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With the collapse of the financial sector, the bursting of the housing bubble and high unemployment some people have called our economic crisis the perfect storm. But even during a perfect storm it's sometimes possible to catch a wave and find a way to not only survive but to thrive. Kanes Publications is one of those companies and the founder and owner, Kane Kinnebrew III, credits President Obama's economic policies as one of the reasons for their success over the past two years.

Kanes Publications is a Black-owned internet shopping site that specializes in African American related products and their website is appropriately named It's A Black Thang.com (www.itsablackthang.com). Kinnebrew, the self-described "Hardest Working Man on the Internet" created the website in the fall of 2001 to market a Black History crossword puzzle book that he created and self-published. Later that year he added Christmas cards and calendars and soon after he attended numerous trade shows and found more products to add to the site.

Over the past nine years the company has partnered with over 100 different vendors and the site has grown into one of the largest Black-oriented shopping sites on the internet. They now offer over 8,000 unique African American related products and their user-friendly website has received rave reviews from visitors around the world. A sample of their product line includes Christmas cards and decorations, artwork, figurines, calendars, Negro League Baseball, Buffalo Soldier and Tuskegee Airman paraphernalia, and home décor items.

It's A Black Thang.com (www.itsablackthang.com) grossed over 400K in 2009 and is positioning itself to double that amount in 2010. Kinnebrew attributes most of their success to old-fashioned hard work and dedication. They don't advertise very much so they rely mainly on getting good placement on internet search engines and sending marketing emails to their customer database of almost 50,000. However, Kinnebrew credit's President Obama's economic policies as a key component of their strategy for survival during the economic downturn. Some of the President's policies he cites include:

1. The portion of the Economic Recovery Package that's helping communities expand broadband connectivity is an obvious plus for any internet based business.

2. The Credit Card Reform Act is having an impact because it's helping to empower consumers by reducing fees and restricting interest rate increases. In addition, the new requirements for banks to show balance payoff timeframes has led to better credit management. Credit cards are a vital component of internet commerce and improvements in the industry have led to better consumer protection and awareness. The Credit Card Reform Act has created a wiser consumer with greater spending power.

3. Several of the Presidents small business tax credits have had a direct impact on their business. The tax relief and simplification for cell phone deductions has made it much easier for them to deduct their business related cell phone expenses. There's a new deduction for health insurance costs that will help them rein in their health-care expenses and lower their tax liability. The extension and expansion of the ability to immediately expense capital investments has also been helpful for them and for many other businesses. The capital expensing limit was raised from $250,000 to $500,000 and the increase was extended through 2011. The limit was slated to drop to a mere $25,000 next year and then possibly be phased out the following year. The President's economic team also gave small businesses a huge cut in capital gains taxes. Kinnebrew and others can now exclude 75% of their capital gains from tax liability and they can exclude 100% if the investments are held for at least five years.

Kinnebrew says, "The President's initiatives have had a positive impact on It's A Black Thang.com not only financially but also by creating a level of certainty about the future. We can better forecast our future tax liabilities and we can make more aggressive business investments because we know we'll be able to write most of them off. We also have peace of mind knowing that our capital gains will not be wiped away through excessive taxation. The President's economic team has done a masterful job creating an economic atmosphere that allows small businesses to grow and prosper. I can only imagine what he could do if he wasn't facing so much political opposition. Other than for political gain, I truly don't understand how some can say the President's economic policies aren't working or have created uncertainty within the business world, when it's actually just the opposite. The President's policies are helping small businesses weather this economic storm and many of us have found a way to not only survive but to thrive."

About It's A Black Thang.com
It's A Black Thang.com (www.itsablackthang.com) is a subsidiary of Kanes Publications. The company was founded in 2001 and has grown into one of the largest and most visited Black-oriented shopping sites on the internet offering over 8,000 African-American related products. The company is based in Tampa and has a distribution center located in Detroit. They also have drop shipping facilities in New York and Baltimore.