President Obama's belated effort to boost government help for small businesses puts the focus of the economic recovery program where it should have been from the start — on Main Street.

Steve Gordon of Clearwater, Fla., spoke for virtually every small business owner in America when he told the president in a recent town hall meeting in Tampa that he had found it virtually impossible to get a loan to expand his enterprise.

"You lent directly to Wall Street, you lent directly to the automakers, you lent directly to the banks — why can't the government make (small-business loans) available directly to us?"

Good question, Mr. Gordon.

The economy is unlikely to regain momentum until small businesses restart their engines. They're the principal drivers of the economy, responsible for creating nearly two out of every three new jobs over the last 15 years. In Florida, nine of every 10 businesses fall into this category.

It's no secret that too many of them are stuck in idle for want of capital because lenders are understandably wary in a bad economy. But community banks aren't the villains here. The same risk-averse culture that allowed them to escape serious damage in the economic collapse makes them wary today. Furthermore, bank regulators have been harping on the need to avoid reckless practices.

The president's initiatives can make a difference — by providing new capital and reducing a bank's risk. One proposal would create a Small Business Lending Fund to direct $30 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to community banks so they could lend to small businesses. That's the new capital.

Another administration proposal would eliminate some fees for loans from the Small Business Administration while simultaneously increasing the SBA guarantee from 75 percent to 90 percent. That reduces the lender's risk.

Regulators backed up the message on Friday by advising bankers to be more flexible. A joint statement from several federal agencies said that banks that engage in "prudent small business lending" would not become targets of "supervisory criticism" for those loans.

Finally, the president's budget for 2011 calls for a $5,000 tax credit for employers for every net new worker that goes on the payroll in 2010. Small businesses will be reimbursed for the Social Security payroll taxes they pay on real increases in their payrolls. The total benefit would be capped at $500,000 per firm, to ensure that most of it goes to small businesses.

Good ideas, but there's a hitch: In most cases, they require congressional approval and the first soundings aren't good. Republicans complain that Mr. Obama, who has unveiled the measures in a series of made-for-TV appearances, is "legislating by speech." They want to see the details.

Fair enough. But once the measures are sent to Capitol Hill, lawmakers in both parties should be prepared to work out their differences to throw small businesses a lifeline — quickly.

Steve Gordon's moment in the spotlight with Obama in Tampa resulted in some unsolicited calls from banks offering to lend a hand. Good for him.

Most entrepreneurs can't go straight to the top like Mr. Gordon. They're still waiting for banks to return their calls, and they can't afford to wait much longer.