Government insanity: Millionaires can be disadvantaged (Obama, Hispanic, companies, financial)

[freemkt]

I was searching online to see what I could find about "disadvantaged persons" who are "not members" of a protected class. A bunch of government websites appeared, typically hawking a contract set-aside program for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.

The USDOT website has this:

"Disadvantaged"- You may be eligible if you are a member of a group of persons the Department considers as disadvantaged. The Department presumes certain groups are disadvantaged, including women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans, Subcontinent Asian-Pacific Americans, or other minorities found to be disadvantaged by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The definition of disadvantaged is further qualified as follows:

Personal Net Worth- Only disadvantaged persons having a personal net worth (PNW) of less than $1.32 million can be considered as a potential qualified DBE. Items excluded from a person's net worth calculation include an individual's ownership interest in the applicant firm, and his or her equity in their primary residence. Additional exclusions are available for owners of airport concessionaires (See 49 CFR Part 23).


Can someone please explain how a minority millionaire is disadvantaged while a white male living at poverty level is not disadvantaged?

[middle-aged mom]

Generally speaking, rents for concession space in major airport hubs preclude individuals from doing business. It's mostly large corporate-owned enterprises who would not qualify for financial aid.

It makes no sense to me to give aid to any vendor.

BTW, the date of this particular ruling was 2005.

[EmeraldCityWanderer]

One covers people, the other covers businesses. Personal net worth is used when people have a sole proprietorship and are not incorporated. This is basic business law.

It's not for wealthy people...it's to help business compete with larger companies for federally funded projects. It's usually to help the local community and small businesses with construction projects, instead of large construction firms. While the rule you have there is to help small local businesses to sell concessions in airports instead of large chains bidding everyone out due to their economies of scale.

Reading comprehension not a strong ability?

[petch751]

freemkt lol FAIL!

Keep stoking the fires for class welfare. You should call Obama, I'm sure he could use some help.