Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 44 stations) by expressing a personal conflict regarding immigration – balancing the contributions made by educated legal immigrants with the financial drain that 11 million largely unskilled illegal immigrants puts on the American economy. This is only exacerbated by 26 million underemployed and unemployed Americans that need jobs, and whose jobs would be taken by the 11 million illegal immigrants if they are suddenly granted amnesty.
Co-host Dr. Rich Hoffman added that this impact would be largely borne by students and minorities that are essentially shut out of the workforce.
Joining the show as a return guest was Republican Representative Louis J. Barletta, who represents his hometown of Hazleton and the people of Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District.
Barletta believes that when we talk about immigration issues, the focus should be on securing our borders, not amnesty.
“We tried granting amnesty to 1.5 million immigrants under Ronald Reagan, which was based on a promise to secure our borders. It didn’t happen and today we find ourselves with 11 million illegal aliens. The American people won’t be fooled again when it comes to securing our borders. This is crucial if we are to protect our national security and protect the American worker,” said Barletta,
Barletta quoted figures from The Heritage Foundation which estimated that if all the illegal immigrants were granted benefits like food stamps, Medicare and health insurance, it would cost Americans $62 trillion. He also noted that half of the illegal aliens in this country are actually people who have overstayed their visas, and have just disappeared into American society.
“The American people don’t agree with amnesty. But if they want their opinions to count they need to pressure the government to stop amnesty legislation. We already have seen what happens when we don’t monitor illegal aliens—some sneak in and become terrorists,” warned Barletta.
Neal and Dr. Roffman moved onto a discussion regarding the possibility that America could become a net energy exporter if the environmentalists and EPA stop putting roadblocks that prevent the collection and mining of coal and natural gas for exports.
“Coal production adds more than $1 trillion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), generating more than $360 billion in household income and supporting nearly 7 million U.S. jobs. The world craves our coal, especially in countries like South Korea, where their import of coal went up 81 percent to 10 million tons; or to Japan, where U.S. coal imports went up 119 percent to 7 million tons. And coal exports also are up in Brazil, China and several European nations,” said Neal.
Co-host Dr. Roffman concurred, adding that the U.S. has the technology and the ability to become a net energy exporter, just as the U.S. is the world’s leading agricultural exporter. The difference is that Congress approves the $1 trillion in subsidies that go to giant corporate farms, while the average farmer gets very little federal support.
Joining the show was James Pethokoukis, the Money & Politics columnist-blogger for the American Enterprise Institute, who suggested that the U.S. has lost its ability to create the kind of innovative new companies that made this country the world leader in new innovations. The U.S. has historically had the most innovative economy in the world.
“We are in danger of losing our competitive edge in innovation. If we don’t do something about it, this country and the world will be deprived of disruptive innovation – the kind of breakthrough products that create new markets and new jobs. We innovate less today in a rebounding economy than we did in 2010, 2011 and 2012. We need the government to support our nation’s entrepreneurs,” concluded Pethokoukis.
The final guest on Made in America was Stacy Swimp, a spokesman for the Project 21 black leadership network, and the president and CFO of the Frederick Douglass Society — a nonpartisan public policy and education institution that promotes free market solutions and advocates for labor freedom and school choice.
“When it comes to talking about the lack of jobs for African Americans, we have to talk about immigration, and be clear that there is difference between undocumented workers and illegal aliens. Undocumented workers came to this country legally but no longer have their documents in force, not like illegal aliens, who are hurting all levels of Americans by taking their jobs,” proposed Swimp.
Swimp believes that this nation is facing a crisis when it comes to providing the federal benefits and services that are being taken by illegal aliens, including $55 billion to educate the children of illegal aliens and adding billions of dollars to this nation’s healthcare costs.
Neal and Dr. Roffman continued their ongoing segment on government waste and cronyism, and highlighted how cronyism is impacting job creation.
“When I lived in Southeast Asia, I thought I’d seen the ultimate form of corruption and cronyism —but the U.S. is getting close to these levels,” said Neal.
Dr. Roffman suggested that the GM bailout was a perfect example of cronyism. “Taxpayers gave GM $60 billion, with some $10 billion still unpaid. What are they doing with our money? Using some of it to sponsor the Free Enterprise Tour created by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The irony is that GM got their money from the federal government – the exact opposite of free enterprise,” suggested Dr. Roffman.
He added that the newest form of cronyism is the position of head of the National Security Agency being given to Susan Rice to reward her for taking the heat on Benghazi, even though Rice has no background or credibility when it comes to national security. And best of all, President Obama may evoke executive privilege to prevent her from testifying about Benghazi.
“It’s good to have friends in high places,” concluded Dr. Roffman.
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.nealasburysmadeinamerica.com.
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