Passing the new budget–five years in the making—lead off the discussion on Neal Asbury’s nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 46 stations). Neal was gratified that at least Congress had a voice in the budget process and President Obama didn’t unilaterally decide to pass the budget himself.
Made in America welcomed back Tennessee Congresswomen Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who noted that while the new $1.1 trillion budget isn’t perfect, at least it adds some certainty for citizens and for the marketplace.
“We have to prevent giving this administration a blank check on spending. Some people might be upset that as part of our vote to reduce discretionary spending, it also included some funding for veterans, but veteran benefits are actually included in discretionary spending. We are working to make cuts elsewhere so we can restore veteran benefits,” said Blackburn, who added that one goal is to educate the American people about the importance of making sure veterans have their full benefits.
The Congresswomen wants to see more amendments limiting spending, and with a budget in place, Republicans can force Harry Reid to bring them to the floor.
Neal and co-host Dr. Rich Roffman continued the discussion they had last week about our growing culture of dependency.
“After 50 years and $20 trillion, the war on poverty begun under LBJ hasn’t done anything to reduce poverty. Instead, it’s caused people to depend on entitlements instead of seeking employment. Now with unemployment benefits that stretch to 99 weeks, people are out of the workforce for almost two years, depriving them of the discipline and skills they will need to hold full-time jobs. The way out of poverty is to create more jobs, not create more entitlement programs,” proposed Neal.
Dr. Roffman agreed, noting that President Obama is out of touch with reality when he suggested that zip codes keep people from getting jobs.
“That’s absolutely wrong. People want to work, no matter where they live. In New York, they advertised that 60 jobs would open to repair and paint a bridge – 1,500 people showed up. Does that sound like people don’t want to work? They need jobs,” noted Dr. Roffman.
He suggested that throwing money at poverty is not the solution, since that’s a temporary fix. People lose their incentive to work.
“But if all people hear is that they can’t succeed without the government, they will continue to rely on entitlements,” concluded Dr. Roffman.
Returning to “Made in America” was Seton Motley, President of Less Government, who recently wrote about the farm bill, which Neal characterized as a bill that gives millions of dollars to millionaires, and has been perverted from its original intention to save family farms.
“The farm market has become global, with five of six countries controlling the cost of farm goods, and then applying tariffs and subsidies. So today’s farm bill has become a crony socialist policy, whereby countries react to the farm policies of other nations, controlling the costs of produce, especially commodities like sugar,” noted Motley.
He predicted that after 80 years in the making, it will be nearly impossible to unilaterally amend the farm policy because every county will need to sign off on it. And a move by one country to reduce costs will only cause other countries raise their prices and it will be perceived as a sign of weakness, added Motely.
Making a return appearance on “Made in America” was John Manzella, president of Manzella Trade Communications, Inc., and an author & speaker on global trends, international business & economic issues. He is the editor of “The Manzella Report.”
Manzella is puzzled why so many people are frustrated by American capitalism and are looking at China’s version as a model.
“American capitalism has taken a hit, but it’s built on a foundation of laws and a Constitution. It accepts flaws and recognizes that mistakes are made, but can be overcome. China’s state capitalism cannot accept flaws and its current double digit growth can’t be sustained, especially after its current economic leaders are no longer setting policy,” predicted Manzella, who added that people don’t really have access to the inner workings of the China market and their assumptions are based on faulty conclusions.
Neal suggested that the President is getting a pass on the corruption and cronyism that permeates his administration and that the public should be outraged, but the media doesn’t pay attention to it. Fortunately, Dr. Roffman does. [nice segue David!!]
“The new spending bill earmarks $118 million to UIC uranium, which enriches uranium. Yet, even the CEO admits that uranium prices are falling, which could send his company into bankruptcy—as soon as this month! Another Solyndra in the making. The good news is that the government had the sense to turn down another $2 billion loan that UIC wanted to continue their business,” revealed Dr. Roffman. .
If you think the fallout has ended from the ill-fated $700 million that went to CGI to create the broken ACA website, Dr. Roffman pointed to $200 million that is going to Accenture to fix and operate it. A surprise to no one is that Accenture is a large donor to the president and Democratic Party, and its employees are even urged to donate to the Democratic Party.
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.
JAN
