Stick it to the IRS

Taxes are painful. To help you reduce the bite, FSB spoke with top experts and compiled this list of tips for businesses looking to beat the taxman.

Where to launch

FSB scoured the country for towns that combine a great business environment with alluring leisure offerings. The result: our list of the 100 Best Places to Live and Launch.

Inside the mind of a crazy (rich) entrepreneur

Scott Jones thinks up more ideas in a month than most folks do in a lifetime. Find out how he makes them pay.

The next little thing

Sir Richard will help fund U.S. entrepreneurs, jetpacks will finally fly, and GPS devices will show the cheapest gas nearby - plus much more!

Unlimited partnership

Why are more and more couples risking romance to launch a business together - and how do the successful ones make it work? Read on for their stories.

John Tepper Marlin: The State of New York’s Economy

Today Governor David Paterson gave his State of the State Address. I watched it and you can too.

Why does it matter? Because the state is facing huge budget gaps. It is on the front line in the country’s counterattack against the recession.

Only Washington can create money, so the Commander-in-Chief’s campaign strategy is the central event, to be announced formally when he takes office on January 20.

On the other hand, the effectiveness of President-elect Obama’s stimulus plan will depend on how well the states and localities use the federal stimulus money.

Governor Paterson’s broad theme is: “It is our time to lead. The state of our state is perilous. We have been reeling from events. The pillars of Wall Street have crumbled. This is the greatest contraction since the great Depression. But this is not a time for fear. It is a time for courage, hope and action.”

Here’s my summary, which blends the speech itself with an email about it that the Governor sent out today.

A Moment for Financial Leadership
- We must balance the budget, but it is becoming harder as the gap has been growing because the recession is undermining revenues..”If we can’t spend more, we must spend more effectively.”
- We need a Washington stimulus program. It should be passed soon, by the end of January.
- We need to lay the groundwork for a new economy. In a deflationary period, the individual virtue of saving, as Paul Krugman has said, is a public vice. We need Washington to support direct spending.
- Financial regulatory reform. “If the federal government does not act, I shall, so that the savings and retirement funds of New Yorkers will not be at risk.”

Environmental Initiatives - “45 by ‘15″
- New York State needs to become more energy independent.
- By 2015, New York will meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency and clean renewable energy.
-This will create 50,000 new jobs.
- The state will create a resource for improving energy efficiency in local institutions.
- At the same time, we need universities research and leadership to help set our energy policy.
- By improving energy efficiency in schools, hospitals and local governments, they will save money, and then so will taxpayers.

Investment in Infrastructure, Innovation
- New York State has 40 shovel-in-the-ground-ready projects for roads and bridges.
- We have higher education and statewide broadband installation projects ready to go.
- Computerization of medical records is needed for eficienct health care and just awaits funds.
- We have clean-water and wastewater-system projects ready to start.
- We need to finish our signature projects like the Peace Bridge, the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access.
- We will invest upstate, for example in Niagara Falls tourism and Buffalo biotech.
- We need to implement the Ravitch Commission recommendations for the MTA.

Family Assistance
- We should allow families to cover family members up to the age of 29 in their family coverage plans at their own expense.
- It is unacceptable that one in three New Yorkers from the ages of 19 to 29 is still uninsured.
- We must spend more money on preventive and community health care to save on inpatient care.
- Parents should be helped to understand the reasons for the costly obesity epidemic.
- We should ban trans fats in restaurants and require calorie posting in chain restaurants
- We should ban junk food sales in schools and place a surcharge on sugared beverages.

Encourage Volunteering
- Nearly 3 million New York adults volunteered 397 million hours of community service last year.
- They contributed $7 billion to the state’s economy.
- Community service is more important than ever in hard times.
- We need to partner with our nonprofits.
- We need more and stronger Regional Volunteer Centers.
- New Yorkers should find out what they can do.

FedEx cuts marketing spend by more than 25 percent (Reuters)

Reuters - FedEx Corp has cut its marketing budgets by more than 25 percent in 2009 as part of its response to the bleak U.S. economy, the package delivery giant said on Wednesday.

Obama’s performance czar used to manage Treasury (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to shape up federal agencies is a longtime senior partner at a leading consulting firm who also tried to modernize the IRS and push the tax agency to more aggressively pursue corporate and high-income tax cheats.

U.S. presses to jail Madoff on diamonds, watches mail (Reuters)

Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff should be jailed for violating a court order by mailing $1 million worth of diamonds, watches and other jewelry to friends and family, U.S. prosecutors told a court on Wednesday.

Chris Gunn: ASBL’s Lloyd Chapman Questions Whether Obama Stimulus Plan Will Favor Venture Capitalists

In a guest commentary published on The Exception Magazine’s website, www.exceptionmag.com; the President and Founder of the American Small Business League (ASBL), Lloyd Chapman questioned whether the, “latest economic stimulus plan that will come from President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress will likely contain new loopholes in federal laws and policies that will benefit wealthy venture capitalists that contributed heavily to Obama’s campaign and key Democratic leaders in Congress.” (http://exceptionmag.com/news/business/000223/obamas-stimulus-plans-will-favor-venture-capitalists-over-middle-class)

According to Chapman, “The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and it’s well-heeled members want the definition of a small business as “independently owned” changed to include firms that are actually not independently owned, but controlled by some of the wealthiest individual venture capitalists in the country and possibly even some of the country’s largest venture capital firms.”

Since the introduction of H.R. 3567, which as introduced would have allowed a single venture capital firm to own up to 51 percent of a small business and maintain status as an independently owned small business, the ASBL has fought to stop the inclusion of language it claims would destroy federal programs intended for small businesses.

The small business community at large seems to agree. After taking a strong stance against H.R. 3567, the ASBL has seen support from the Small Business Administration, the Bush White House, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Government Contractors, and the National Small Businesses Association. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=624)

In his commentary, Chapman states, “Over the last few years, the NVCA and its members have spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress for changes in federal small business policies that would allow them to hijack billions of dollars in federal contracts earmarked for small businesses.” An assertion that is backed up by data from Maplight.org (http://www.maplight.org/map/us/interest/F2500) and by an April 24, 2008 story by Keith Girard from AllBusiness.com, in which Girard states, “The most recent effort is a case study of how Velázquez has thrown the game to big pharma, through the BIO [Biotechnology Industry Organization]. Out of three hearings on the bill since January, 10 of the 16 witnesses had ties to biotech and/or venture capital interests, two had general biotech backgrounds, and the rest were government officials. No one spoke on behalf of small businesses, according to Rick Shindell, who writes a newsletter on the SBIR program.” (http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/business-climate-conditions/9077284-1.html)

Chapman contends, “If President-elect Obama and Democratic leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are successful, the middle class economy could be damaged even further. Millions of middle class jobs could be lost as billions in federal contracts, which are currently flowing to legitimate small businesses, will be diverted to a small number of firms controlled by wealthy venture capitalists.”

Since 2003, there have been more than 15 federal investigations that have found fraud, abuse, loopholes and a lack of oversight in federal small business contracting programs. For all intents and purposes, small business programs have enough problems without having to worry about Congress building more loopholes into the system.

If the 111th Congress and the Obama Administration prove Chapman right, our nation’s nearly 27 million small businesses and the middle class economy will be the ones to suffer.