Of the billions of dollars in federal stimulus money out there, Chris Yoo is banking on the hope that a fraction will boost his dry-cleaning business. Amid the recession and credit crunch, Yoo, who owns three Joy Cleaners dry-cleaning stores in Chesterfield and Henrico counties, recently took out two loans to buy equipment that he believes will help him retain and attract customers. Both loans were through SunTrust Banks Inc. and guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

SBA loan request: The business loan application should be filled out by the business owner; the lender application for guarantee should be completed by the bank or financing institution.
  Background info: You need to include some personal information, such as your address, place of birth, any prior convictions and if you are under indictment.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said the Obama administration asked him to insert a provision in last month’s $787 billion economic-stimulus legislation that had the effect of authorizing American International Group Inc.’s bonuses.

Milton Friedman, American economist, believed that “the Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.“ If you need any confirmation about how government can be mismanaged, look at its growth. Over the past decade, Congress doubled the national debt and super-sized the federal government with new programs and a deluge of spending. It invented bureaucracies out of whole cloth.