Michaele and Tareq Salahi shocked the nation last week, when they illustrated how alarmingly easy it may be to gate-crash the President's home, but as small business owners they also accomplished something else few have been able to do: get attention from the White House.

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Job seekers line up at a Little Rock job fair this fall.

Government aid to small businesses has lagged badly since the financial crisis began in earnest 20 months ago. In the 10 months since President Obama took office, his administration has worked hard through bailouts and incentives to preserve the advantage of big business interests, many times at the expense of small competitors.

That's why as business and labor leaders gather Thursday at the White...