Neal Asbury began his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 46 stations) by wondering why the polls that receive so much attention are so flawed and contradictory, and how anyone can make sense of what is actually going on in this country.
“But there’s one thing we all know: the cost of government is skyrocketing and needs to controlled,” proposed Neal.
Made in America welcomed back Seton Motley, president of Less Government, an organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment from governmental assault.
“It’s not hard to figure out why the poll numbers show that the majority of Americans don’t like Obamacare. In fact, Obamacare has never had the support of the American people. People were promised all these goodies up front, but now face all the ‘uglies’ that are now being revealed. Maybe they should have checked with people before they launched Obamacare to see if it’s what people really wanted,” suggested Motley.
Motley maintained that Obamacare is fatally flawed. And it’s not just the disastrous website rollout. It’s also about the fact that most people signing up for Obamacare want the Medicaid benefits, which they get without having to pay for it.
“Why would a 23 year old kid sign up for Obamacare when they can still be on their parent’s insurance until they are 26? And why would they pay the higher costs if they can pay a penalty which is less than their premium? And why would anyone not want to be able to get health insurance coverage when they got very sick? It’s like crashing into a tree and calling up GEICO to get insured. It doesn’t work,” proposed Motley.
Neal Asbury and co-host Dr. Rich Roffman segued to a discussion about the inherent benefits of buying goods Made in America.
“On last week’s show we featured Lawson Nickol, president of All American Clothing, which is one of the few U.S. companies that can compete with Asia on jeans and other clothing. Our listeners responded with purchases at All American Clothing, which underscores the fact that American-made products can compete on price, and especially on quality, with most imports. Before you think about buying a knock-off, compare it to the real U.S.-made product and you will probably pay less for a much better product,” noted Neal, who added that the holiday season is a good time to support American entrepreneurs by buying U.S.-made products.
Dr. Roffman agreed, and suggested that this saving doesn’t just apply to clothes, but to also to LED lights, where American-made products are better made than Asian samples and carry a longer warranty.
The discussion turned to Republican Sen. Tom Coburn’s annual book of government waste, which revealed that the federal government wasted $30 billion in 2013 on “questionable and lower-priority” programs.
This included the fact that while the DOD grounded the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels due to budgeting issues, it still spent $631.4 million to construct aircraft they never intend to fly.
It also detailed that fact that the Army National Guard spent $10 million on Superman movie tie-ins while plans were being made to cut the strength of the Guard by 8,000 soldiers, “the real supermen and women who fight for truth, justice and the American way.”
Returning to “Made in America” was Professor Peter Morici, of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, a recognized expert on economic policy and international economics, who maintains that the typical American mom “must think government economists have rocks in their head when they tell us that over the last year, prices were up only 1.2 percent, and for the month of November, inflation was zero,” because moms don’t see it that way. .
“All the average mom sees is that they are paying more for the services they need and the food they buy. It doesn’t make any sense. Hamburger meat is going up, but the price for T-bone steaks is going down—but you can’t make Hamburger Helper with T-bone steak,” suggested Morici.
Inflation may look low, but Morici noted that it’s hard to explain to people why they have to pay more for health insurance under Obamacare for insurance that they don’t need or want. Or why families that once watched TV for free now must pay for cable, and why instead of kids going to the library for free to research homework assignments, families need to pay for Internet connections and cell phone bills.
Dr. Roffman characterizes this is as “ghost inflation;’ we don’t see it but it’s out there and it impacts everyone with higher prices.
Making his first appearance on Made in America was Drew Johnson, from the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, who revealed that Tom Steyer, the influential activist spearheading the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline who has made a fortune in oil investments, is fighting the pipeline because he has invested in a rival pipeline that would compete with Keystone.
“So we have this once big supporter of fossil fuels now fighting the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have created thousands of jobs and reduced our dependence on foreign oil just so he can make more money for himself. He also is giving money to Democrats, to enlist them in blocking construction of Keystone,” proposed Johnson.
Dr. Roffman noted that Steyer isn’t the only one blocking the Keystone XL for his own profit, because Warren Buffett is also using his influence to stop construction of the pipeline because it could reduce the profits of his railroad investment that now carries oil.
Building on this trend in cronyism and self-enrichment, Neal and Dr. Roffman concluded the show by returning to other examples of cronyism and its resulting waste of taxpayer dollars.
“Remember when farm subsidies once went to people who actually had farms or grew something? Well, Louis Farrakhan, president of Chicago’s Nation of Islam, has received $103,000 in farm subsidies. I’m pretty sure they don’t do a lot of farming in Chicago,” noted Dr. Roffman.
Dr. Roffman also revealed that the NFL, which is worth $60 billion, has had its not-for-profit status renewed by the government. He suggested that it’s probably just a coincidence that the NFL has been enlisted by the White House to promote Obamacare.
Finally, Dr. Roffman noted that Kurt DelBene, who most recently served as president of the Microsoft Office Division, will take over from Jeffrey Zeints, a management expert whom the president asked to rescue the Obamacare site after its disastrous rollout on Oct. 1. In other words, DelBene was hired to “rescue” –well—Zeints—who was hired to rescue the Obamacare website. So, in fact, the administration is rescuing the rescuer!
“DelBene has been associated with a number of Microsoft failures, so you have to wonder why he is heading this up, other than the fact that Microsoft has been a big Obama supporter,” 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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