Obama urges help for small businesses

President Barack Obama stands with Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills Tuesday as he addresses small business owners in the Rose Garden of the White House. (AP Photo by Charles Dharapak)

Washington (AP) — President Barack Obama called on Congress Tuesday to pass a package of tax changes, credits and loans designed to help the small businesses that he called the “driving force behind this recovery.”

In a Rose Garden event, Obama lobbied lawmakers for help as he honored the small-business owners of the year.

Obama is pushing the House and Senate to adopt a package that includes eliminating capital gains taxes for those making long-term investments in small businesses; expanding Small Business Administration loans; creating a lending account that would target only community banks; and creating a small-business credit program for states that have had to cut back on their own lending programs.

“This should not be an issue of big government versus small government,” Obama said. “This is an issue that involves putting our government on the side of the small-business owners who create most of the jobs in this country.”

Small businesses lost 2.4 million jobs from the middle of 2007 through the end of 2008, Obama said.

Obama also thanked the Small Business Administration for helping workers and business owners affected by the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

After the Rose Garden event, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said in a conference call with reporters that Obama has shown a real concern and understanding of the needs of small business owners.

Doyle, at the White House Tuesday as part of National Small Business Week, said he often hears stories about small businesses that have survived the recession but are now ready to grow again. He said the changes being sought by Obama will help those businesses get access to the money they need to grow.