Neal Asbury began his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 46 stations) by sharing the news that the census bureau confirms what many people have thought about the employment numbers: the Obama administration fudged the employment numbers in 2012 just before the election.
“We shouldn’t be surprised by this. We knew all along that the employment numbers weren’t real, so we continue to face the greatest security threat to this nation: lack of jobs,” said Neal.
Made in America welcomed R. Donahue Peebles to the show, recognized as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the nation. The owner of The Peebles Corporation, it is the country’s largest African American real estate development company with a multi-billion dollar development portfolio of luxury hotels, high-rise residential and Class A commercial properties and developments in Washington, D.C., New York, Las Vegas and Miami.
Like Neal, Peebles caught the entrepreneurial bug at an early age, recognizing that he wanted to make an impact on others and be able to steer his own course and control his own destiny.
“The strength of entrepreneurship is that we build a pathway to better economic opportunities, inspiring others to become entrepreneurs, which helps attract better and brighter workers who want to pursue their own opportunities. This creates jobs and builds our economy,” said Peebles.
As an African American, he feels it is important to be visible within the community and is a role model for others who recognize that if he can do it, they can, too. Peebles has been a generous donor to many civic organizations and has received numerous awards for his business acumen and philanthropy.
“Although the government is trying to help small business with initiatives like the SBA program, I’d like to see the Obama administration put more emphasis on entrepreneurship and put it on the front burner so we can create more jobs,” concluded Peebles.
Neal Asbury and co-host Dr. Roffman segued to a discussion about a move by some Swiss politicians to limit the compensation paid to CEOs.
“Switzerland has the public voting to limit executive pay to 12 times that of a company’s lowest paid worker. It’s known as the 1:12 initiative, and is the ultimate form of wealth redistribution. If it is passed, many successful Swiss companies have vowed to leave Switzerland taking with them jobs and the taxes that support the country,” said Neal, who hopes that this doesn’t give the Obama administration some thoughts of their own.
Dr. Roffman added that people have to realize that CEOs make the money they do because it takes a lot of sacrifice and fortitude to run a company, and that most people don’t have the skills to become a CEO of a big company. If you punish CEOs, you lose their leadership and the jobs they create,
NOTE: subsequent to the show’s taping, Swiss voters overwhelmingly voted down the 1:12 law.
Julie Gunlock, the Director of The Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) Culture of Alarmism Project, joined the show as a first-time guest. The IWF is on a mission to expand the conservative coalition, both by increasing the number of women who understand and value the benefits of limited government, personal liberty, and free markets, and by countering those who seek to ever-expand government in the name of protecting women.
She questioned the government’s continued support of a “nanny state” that seeks to control every aspect of an American’s life. The latest is a proposed regulation that would force pizza franchises and other fast food establishments to expand the nutrition information they provide to customers.
“Let’s face it. If you’re eating pizza or ordering a Big Mac you aren’t looking for healthier food choices. By instituting new regulations, they are really attacking fast food, which could put some places out of business, taking with them the accompanying jobs. The role of the government should not extend to dictating our eating habits, when research has shown us that most people tune out government warnings about food, and in some cases, may even consume more calories,” noted Gunlock.
Dr. Roffman added that the government may spend from $97 to $300 million to implement this new program — a huge waste of tax dollars.
“We’re empowering a bunch of officials who have no background or authority to control what we eat. In a free society, it comes down to choices. You have the freedom to make good choices and bad choices – but it’s our choice and not the government’s,” concluded Gunlock.
The final guest on Made in America was H. Leighton Steward, a geologist, environmentalist, author, and retired energy industry executive. He is affiliated with Plants Need CO2, whose mission is to educate the public on the positive effects of additional atmospheric CO2 and help prevent the inadvertent negative impact to human, plant and animal life if we reduce CO2.
“Even the authors of the Clean Air Act admit that their intention was never to regulate carbon dioxide, which is not a pollutant. The president is simply carrying through on his threat to bankrupt the nation’s coal industry by allowing the EPA to pass regulations that cannot be met by new or even existing coal mines. The ultimate result is that energy costs will skyrocket, punishing the poor who cannot afford higher electricity rates,” said Steward, whose work can be seen on www.plantsneedco2.org.
He is hopeful that the Supreme Court will rein in the power of the EPA and that Congress will understand that they have been misled about global warming.
Neal and Dr. Roffman concluded the show by returning to the exploration of cronyism and its resulting waste of taxpayer dollars.
“The Obama administration has shifted his full course press on using celebrities and professional athletes to front for Obamacare, to support his global warming and Green initiative. Millions of dollars are going to the NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA to address what the critics call ‘eco-hysteria,’” said Dr. Roffman.
He also warned about a Solyndra clone – Solar City Corporations – which like Solyndra is a Green company that received government funding, but is not profitable. They have lost $322 million since 2008, and now have told the government that their future survival depends on government rebates and tax breaks. And like Solyndra, is run by a friend of Obama. In this case it’s Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla.
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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