Nydia Velazquez (NY-12)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 07:10 PM Good evening. In 2008, the face of our nation’s leadership is changing in every corner of American life. The business world is no longer dominated by country club economics—it’s powered by the creative thinking of our entrepreneurs. Nowhere is this more true than with our women business owners, who now own more than half of all start-ups. But women business owners, and all Americans, desperately need change. The Bush Administration still refuses to implement laws on the books that give women access to the federal marketplace—costing them billions in lost opportunities. We cannot afford more of the same. John McCain has already proven to be more of the same. He has consistently opposed opportunities for women in the workforce, saying they just need, and I quote, ―training and education.‖ Senator McCain should know that women already earn more advanced degrees than men. Senator McCain should know that we deserve–and will demand–a level playing field. John McCain would not just hold back female entrepreneurs, he would hurt all small businesses. He has pledged to continue the Bush tax cuts that favored Fortune 500 companies over entrepreneurs. In fact, only four percent of small firms saw a penny more. It’s this practice of neglecting small businesses—that has resulted in unemployment rates skyrocketing to a fouryear high. We can’t afford more of the same. Leave it to the Republicans to serve a big business agenda and call it a small business plan. They may not know the difference between Wall Street and Main Street, but Barack Obama knows that small business is big business in America. Barack Obama will provide small-business tax incentives to encourage investment and spur innovation. He’ll introduce a health care plan that addresses the unique challenges to small firms. He’ll give entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed through programs in the Small Business Administration. Most importantly, he will break the cycle of Republican cronyism that has American business in a chokehold, and renew the country’s promise so that every American can live the beauty of their dreams. From the single mom in rural Appalachia who wants to move from welfare to business ownership, to the Latino in the barrio who is making minimum wage but wants to be an entrepreneur, to the African-American business owner here in Denver, who can barely make ends meet. These people can’t afford more of the same from John McCain. My sisters, my friends, Barack Obama knows that the face of American business is changing. He knows that the entrepreneurial spirit on which this country was built is now the backbone of our economy—and he will deliver the change our country needs, to make that backbone stronger than ever before. Si se puede. A votar por Barack Obama noviembre cuatro.