Obama proposes small business rescue plan

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A plan to keep small businesses afloat during the financial crisis was floated Friday by Democratic nominee Barack Obama at an Ohio campaign stop.

"If we're going to rebuild this economy from the bottom up, it has to start with our small businesses on Main Street -- not just the big banks on Wall Street," Obama told supporters in Chillicothe, Ohio.

His Small Business Rescue Plan would be run through the Small Business Administration and would be a program to provide affordable, fixed-rate loans to small businesses, the Illinois senator said.

"We'll also make it easier for private lenders to make small business loans by expanding the SBA's loan guarantee program," he said. "By temporarily eliminating fees for borrowers and lenders, we can unlock the credit that small firms need to move forward, pay their workers, and grow their business."

His small business proposal is what was done after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Obama said.

When the plan was initiated after the attacks, "we were able to get low-cost loans out to tens of thousands of small businesses," he said. "That's one of the many steps we can and should take to help stop job losses and turn this economy around."