Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 44 stations) by making reference to the nation’s bipolar economy where the DOW is soaring while there are no jobs. Meanwhile, the nation added another $1 trillion in taxes.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman concurred, adding that there are 47 million Americans on food stamps and 89 million can’t find jobs. What’s more, government spending has continued to increase—adding perhaps an additional 62 percent over the next year—according to the new Democratic budget presented this week.
Joining the show as a first time guest was Congressman Luke Messer, the Congressman for Indiana’s 6th Congressional District. Messer serves on the House Committees on Budget, Foreign Affairs, and Education & the Workforce.
“It’s been 1,400 days since the Senate last wrote a budget. Now they’ve finally submitted a budget that they say will reduce spending by $1 trillion. They claim they are taking a balanced approach but there’s no balance at all,” said Messer.
He proposed that while the president likes to brag that he’s making cuts, they aren’t; they just look like cuts.
Messer believes that the Republican-backed budget makes cuts without being draconian. Their budget amounts to cutting expenses by 2 cents for every dollar spent to address the $85 million sequestration.
“Nobody wants to touch Medicare, but it’s going to go bankrupt by 2023 unless we can cut costs. Our premium support program helps those in financial need and asks those with more money to pay more. It works for everyone on the same level. But we need leadership in the White House if we’re going to make this work,” concluded Messer.
“Look, I’m willing to work harder, and I’ll take less, but there has to be a shared burden,” said Neal.
Neal and co-host Dr. Rich Roffman segued to a discussion of the call to tax products purchased on the Internet. Neal had recently appeared on the liberal iconic television and talk radio host Thom Hartmann’s The Big Picture show to where he strongly advocated that imposing sales tax on Internet companies amounts to taxation without representation.
“It makes no sense for small Internet commerce sites to have to track the taxes imposed for products sold in one state when it’s purchased in another. Some 45 states impose sales taxes, so a company has to track these taxes state by state. The cost to conform these regulations will crush a small business owner,’ said Neal, who added that small businesses are the real bright spot in the economy, but imposing these taxes will hurt them the most.
Dr. Roffman reminded listeners that the original Tea Party occurred because the colonists objected to a mere ½ cent tax on tea. It was all about taxation without representation. And he noted that it’s happening again with the Internet tax.
Neal noted that by adding more burdens to small business –many of whom started at the kitchen table or garage—will hurt stay-at-home moms, parents with disabled kids, wounded veterans and unemployed workers.
Neal’s next guest was Marlo Lewis, Jr., a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he writes on global warming, energy policy, and other public policy issues.
Lewis proposed that the EPA (which Neal labels the “Job Destruction Agency” for their rulings that hurt the coal industry and raise energy costs for small business), is out for a power grab so that they enact policies without having to run them through Congress. He characterized the EPA’s move as a “constitutional crisis.”
Lewis recently wrote a piece for Forbes entitled ”EPA Nominee Gina McCarthy Has A History Of Misleading Congress,” in which he accused McCarthy of colluding with the Clean Air Office to propose and adopt CO2 performance standards that effectively ban the construction of new coal generation. The ruling was a gift to oil companies and to the auto industry, which could scale back fuel economy standards.
“In hindsight, her (McCarthy) assurances and the guidance documents were the setup for a bait-and-fuel-switch.”
Joining the show as a first time guest was Coletta Dorado, President and CEO of AZZLY, a web-based electronic health records management company. Her company has a vital role in the management of office-based facilities, which are, after all, small businesses.
“Based on government credentialing and certification process measurements, AZZLY® has emerged as one of the most innovative and technologically advanced patient care management™ clinical and business-process systems in healthcare today. Meaningful Use Stage 1, Stage 2 and CMS Direct Data Submission Quality Outcomes READY!,“ said Dorado.
She noted that “it’s all about patient care,” adding that medical offices are part of a large, fractured medical system that is dependent on accurate record keeping. She estimated that administrative costs rack up $350 – $750 billion a year, which put a big financial burden on physician entrepreneurs.
Dr. Roffman and Neal continued their ongoing segment on government waste and cronyism.
Dr. Roffman began the discussion by revealing that the government is studying a $5.5 billion loan to fund the XPress West high speed rail between southern California and Las Vegas.
“If you think this sounds like another example of cronyism, you bet it is. The biggest booster of the rail is Nevada Senator Harry Reid, the Majority Leader. The other benefactor of this rail is the labor unions who will earn billions in construction costs – payback for their vote in 2008 and 2012.”
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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