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Brady Morningstar's Missed Free Throw Attempt (VIDEO)

2010-02-10T00:17:01Z

Brady Morningstar, a junior guard on the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, finished with eight points in last night's 80-68 win at No. 14 Texas. None of them came on this free throw attempt, which has been called "the ugliest missed free throw you'll ever see" and a "must-see missed free throw." It's difficult to disagree with either description.

According to KUSports.com, Morningstar says "the ball was wet." He appears to be taking the miscue lightly, saying that he "looked pretty stupid" and adding, "we laughed about it in the locker room just now." Scroll down for video.

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Court Keeps White House Spy Docs Secret

2010-02-09T23:54:57Z

A federal appellate panel on Tuesday blocked a court order requiring disclosure of e-mail between the White House, Justice Department, National Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence -- communications that paved the way for new spy legislation.

Resolution Opposing Terror Trial Approved By NY State Senate

2010-02-09T23:52:58Z

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Senate has passed a resolution opposing trials of terrorists being held in New York City.

The resolution passed Tuesday urges President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to move trials of those linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks back to the military tribunal system.

Republican state Sen. Vincent Leibell (LY'-bel) introduced the resolution. He says holding the terror trial in the city would unnecessarily put New Yorkers at risk.

Opponents to the trial also argue that it could have a staggering economic impact on businesses, disrupt city residents and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Obama administration has said other sites are under consideration for the trial.

Ellen Gustafson: Three Years on: FEEDing Globally... and Locally

2010-02-09T23:49:41Z

Three years ago, I was working as a U.S. Spokesperson for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) and met Lauren Bush, a Princeton student, who designed a bag that would feed kids around the world in school. In February 2007, Lauren and I co-founded FEED Projects, a small (ahem, two-person) company with the mission of selling these "FEED" bags to support WFP's international school feeding efforts.

School feeding is a simple and effective way to ensure that children go to school, since food often draws them there, and can learn effectively, since nutrition feeds their minds as well as their bodies.

Initially, FEED was focused on school feeding in places like Rwanda, Kenya and Cambodia. The needs in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are huge and just a small donation (between $20 and $50) can provide a child with school feeding for a whole year. We are still committed to those regions and are now producing FEED products in East Africa and Southeast Asia as a way to support both trade AND aid to create more opportunity for communities to move out of poverty and hunger.

We have also had cause to look in our own backyard at the realities of food insecurity and poverty that keep our neighbors from reaching their full potential. In visiting countries like Guatemala and Honduras, we learned that just a short plane ride away, our neighbors are struggling with malnutrition that is stunting their growth and setting them back on the road out of extreme poverty. Guatemala has the fourth highest malnutrition rate in the world, with almost 50 percent of children under 5 years old chronically malnourished. Working with the WFP and UNICEF to support nutrition interventions for babies (like therapeutic feeding) and young children (like school feeding) can help young bodies grow to their potential. Currently, FEED is developing a line of products, made in Guatemala, to address child malnutrition and to create jobs.

Even closer, and now more desperate, are our neighbors in Haiti. Already the poorest country in the western hemisphere, with WFP food aid programs operating since 1969, the earthquake ravaged an already ravaged land. After the 2008 hurricane season, 70 percent of Haiti's agriculture was destroyed, leaving 3.3 million people in need of food aid. In the earthquake's wake, the WFP estimates the caseload to be 2 million people in dire need.

Many organizations, including the WFP and UNICEF, have already been hard at work providing emergency relief. The WFP has already reached 1.6 million people with food as a bridge to begin the rebuilding efforts. At FEED, we want to make an impact to help Haiti's children get back to school and back to hope. Our FEED Haiti 50 bag, launching today, will support the FEED Haiti Fund of the FEED Foundation. The fund is our way of helping to ensure that the over 440,000 school children that received WFP school feeding before the earthquake can get back to school as soon as possible. Each FEED Haiti 50 bag sold will provide funds for 50 school meals through WFP.

Haiti is in our backyard, but right down the street, there are American children suffering from the broken food system. Last week, Feeding America released a study about food bank usage being up by 46 percent since 2006. The study estimates that one in eight Americans received emergency food aid in 2009. Clearly, something is amiss in our food system if, in the richest country in the world, so many are unable to account for basic nutritional needs. At the end of February in New York and Los Angeles, the FEED Foundation will co-host two events to support Hungry in America, a documentary sounding the alarm of food security issues here at home. This will launch our FEED USA Campaign, to support healthier school meals for all children in America, just as we support international school feeding.

It may seem far-fetched to draw the parallels of food insecurity from sub-Saharan Africa to Central America to the U.S., but the reality is that children around the world are suffering from malnutrition, despite there being enough food for everyone. At FEED, our mission has expanded "inversely" from global to local as we've learned more about the realities of our neighbors. At our 3-year anniversary, Team FEED (now five staffers plus two interns!!) is celebrating our success of funding over 50 million meals to hungry children around the world, but we are also looking near and far at the global food system and how we can help to better FEED the world in the years to come. Stay tuned...

Harlem Globetrotters On Ice: Globetrotters Beat Washington Generals In Central Park Hockey Rink

2010-02-09T23:45:53Z

NEW YORK — The Harlem Globetrotters have found a new way to beat the Washington Generals – on ice.

The famed basketball barnstormers played on a hockey rink for the first time in their 84-year history Tuesday, putting on a show in New York's Central Park ahead of a tour of the area.

Players wore ice cleats over their shoes, headbands outside their hockey helmets, and no one on either team took off his warmups, even though it was warm and sunny by February-in-New-York standards.

Perhaps disappointingly, no one commandeered a Zamboni.

Even so, the Globetrotters were up to their usual antics. Twice, the Globetrotters' Kris "Hi-Lite" Bruton came out of a timeout wearing a goalie mask and carrying a hockey stick. He batted down shots, drawing a whistle.

"Hey!" the referee admonished Bruton. "This is basketball!"

"I know," Bruton said. "But I can't play defense without it."

Fair enough. No foul was called.

The mascots were less successful – Globie slipped and fell on an icy patch while cavorting around the outside of the rink before the start of the game. During an intermission, inflatable mascot Big G also biffed while trying to take the ice.

Of course, no one takes a fall for entertainment value quite like the Washington Generals.

The ice game was supposedly the brainchild of their owner, Red Klotz.

The idea was that playing on ice would help the Generals take full advantage of their jump-shooting ability and neutralize the Globetrotters' speed that so often makes the Generals dizzy.

Like most Generals gambits, though, it proved to be a flop. The Globetrotters cruised to a 32-15 win – their 13,140th in a row against the Generals. The streak stretches over parts of five decades and includes games on the roof of an arena, the deck of an aircraft carrier, bullrings and Vatican City.

"It doesn't matter if it's hardwood, ice or sand," Bruton said. "The Harlem Globetrotters come out to win."

The Generals will get a few more bites at the apple, though, when the teams play at Madison Square Garden and three other arenas – all indoors – around the New York area over the next week or so.

The Globetrotters didn't get to practice on ice until the morning of the game, and had to quickly learn how to handle themselves on the slick surface. The helmets were for safety, and not hockey atmosphere.

"What's the point of playing a sport if you don't like a challenge?" the Globetrotters' Ervin "Rocket" Rivers said.

He was talking about the ice – not the Generals.

Stuart Whatley: The Tea Party Movement Is a National Embarrassment

2010-02-09T23:43:31Z

Last summer, when mass protests broke out in Iran following what was seen as a rigged election, Americans cried out in support of the uprising through all possible channels. Some commentators here went so far as to claim credit for the "revolution," as if it never could have happened without American political movements having already set the example. But despite the arrogance of that claim, the Iranian Green movement is indeed an exertion of democratic will that resonates closely with many Americans -- and for good reason.

America's rich history of successful social and political movements, from its genesis onward, lends profound familiarity to the Iranian uprising, most of which has remained nonviolent. The enduring American symbolic identity -- as a bastion of freedom and opportunity -- is mostly justified when one considers the relative success of the Civil Rights or Feminist movements of the 20th Century, or of the ongoing LGBT rights movement, which continues to make incremental gains today. American democracy, fueled by an active populace -- despite its numerous imperfections -- remains the gold standard around the world.

It is against this venerable historical backdrop that one regrettably must concede that the most well known, highly publicized American social/political movement today -- the Tea Party movement -- is a national embarrassment.

At its core, the Tea Party movement is rife with contradiction, incoherence and a willful contempt for facts or reason. It is but a parody of the legitimate movements for which American democracy has historically been held in such high regard. It is, in fact, the latest installment in quite another American tradition: The exploitation of frustrated, desperate, and susceptible people by monied interests and profiteers.

The impetus for the Civil Rights movement was centuries of racially based oppression at all levels of American government and society. The logic behind its call for equality was overwhelming. Now consider the Tea Party movement, whose foremost demand of a president who in his first month passed one of the biggest tax cuts ever...is for tax cuts. The movement's incoherence is only illuminated further when this demand is uttered in the same sentence as its call for deficit reduction.

Though the movement claims to have no defined leadership, there are public figures and entities who nevertheless carry that mantle, which has led to perhaps its greatest irony: A portion of the American populace who carries a populist banner against the coddling of greedy bankers is led by some of the country's most cynical and base profiteers.

When the movement was christened last April for a large tax day protest, it was derived wholesale from the efforts of a registered corporate lobbyist and a right-leaning cable news network, whose president recently pointed out that it's all about ratings. At the Tea Party's national convention last weekend, its keynote speaker was a former governor who quit midterm in order to peddle a book that she didn't write, but for which she collects most of the royalties. If this were Iran's Green Movement, these would be the people slinging marked-up green headbands on the street corner.

Of course, the Tea Party is not without its whistleblowers. The $500 per plate entry fee to last week's convention almost led to it being canceled altogether. But the exodus of reasonable elements will only homogenize the movement further towards a particularly polarizing worldview that opens itself to continued profit-driven exploitation.

In Authoritarianism & Polarization in American Politics, a revealing work of political science published last year that unfortunately went somewhat unnoticed, Marc J. Hetherington and Jonathan D. Weiler describe a specific worldview -- authoritarianism -- which they argue lies at the heart of political polarization in modern American politics. (It should be noted: their use of the term is not related to the more quotidian and overly negative connotation associated with despotic regimes; rather, it describes a particular lens through which certain people view the world, based on a wide range of scholarly work spanning the fields of psychology, sociology, political science, and other cognitive sciences.)

According to Hetherington and Weiler, authoritarians tend to rely more on emotion and instinct in decision-making, view politics in black and white, resent confusion or ambiguity in the social order, and are suspicious of specific groups who they believe could alter that order (typically gays and immigrants). The difference between authoritarians and nonauthoritarians, according to the authors, becomes far more pronounced during tumultuous economic or social periods when there are more perceived "threats". During such times, authoritarians in particular lose accuracy motivation and, "become much less interested than nonauthoritarians in seeking information that [is] balanced in its approach, and much more interested in pursuing one-sided information that reinforc[es] existing beliefs." Or in other words, they are highly susceptible to misinformation campaigns, the likes of which pervaded the health care reform debate last summer.

Most every characteristic of an authoritarian worldview lends itself well to the impassioned rhetoric of the Tea Party movement and the shrewd players operating behind the scenes and atop the soap box. The movement's overly simplified, often-confused solutions to complex problems align with authoritarians' Manichean worldview. That Tom Tancredo's anti-immigrant laced speech at last weekend's convention was well received comes as no surprise. And that this is the group who so often embraces proven falsehoods and spin-narratives to defend its anti-administration agenda should speak for itself with regards to accuracy motivation.

Despite criticism it receives, the Tea Party continues to be praised as a political force. It is loud, passionate, and generally unconcerned with pesky things like facts or reasoned, practical solutions to the country's problems. This bodes ill for 2010's political environment, and it is a shameful representation of what constitutes an American political or social movement. While the Tea Party may alienate some who see it for the profit-machine that it is, others who share the fearful, intolerant authoritarian worldview that it is increasing coalescing around will be lured in and pitted against the very people in power who could actually help them. That this movement has grown political legs is too bad, and by Hetherington and Weiler's account, it means even more polarization is yet to come.

Richard Shelby: Chris Dodd 'Is Gonna Go With His Bill And Go It Alone'

2010-02-09T23:40:28Z

Senate negotiators are at an impasse over the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, told the Huffington Post Tuesday night.

After talking with his chief interlocutor, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the committee chair, Shelby said: "I'm sure at this juncture that he's gonna go with his bill and go it alone. We don't believe he can pass a bill without us. To pass a meaningful bill it's going to have to be, in my judgment, a bipartisan bill."

HuffPost asked Shelby if Dodd had confirmed to him on the floor that he was moving ahead with an independent CFPA.

"Well, that's been our biggest split, okay, and it's still at impasse there," he said. "But we're talking."

Dodd, after the Senate floor conversation, also said that the talks would continue, but not forever.

"We're down to a couple of issues here that we need to work on and I'm determined to continue to work on those over the next few days to see if we can put something together. If not, then we'll go forward with a bill. And there may be another day in this process before we're at that point, but we're working on it," Dodd said, predicting a committee vote in the next few weeks.

Asked if he specifically told Shelby he was moving ahead with an independent CFPA, Dodd said: "No, I didn't say that. I said the door was open."

"We've gone a great distance in major areas in my view. Obviously, nothing's done until everything's done," he said.

Shelby recently gained national notoriety by placing a "blanket hold" on 70 Obama nominees in order to win a defense contract for a European company that hires non-union labor in his home state of Alabama.

2morrowknight: Love, Work, and Money: An Instant Classic from Josh Charles

2010-02-09T23:25:48Z

Remember where you were when you heard Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, or Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor? Like these two albums, you will remember the moment you heard Love, Work and Money, the stunning debut album from visionary musician Josh Charles. It is, quite simply, an instant classic.

It draws on many genres -- blues, gospel, R&B, pop -- and incorporates them in a uniquely powerful way. Josh Charles' distinctive voice is the perfect anchor (and perfect compliment) to this 10-track masterpiece. It opens with The Waiting Game, an invigorating, up-tempo track sure to be a solid, radio-friendly hit. From the awesome title track to the smooth Just a Man, the listener will never be disappointed.

Charles burst onto the scene in early 2009 with the emotional Healing Time, the hit record he used to inspire those struggling with the scars of Hurricane Katrina. He includes that record on the album, as well as the powerful I'm Always Here for You, which is as much a love song as it is a postcard to his beloved New Orleans, and the soaring spirit that makes it The Emerald City.

This album is a major charm offensive for music lovers in search of great tunes, and for music executives eager to find the "next big thing." This is a great accomplishment for a musician, singer and songwriter who is also a tremendous humanitarian. Love, Work and Money is the sound of great music, and 2010 is the year of Josh Charles.

Charles will have his much anticipated album release party at New York's City Winery on Monday February 15, 2010. You can also fan him on his Facebook Page, and follow him on Twitter.

This post was originally published at 2morrowknight.blogspot.com.

'Suddenly, With Chavez': Venezuelan President Launches New Radio Show

2010-02-09T23:23:37Z

(AP) CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has launched a new radio program in which he can take to the airwaves at any time of the day or night.

Called "Suddenly, With Chavez," the show on state-run Venezuelan National Radio doesn't have a schedule and can be aired at any moment.

In the first program Monday, Chavez said it could be broadcast "at midnight or at dawn."

"We have many things to report," he said.

Chavez relishes talking to Venezuelans on television and radio, and he frequently seizes the airwaves several times a day to expound his views.

He already makes frequent use of a law allowing him to force private television and radio stations to broadcast his marathon speeches.

Clarence Ervin Arrested Again: Green Line Panhandler Arrested 180 Times

2010-02-09T23:20:32Z

A man who has been arrested almost 180 times -- and whose presence on the CTA's Green Line has instilled fear among riders whom he aggressively panhandles -- has been arrested again.

Clarence Ervin, 52, of the 900 block of North Waller Avenue in Chicago, was arrested Saturday in Oak Park and charged with battery, criminal trespass and obstructing identification -- all misdemeanors -- stemming from two recent incidents, according to Oak Park police Cmdr. Len Jorgensen.

Andrew Tucker Avorn: Should Senators Vote to Filibuster?

2010-02-09T23:20:19Z

Legislation in the Senate is filibustered by default every day. A simple change in debate rules could preserve the Senate's deliberative tradition, but more accurately reflect the true purpose and political reality of the filibuster. 41 Senators should vote to extend debate, instead of 60 voting to close it.

Right now, 60 senators must vote for cloture to end debate and bring a bill to the floor for a vote, which requires assembling a "filibuster proof majority" before a filibustering coalition even materializes. Requiring 60 Senators to vote to close debate functions less to protect the minority party's right to express its views than to let watch from the sidelines while the majority hamstrings itself attempting to muster 60 votes. The filibuster exists to let the minority block legislation, but rule actually works to hamper the majority from passing it.

This simple rule change could maintain the minority's ability to block legislation, but would make them accountable for doing so. Instead of requiring 60 votes to close debate, The Senate should require 41 votes to keep it open. The founding fathers deliberately set a high bar for passing legislation in The Senate, and the rule change would not alter that calculus, but the current Senate's constant threat of filibuster requires a procedural tweak to ensure that the rules and traditions of the Senate are not used to hold legislation hostage without anyone lifting a finger. The same 41 Senators who can now prevent legislation from coming to a vote would maintain that power under the new rule, but they would actually have to vote to use the Senate's most powerful procedural rule instead of letting the filibuster happen automatically.

The procedure for closing debate could look like this: after a bill has been debated sufficiently, the majority leader could move to close debate, and debate would automatically close, unless 40 senators voted to keep debate open (after the minority has had sufficient time to muster enough votes). If the minority does successfully vote to keep debate open, then a 60-vote supermajority would be required to close debate.

The effect of this modest change would be to make the minority party accountable to Americans for asserting their right to extend debate on legislation. Senator X's constituents would know that she voted to extend debate on the healthcare reform bill, for example, instead of only that she did not vote to end debate on it; if she has a good reason for voting that way, she has the chance to explain it. The vote to extend debate would place the burden of asserting the minority's veto power on the senators that want to protect their constituents' interests. Besides making debates more efficient, this rule change would decouple votes on closing debate from votes on the merits of policy. A filibuster is a potent political tool. Shouldn't senators have to stand up and vote for it?

Email the author at AndrewAvorn@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @AndrewAvorn.

Kim Davis: The President's Healthcare Reform Symposium

2010-02-09T23:18:28Z

Elections are about making promises and making friends; governing is about making choices and making enemies. If President Obama wants healthcare reform then, both for political and policy reasons, he needs to start making some real enemies on his left because the strategy of conditioning passage on an all-liberal-with-a-few-moderates strategy will not work.

The President should begin the upcoming February 25 symposium on healthcare reform by reaffirming his unwavering commitment to universal access, higher quality care and controlling costs. Next and as importantly he needs to acknowledge the real lesson of both his healthcare reform efforts to date and the failure of Hillarycare which is that neither our political system nor the majority of American think it is a good idea to have Washington redesign our entire healthcare system in one fell swoop...and for good reason. It requires a special combination of ignorance and arrogance to believe that a bunch of politicians and their staffs can redesign a large chunk of the economy without massive unintended consequences and thus incur the potential risk that the outcome could be a worse system than we have now, not a better one.

We should be ambitious about our goals and modest about our confidence that they can all be achieved immediately. Incremental reform is not a great political slogan, but it can be the basis of thoughtful change.

Three areas of incremental reform should be included as part of the upcoming symposium debate: 1) Most favored nation pricing for drugs which would require US pharmaceutical companies to offer US citizens the same pricing that they negotiate with other governments such as Canada. We don't need to re-import drugs from Canada; we just need them priced at the same levels as in Canada; 2) tort reform which would focus on faster and more predictable resolutions of medical malpractice allegations (using a combination of specialty healthcare courts and arbitration proceedings). This kind of reform would also require complete transparency in these proceedings so that we can create a constant information feedback loop to the medical industry. Only this kind of quick and comprehensive information flow about mistakes will provide the basis for a system of continuous quality improvement; and 3) a national reinsurance pool that would provide subsidies which would extend the reach and affordability of healthcare insurance to citizens who either can't afford it or have preexisting conditions which preclude them from obtaining it.

If the President is calculating that his symposium will allow him to bludgeon Republicans and moderate Democrats into supporting the existing healthcare legislation, he will be sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if he uses the forum to seriously consider incremental changes that use a combination of market mechanisms and government regulation to begin transforming our healthcare system into one that provides more coverage at lower costs with higher quality, then he will go down in history as the President who led the way on providing the American people with the healthcare system they deserve.

Lindsay Lohan Poses As Jesus For Purple Magazine (PHOTO)

2010-02-09T23:14:15Z

Lindsay Lohan covers French fashion magazine Purple as Jesus Christ, complete with outstretched arms, crown of thorns and low-cut robe. Lindsay is not the first Lohan to pose as the son of God--Michael Lohan channeled baby Jesus in a Times Square nativity scene a couple of years ago.

PHOTO:

Here is behind the scenes video from her holy shoot:

Lindsay Lohan by Terry Richardson from Purple Magazine on Vimeo.

Interview Magazine Shows Off iPad Capabilities (VIDEO)

2010-02-09T23:12:54Z

Interview magazine is celebrating its 40th anniversary Tuesday night in New York, and in celebrating its past will take a look into the future by unveiling its capabilities on the Apple iPad.

Interview, which was launched by Andy Warhol 40 years ago, will introduce several issues on iPad when the device launches next month. The iPad version, seen below, will be previewed at Tuesday's anniversary party and hints at magazines' capabilities on the iPad: photography and text mesh seamlessly with audio and video interviews.

"When Andy Warhol founded Interview four decades ago, he did so with an ethos that
embraced the new," the magazine said in an announcement. "As with his art, Warhol re-wrote the rulebook with Interview, creating an innovative, intelligent, sophisticated, cutting-edge magazine that was culturally impactful, pushed the boundaries of the medium, and reinvented what a magazine could be. So it's entirely fitting that Interview is once again at the forefront of reinventing the magazine experience for Apple's iPad, combining the benefits of the digital age with the familiar advantages of Guttenberg's printing press to deliver a groundbreaking, knock-out reader experience. One could call Interview magazine on the iPad 'an affordable Warhol screenprint.'"

Interview will introduce its 40th anniversary issue, featuring Kristen Stewart on the cover, as well as its December/January 2010 (Penelope Cruz), February 2010 (Jay-Z) and March 2010 (fashion) issues, all "reconfigured, redesigned, and re-imagined for Apple's iPad."

Interview's anniversary event will take place at the newly opened Good Units space in New York's Hudson Hotel.

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Stacy Mitchell: Small Business Lending: Big Banks vs. Small Banks

2010-02-09T23:09:19Z

The New Rules Project, in partnership with HuffPost's Move Your Money campaign, is using its Community Banking Initiative to get out the word that banking locally can put the power back in the hands of individuals and communities, rather than Wall Street's CEOs.

Just before Thanksgiving last year, the U.S. Small Business Administration's flagship loan program, which provides banks with a government guarantee of up to 90 percent of the value of loans made to small businesses that fall just shy of qualifying for a standard bank loan, ran out of money.

SBA loan guarantees are arguably one of the most efficient uses of stimulus funds. The $325 million included in the Recovery Act of last February covered the cost of backing $16.5 billion in loans to small businesses. Yet, as loan volume spiked in the fall, reaching pre-recession levels, Congress let the pipeline run dry.

Within weeks, more than 1,000 small businesses found themselves in loan purgatory: their loans had been approved, but banks couldn't release the funds.

Such a turn of events seems unconscionable amid a recession. But it's about to happen again. An additional $125 million appropriated in December will run out toward the end of February unless the Senate moves quickly to approve legislation that would support SBA loan guarantees through the end of the year.

These days, all eyes are on small businesses, and for good reason. They've created the majority of new jobs over the last decade and, in past downturns, it's been small business growth that has pulled us out of recession.

The ability of small businesses to finance growth is, in turn, largely dependent on the capacity of local community banks to lend them money. Although small and mid-sized banks ($10 billion or less in assets) control only 22 percent of all bank assets, they account for 54 percent of small business lending. Big banks, meanwhile, allocate relatively little of their resources to small businesses. The largest 20 banks, which now command 57 percent of all bank assets, devote only 18 percent of their commercial loan portfolios to small business. (See our graphs for more detail.)

As big banks have consolidated the market, small businesses have had a harder time obtaining loans. In a study published in 2007 in the Journal of Banking and Finance, Steven G. Craig and Pauline Hardee examined different regions of the country and concluded, "Credit access in markets dominated by big banks tends to be lower for small businesses than in markets with a relatively larger share of small banks."

Other research has found that, all else being equal, regions with a robust network of small, local banks are home to significantly more small firms.

Why is it that community banks do so much more small business lending than their big competitors? One reason is that big banks rely on computer models to determine whether to make a loan. Because the local market conditions and the circumstances surrounding each borrower and his or her enterprise are so incredibly varied, this standardized approach does not work very well when it comes to understanding the nuances of risk associated with a particular small business.

By drawing on qualitative information - getting to know the borrower, learning about the business, and understanding the local market - small banks can better assess risk and successfully make loans to a wider group of small businesses.

"We don't use credit scoring, where certain parameters about the business are put in and the computer says yes or no. We still rely on a thorough understanding of the financial information that the borrower brings us. You get to know the borrower and understand what the numbers mean in the context of that business," said John Kimball, vice president of Park Midway Bank, a $272 million-asset bank in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Small banks regularly finance businesses that big banks have turned away. Andrew Atwood, who sought financing last year to expand his auto repair business in Phoenix, was rejected by seven large banks. "It was a nightmare," he said. "They had a 'you're lucky we're even looking at you' kind of attitude." Then a customer introduced him to Sonoran Bank, a small, locally owned bank. "From the get-go they treated us like your next door neighbor," he said. Not only did Atwood get the loan, but the rate, 5.25 percent, was lower than the 6.75 percent the big banks would have offered had he been approved.

At Sonoran, Atwood dealt directly with a senior loan officer empowered to approve his loan. This is another significant difference between small and big banks. "The decision-makers are at the community level," explained Fidel Gutierrez, senior vice president of Los Alamos National Bank, a 47-year-old locally owned bank in New Mexico. "At our bank, the bank president and the senior loan officers are visiting face-to-face with the borrowers. At larger banks, the person you deal with may take the loan request, but they do not make the decision."

Because big banks are run from afar, it's impossible, or at least very expensive, for them to obtain the kind of qualitative information about risk that local bankers pick up naturally by being part of the community and interacting with borrowers. As a result, there are no economies of scale in small business lending; just the opposite. Small banks are, on average, more efficient small business lenders and make a better return on their assets.

All of this makes plain the fallacy of thirty years of banking policy that has fueled mergers and consolidation on the grounds that bigger banks mean greater efficiency and more growth. Banking consolidation has in fact constricted the flow of credit to the very businesses most likely to create new jobs.

It's no surprise then that the money taxpayers have spent over the last 16 months shoring up big banks has done nothing to free up credit for small businesses. To do that, we need to focus on expanding the lending capacity of small banks.

The Obama Administration has finally grasped this, putting forward a flurry of proposals in recent weeks aimed at increasing the flow of loans from small banks to small businesses.

Although some community banks will benefit from Obama's plan to make $30 billion in low-cost capital available to them, for most small banks, the issue right now is not a lack of capital. Most small banks are in pretty good shape and have money to lend.

The problem is that loan demand is down and many of the small businesses that are seeking loans are not creditworthy by standard measures. Their cash flow has been battered by the recession. Many no longer have equity in their homes or businesses to borrow against. Through no fault of their own, small businesses are operating in an economy in which they are more likely to fail and thus constitute much riskier investments.

This is where SBA loan guarantees come in. They allow banks to absorb more risk. "For a bank, if more than one or two percent of your loans go bad, you're out of business," explained Kimball of Park Midway Bank. "The SBA guarantees allow you to get that into a range of 5-8 percent. It allows you a lot more leeway in terms of risk."

While SBA-backed loans constitute only about 8 percent of overall small business lending, they account for 40 percent of long-term loans and thus provide an essential source of patient capital for growing small businesses. Under the SBA's flagship 7(a) lending program, which backs loans of up to $2 million that small businesses can use for working capital, equipment or expansion, the payback period is 7 to 25 years, a longer term than most standard bank loans.

In the 12 months before the credit crisis, some 2,500 banks, mostly small community banks, made over 69,000 loans under the 7(a) program. Three-quarters were for amounts under $150,000, one-third went to minorities, and nearly 40 percent funded start-ups. In good economic times, fees paid by borrowers cover the cost of the program, including defaults.

When the credit markets froze in the fall of 2008, the volume of SBA-backed bank loans plummeted to about half of normal. Big banks, especially, sharply cut back their lending. SBA loan volume at JP Morgan Chase, for example, fell 66 percent.

The Recovery Act sought to bolster 7(a) lending by expanding the maximum guarantee from 75 to 90 percent of the loan and waiving the fees charged to borrowers. It worked: monthly loan volume climbed from $700 million during the darkest months of the crisis to an average of over $1.5 billion during the last six months - a higher volume than in the year before the collapse.

Yet, despite the fact that SBA loan guarantees effectively and inexpensively address one of the most debilitating aspects of this recession - reduced credit for small businesses - Congress has allowed the program to run dry once already and is on the verge of doing so again in the next few weeks.

Obama has called for extending the higher guarantees and fee waiver through the end of the year. The House has passed a bill to do so. And now, like so much of the legislative agenda, further action depends on the Senate.