It's not just the province of blacks, whom the program, born in the 1960s, was originally intended to help, nor just that of Hispanic or Native Americans. The roll call of SBA-designated sufferers has become rather long and grows ever longer, lately including persons with origins from Samoa, Brunei, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Macao, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Bhutan, and the Maldives. "In the absence of evidence to the contrary," says the SBA, "individuals who are members" of these "designated groups are presumed to be socially disadvantaged."And this one:
The registration desks and vending tables are thick with minority-owned business advertising flyers, as well as those from places like the Department of Labor. "We've got stimulus money to spend!" a DOL carny barks at passersby. "We're giving out contracts!" Indeed, as Ralph Thomas, a contract lawyer who came to the conference to lecture on teaming agreements says to me, always, but especially under the free-spending Obama administration, "The government contracts industry is as close to being recession-proof as possible.Well, yes, but we're paying for this. Who bails out the American taxpayer? And what and who are we paying for anyway, hmm? I'm feeling disadvantaged.
What would Judge Sonia Sotomayor have to say? Does she have empathy for a rich tapestry of Micronesians?
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