double-posting of this message.

3) I was linking to my own blog in the body of the message. I have never done this and no evidence could be pointed to that it has happened.

The moderator clearly disagreed with the content, which is the only reason it was removed, which amounts to censorship. It was on topic (focused solely on the topic of Starting and Registering a Business), contained no personal attacks or inappropriate words, and was backed up by facts pulled from the SBA website itself.

Following is another version of the message that will have to suffice until the original is reinstated. This is not a double-posting as the first was censored for being 'blog-like'

We have carefully and painstakingly read the bios of the top 111 federal, regional and state administrators of the SBA, SCORE and the SBA Office of Advocacy. Of those top 111 people, being as generous as possible, no more than 9.1% have EVER worked in a true small business at any time in their careers (under 20 employees), no more than 1.8% have worked in a true small business in the last 15 years, 63% are career bureaucrats or politicians with 0% experience in small business. 0% of the 111 have made a career of being in small business, and only 1.8% have started a business at any time.

The head of the SBA, Karen Mills, is heiress to the Tootsie Roll fortune, a Fortune 1000 company in her family since 1936 and 80% owned by her parents who make an estimate $8.4 million per year from it since Ms. Mills' birth. At one point recently she ran a venture capital firm where she herself said: ''Our operating philosophy is to invest about $1;20 million in each deal and take a controlling interest,' notes Mills.' That is her understanding of and experience with 'small' business.

The deputy administrator, Maria Johns, retired as CEO of Verizon Washington after 21 years, then ran for mayor of DC and lost, coming to the SBA. The top nine people in the SBA come from General Foods, Verizon, Gaylord Container (a Fortune 1000) McKinsey (a large global consulting firm), and five career government bureaucrats, also with no small business experience.

17 of the 18 Board of Directors of SCORE are from giant corporations (Fortune 5000s) and only one started some small businesses - in the 1970s.

These are our small business advocates? In this climate where small business (under 20 employees) has been left completely out of the recovery, we have to demand that this is corrected. The SBA cannot be a parking lot for political patronage. This is supposed to be a site where people to go for help 'Starting and Registering a Business' and yet the vast majority of people in the SBA have never started, built or managed a small business, or even worked in one.

Let's look at the Dept. of Education. 100% of the top 15 people have come from education, have careers in education and have been involved in it their entire lives. 0% of them are career bureaucrats or from outside education. If small business (under 20 employees) is to gain any traction in Washington at all, and if this site is to have any credibility helping someone with 'Starting & Registering a Business' we must fix this.

This is a public forum for the purpose of helping people with 'Starting & Registering a Business'. If must have credibility backed by leadership with experience doing it. The top 111 people in the SBA, SCORE and the SBA Office of Advocacy do not qualify.

Is this change we are supposed to believe in?

(No, I'm not a Republican - I'm a small business advocate who started, built and managed a number of them over the last 35 years).