A Letter to Arianna Huffington from Lloyd Chapman, President of the American Small Business League

PETALUMA, Calif., Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Friday I received an email from Stuart Whatley at the Huffington Post, with no explanation to notify me they would no longer be posting my blogs. I'm communicating with you this way because all other efforts to communicate with your team at the Huffington Post have failed.

I don't know if you remember me, but a few years ago you and I posted almost identical blogs on the same day criticizing President Obama. I don't remember if my office called yours or yours called mine but a line of communication was established.

A few years ago, on the day before Thanksgiving, you and I talked on the phone. It sounded like you were in your kitchen and I could hear the sounds of children in the background.

We talked about my campaign to stop the federal government from giving small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. You told me you agreed it was unacceptable that the government was giving billions of dollars in small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms, year after year. We both agreed on the importance of small businesses to the national economy. You told me you would do all you could to help me.

A few months ago, I started to notice a difference in how my blogs were handled. My blogs used to post in a matter of minutes and would be posted prominently on the site. One of my blogs received over 3,500 comments. In the last few months, it has taken up to five days for my blogs to post. My most recent blog took almost three days to post.

Friends and supporters tell me that when they try to comment on my blogs, their comments don't post. My responses to other blogs and my responses to comments on my own blogs often don't post.

There are two issues that I fight for. I don't think Fortune 500 firms should be allowed to receive federal small business contracts and I don't think President Obama should be allowed to resurrect Ronald Reagan's plan to permanently close the Small Business Administration (SBA) by combining it with the Department of Commerce.

To me, turning the SBA over to the Department of Commerce would be like turning control of the NAACP over to the KKK.

What percentage of Huffington Post viewers and the American people would agree with you and I that Fortune 500 firms should not be allowed to hijack hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts for over a decade? I'm guessing close to 100 percent.

In 2008, Obama released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." I guess that proves I'm not a conspiracy nut.

Last year, the SBA's own data showed 235 Fortune 500 firms received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. I have now won over 30 legal battles with the federal government forcing the release of data proving some of the largest corporate giants in the world are the real recipients of government small business contracts. I think that's more proof that I'm not the conspiracy nut the government would have the media believe.

I also have a bill in Congress I wrote, H.R. 1622, The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act that will end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

I have appeared in dozens of national television news programs and hundreds of radio shows discussing the issues affecting small businesses in America. I was very flattered when Entrepreneur magazine compared me to a "Modern day Cesar Chavez."

Several federal investigations and media reports I have worked on with ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN have uncovered rampant fraud and the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. The Huffington Post has been a valuable asset in keeping the public informed of the various federal investigations that have found fraud and abuse in Federal programs to assist American small businesses.

The SBA's own Inspector's General have named the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the number one problem at the SBA for nine consecutive years.

I have the utmost respect for you. My blogs on the Huffington Post have given me a voice in America that I would have never had and helped me to bring about significant changes in federal policies that have benefited millions of small business across the country.

The first amendment of the Constitution guarantees all Americans freedom of speech but you were the person that allowed us to actually be heard across the nation.

I sincerely hope you still feel the same way you did that day you talked to me from your kitchen. I hope you will still help me to keep fighting for the 28 million small businesses that create over 90 percent of the net new jobs in America, over 50 percent of the private sector work force and over 50 percent of the GDP.

I will appreciate anything you can do to see my Huffington Post account is reinstated.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Chapman
President, American Small Business League
707.789.9575
[email protected]

SOURCE American Small Business League