THUMBS UP to U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry for crafting a bill to help business owners that House members couldn’t refuse. His legislation to allow small businesses and entrepreneurs to raise money by securing small contributions from many sources – called “crowdfunding” – cleared the full House by a vote of 407 to 17. That’s a margin almost unheard of, given the divisiveness in Congress these days. The legislation would allow companies to raise up to $2 million, with individuals limited to investments of $10,000 or 10 percent of their annual income. Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission prohibits crowdfunding. It’s a good bill that can provide smaller companies with much-needed start-up money or operating expenses with relatively little risk to investors. We urge the Senate to give the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act the same support as the House.
THUMBS UP to the Shriners. They’re back in town for their annual convention, and they’ll have a short parade to the Hickory Metro Convention Center from Crowne Plaza today at 1:30 p.m. The Oasis Shrine is more than a parade and outlandish show garb, however. Yes, they are funny and entertaining, but Shriners exist to maintain an excellent network of orthopedic hospitals and burn centers for children. They’re all about children. A Shrine medical facility provides the best in care and treatment and no cost to a child’s family. We probably can’t count all the kids who have been given new leases on life by the Shriners – care they couldn’t afford without the organization’s hard work and benevolence. Welcome back, Shriners. We admire your style.
THUMBS DOWN to the unending espionage conducted by China and Russia against the United States and other countries. Their spooks have been caught too many times trying to swipe information about our national security, our finances, our industrial secrets and anything else they can get their hands on to minimize or even negate US economic and military might. We keep catching them – most recently uncovering an extensive cyberspace network – and they keep coming back. The United States seems powerless to deter them from trying. We’re fed up with lame excuses and hollow denials about Chinese and Russian spying. The espionage is government-sponsored. US intelligence agencies know that. Report after report confirms the spy game is still strong, especially in cyberspace. China and Russia turn blind eyes to hackers trying to break corporate and governmental security, also. The US government makes a big deal out of the losses to espionage – figures run into the billions of dollars – but rarely say what’s being done about it or if penalties are sought against the perpetrators. We would like to know if our government has a way to hit back to stop the attacks on our national security and our business security.
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