One man's tool is another man's tax

From AIA [American Institute for Architects] Angle, November 5, 2009

"Three weeks after AIA Board member Mickey Jacob, FAIA, testified before the House Small Business Committee about the AIA's plan to rebuild and renew the economy, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to help small businesses weather the economic storm.

The Small Business Financing and Investment Act (HR 3854) includes several provisions designed to achieve the goals of the AIA’s Rebuild and Renew Plan for Long-term Prosperity that Jacob unveiled at the hearing. Among other things, the bill would expand eligibility for Business Stabilization Loans established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and increase the maximum loan size from $35,000 to $50,000. It also would streamline paperwork for the loans; in his testimony, Jacob cited the extensive amount of paperwork required to access Recovery Act programs and funding.

As the bill was being debated on the House floor, more than 1,000 AIA members contacted their members of Congress and encouraged them to vote in favor of the legislation. The bill eventually passed with wide bipartisan support by a vote of 389-32.

“For small architecture firms, the ability to access short-term lines of credit can mean the difference between survival and liquidation. In this economic crisis, too many firms have faced the horrible choice of having to lay off staff or going without pay in order to keep their doors open,” Jacob told the committee in early October. “Architects aren’t looking for bailouts; they need tools that help them and their clients create jobs through new building projects."

“The Small Business Financing and Investment Act is one key plank in our Rebuild and Renew Plan for Long-term Prosperity. Now Congress and the administration need to ensure a steady flow of credit to the real estate industry and enact policies that empower architects to design livable, sustainable, and vibrant communities," said Andrew Goldberg, Assoc. AIA, senior director, AIA Federal Relations.

During the debate, an amendment was offered that would have stripped the bill of many of its key provisions. The AIA Federal Relations team, while working with the Small Business Committee staff, used the AIA’s vast grassroots network in an effort to defeat the amendment. Within hours, the amendment’s sponsor officially withdrew the amendment.

The bill will now head to the U.S. Senate, and the AIA is organizing a similar grassroots effort to ensure the bill receives bipartisan support and can be signed into law."

And this doesn't begin to count the green bills AIA is supporting. Clap and Trade will kill Ohio's economy--we don't have much sun or wind, and no one seems to want our nuclear plants. Coal, of which we have an abundance and which can be made clean and efficient, has been demonized by the environmentalist earth worshipers. Imagine having to pass out the bacon not only to states but also professions and non-profits, all with "vast grass roots networks." Legislators must go crazy.