While Neal Asbury was traveling, co-host Dr. Rich Roffman filled in and opened Neal’s nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 44 stations) by talking about the Obama administration’s failed energy policy when it comes to fossil fuel.
This lead to Dr. Roffman’s first guest, FreedomWorks’ Senior Fellow Dr. Tom Borelli, who took up the issue of the stalled Keystone XL Pipeline, which is a pipeline system to transport synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen (“dilbit”) from the Athabasca oil sands region in northeastern Alberta, Canada to multiple destinations in the United States.
“The fight over the Keystone Pipeline is insane. It will address America’s energy dependence and create jobs. President Obama talked a lot about giving Americans a fair shot, but his regressive energy policy is actually hurting those he wants to help by holding back jobs. If it was up to me, the governors that will benefit from the pipeline should pick up shovels and begin digging,” said Borelli.
Dr. Roffman reminded listeners that construction of the pipeline could create 20,000 jobs and add $480 million to Nebraska’s economy. He added that by not building the pipeline to bring in cheaper oil, it hurts the middle class who is already paying too much for gasoline. He is hoping that Congress will take action if the President doesn’t.
“It will take at least four more years before anything happens on the pipeline. And now we have John Kerry as Secretary of State, who is an avid conservationist who shares President Obama’s distain for fossil fuels – this in a country that has the biggest supply of fossil fuels in the world,” added Borelli.
Dr. Roffman noted that the emphasis on green energy is misplaced. Spain tried to go that route but now unemployment is at 25 percent.
“The U.S. tried building electric cars in 1910, but it failed for the same reason it is failing today. They are too expensive and have a limited driving duration. Added to that, there are not enough charging stations. Think what we could do with the billions invested by the federal government in battery powered cars and failed green energy projects,” said Roffman.
Dr. Roffman noted that even the vice chairman of Toyota, which builds the successful Prius hybrid, sees a limited future for battery powered cars. In fact, only 1140 electric cars were sold during January 2013.
“New Orleans is a national leader in its reliance on green energy. But if you watched the Super Bowl and the blackout, you can sense that some work still needs to be done,” added Dr. Roffman.
Joining the show was first time guest Peter Cohan, a Forbes contributor and the author of many books, including his indepth analysis entitled “You Can’t Order Change,” which is about the Boeing Company—one of Americas most successful corporations.
This lead directly to an evaluation of Boeing’s recent setback with its 787 Dreamliner, which has been prone to problems associated with lithium ion batteries that are prone to overheating. This is known as thermal runaway.
“The problems for Boeing started when it bought McDonnell Douglas. Immediately it became apparent that there were different cultures at work. Boeing changed its approach to manufacturing by outsourcing a lot more of its design and manufacturing, including the design of the Dreamliner. In the past, almost all of Boeing’s design was completed in-house. This included the 747 and 737,” said Cohan.
Dr. Roffman detailed the number of foreign countries involved in the Dreamliner, which includes Italy, Japan, South Korea, France, India and the U.K.
“Using foreign vendors for airplane manufacturing isn’t a new idea, but Boeing had a hard time having all the pieces fit together from different vendors. The result is that Boeing is losing credibility and the regulatory commission is looking at their operations. They might demand that they switch to a different battery, which could delay the manufacturing of the Dreamliner another year,” concluded Cohan.
Joining the show as a first time guest was Lenden Eakin, owner of Class 3 Only and firearms law attorney with the firm of Ferris & Eakin, PC.
Eakin suggested that the Obama administration’s hard stance on gun control is leading to a situation where gun manufacturers can’t keep up with demand. Every gun store in the country has a waiting list for guns since gun owners are afraid that new gun laws will not allow them to purchase semiautomatic and hand guns. This demand also applies to ammunition, which is also in short supply.
Dr. Roffman noted that the gun industry is a $31.4 billion industry, creates 209,000 jobs with a median income of $140,000 and provides over $4 Billion in taxes. These are American jobs that we need…and could easily disappear if the administration has its way.
“People don’t understand that the second amendment really does apply to the AR15, not for hunting. The second amendment was adopted to provide for people’s self- defense, which includes semiautomatic guns like the AR15,” concluded Eakin.
Dr. Roffman continued his ongoing segment on government waste and cronyism. He continued his focus on green energy. He profiled Sunnyvale California’s Bloom Energy, which received a government grant, but is now accused of paying 14 workers brought to the United States from Chihuahua, Mexico, less than $3 per hour for work performed at the company headquarters. What’s worse, they were paid in pesos, which have far less value in the U.S.
Then the Heritage Foundation detailed the $7.5 billion that was paid by the federal government to green energy companies. Of the money paid out to green energy companies, several are in receivership to the tune of $1.6 billion, including Solyndra, which cost taxpayers $849 million—up from $549 million originally projected.
Each week Neal Asbury’s Made in America provides Neal’s insights into the week’s top news stories and their impact on the worlds of entrepreneurship, small business ownership and the overall economy. Neal’s analysis, together with co-host Dr. Richard Roffman, a veteran 30-year publisher with extensive domestic and international experience, takes a non-biased approach based on real life experience in business as an American manufacturer and exporter. Made in America airs nationally each Saturday from 7-8:00 PM on Radio America. Link to Made in America at http://www.nealasbrysmadeinamerica.com.
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