Meet Your Secretary

Best questions from this online question session with Treasury Secretary John Snow:

[Q:]Tiffany, from Baltimore, MD writes:
I am trying to start a business with no in- pocket finances i would like to know is there free money lingering in the government. If so how can i get it

[Q:]John Snow
Good question, Tiffany! And congratulations on having the idea and desire to start your own business. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and American way of life, and I wish you great success. To answer your question: First, I want remind you and all Americans that the government doesn't have its own money... the money we collect is yours, and we collect it in taxes. That's why it is so important to keep taxes low - to let you keep more of your own money. Second, yes, the government does assist entrepreneurs through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA works with banks to guarantee loans, making it easier for you to qualify for a loan as a first-time business owner. Find a bank offering SBA loans near you, visit www.sba.gov.

Also, a model exercise in evasiveness can be found in the following question to the Secretary:

America, from Virginia writes:
Has the unemployment rate increased or decreased since September 11, 2001? There's a lot of contraversy about this with the upcoming election and everything. Thanks for taking my question America

John Snow
Your question reminds us all of the series of shocks our economy suffered in recent history. In addition to the economic disruption caused by September 11th and the war on terror, there was a recession, corporate scandals and the bursting of the tech bubble. Following September 11th the unemployment rate did rise, hitting a peak of 6.3 percent in June of 2003. Since the time that the President's Jobs and Growth tax relief plan was implemented, in July of 2003, the unemployment rate has dropped and is at 5.5 percent today. That's below the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s.

But is it below the unemployment rate of September 11th, 2001? You know the old saying... if the evidence is absent, the absence is evident... oh, wait...