President Barack Obama has announced a plan to accelerate payments to small businesses with government contracts from 30 days to 15 days to expedite the funds and speed job growth.

Amid state, federal and global probes into its anticompetitive business practices, Google's $12.5 billion bid to buy its way into the equipment business is its most brazen act yet. The Minority Business RoundTable calls upon federal regulators to stand up for small and mid-sized businesses through rigorous antitrust investigation by examining Google's corporate governance, lack of corporate board representation and supplier diversity business practices.

Too often, as corporate behemoths grow unchecked, its America's entrepreneurial minded small and minority owned businesses that fall victim to their monopoly behavior.

In a memorandum issued last April, President Barack Obama stated that he is committed to ensuring that small businesses, including firms owned by women, minorities, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and service-disabled veterans, have fair access to federal government contracting. I agree with the president's statement. Allowing small businesses to compete for government contracts is good for the government, taxpayers and the economy. However, the president's actions don't match what he has said. In fact, six Cabinet-level agencies have demoted their respective small-business advocates.

In his speech to the joint session of Congress, President Obama proposed a jobs bill, the American Jobs Act, with several specific, if not yet particularly detailed, tax initiatives that would benefit small businesses - though most in fact would bring the same relief to all companies, large or small. The initiatives can be sorted into two flavors, incentives to promote investment broadly and incentives to promote hiring in particular.

Wal-Mart has announced that it will spend billions of dollars over the next five years to train female workers around the world and support women-owned businesses, the latest attempt by the world's largest retailer to tackle broad social issues and shore up its image.

The commitment includes $100 million in grants to non­profit groups focused on developing job skills for low-income women in the United States and for women who work in the overseas farms and factories that Wal-Mart relies on for its merchandise. It also said it will spend $20 billion over the next five years to buy goods from the nation's women-owned businesses, double its current amount.