The New York Times is reporting that small businesses could be the biggest beneficiaries of the economic stimulus package that was recently passed by Congress and is expected to be signed by the President this week.  Businesses from bars and restaurants to retailers are expecting a direct increase in consumer spending due to the rebate checks, expected to be mailed out later this spring.  Other small businesses that have less direct consumer interaction are also expected to benefit from two new provisions in the legislation.

Smaller companies like Dahm Trucking in Woodstock, Ill., and McCutcheon’s Apple Products in Frederick, Md., are poised to benefit from the provisions aimed at businesses. The National Federation of Independent Business, an advocacy group in Washington, lobbied on their behalf.

“Small businesses are doing better than the rest of the economy,” said Dan Danner, the group’s executive vice president. “They are one sector that continues to create jobs, but they are not doing as good as they could do. If you’re going to stimulate the economy, this is the group to help.”

The legislation helps businesses in two ways. It gives companies a 50 percent bonus deduction on new equipment that would normally be depreciated over many years. And it increases — to $250,000 from $128,000 in 2008 — the limit on expenses that small businesses can deduct from annual income, with a total cap of $800,000.

For a small business like Dahm Trucking, which has annual revenue over $5 million, the most valuable provision is the increased expensing. ...

...Had there been no government intervention, he said, he would have had to just “sit and wait to see what happens.” Expansion would have been out of the question, he added, while layoffs were possible.

The Wall Street Journal published a scathing editorial regarding Senator Barack Obama today, citing his opposition to the Senate FISA legislation, passed yesterday.  Senator McCain voted in favor of renewing this important legislation, while Senator Clinton apparently didn't feel as though it was worth her time (she was absent on the campaign trail).

It says something about his national security world view, or his callowness, that Mr. Obama would vote to punish private companies that even the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee said had "acted in good faith." Had Senator Obama prevailed, a President Obama might well have been told "no way" when he asked private Americans to help his Administration fight terrorists. Mr. Obama also voted against the overall bill, putting him in MoveOn.org territory.

The defeat of these antiwar amendments means the legislation now moves to the House in a strong position. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in the Dodd-Obama camp, but 21 Blue Dog Democrats have sent her a letter saying they are happy with the Senate bill. She may try to pass the restrictions that failed in the Senate, and Republicans should tell her to make their day. This is a fight Senator McCain should want to have right up through Election Day, with Democrats having to explain why they want to hamstring the best weapon -- real-time surveillance -- we have against al Qaeda.