The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the famous stimulus package, passed earlier in the year, is supposed to help us through an awful recession the likes of which has never been seen before. No matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on, I think it’s hard to argue against empirical evidence which seems to suggest that a high quantity of confidence has been returned to the economic system because of the package’s enactment. Indeed, the country may have sunk into lower depths of despair had the government not taken action. There will be problems down the road, of course (the threat of inflation and a weak dollar is of paramount concern to many pundits), but what needed to be done was done.

Although the credit crisis affected a whole host of big corporations (actually, it affected every corporation, come to think of it; financial or non-financial business model, it made no difference), companies of smaller capitalization structures were particularly devastated. Entrepreneurs found it difficult to secure loans to make up for cash-flow deficits. Venture capital and angel investors were sidelined. It was — and still is — a tough time.

All along the way, the small business community has been screaming to be heard. The Small Business Administration has had to make amends to the sector by doing more in terms of assistance. Guaranteeing loans and encouraging secondary markets for them was high on the list of priorities. Still, there’s been no shortage of criticism for the bureaucrats.

Perhaps one of the worst angles to the story is the delay in receiving funds from the stimulus package. Many small business owners have had to deal with this; such aggravation simply pours salt over a still festering wound.

So, in a sense, even though the government did what it needed to do, a lot of the specific execution was unfortunately subpar. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: the following article discusses the problem small business owners in Hawaii have had in accessing funds from the stimulus package. Senator Dan Inouye is working to get rid of the delay and get the monies into the hands of entrepreneurs.

The stimulis package is only as effective as the velocity at which the dollars are traveling from Washington to Small Business, USA. It’s difficult for owners to know exactly whether they can count on the capital or not. Borrowing in anticipation of the monies is a putative solution, but not an optimal one.

Unfortunately, I am very pessimistic in terms of the red tape. The delays will probably continue, and they will exert a negative effect. Once the money flows, it could be too late for some businesses. We’ll continue to watch this issue develop…