Neal Asbury began his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 47 stations) by acknowledging the important message that was sent to industrialized unions after workers at a VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted not to join the UAW, despite support for the UAW by VW management.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman agreed, characterizing the vote as a “smack down against unions,” and noted that the vote reflected the trend of manufacturers moving to right-to-work states like Tennessee to avoid the perils caused by unions in Detroit.
Made in America welcomed first-time guest Republican Congressman Mike Kelly, representing Western Pennsylvania’s 3rd congressional district and who voted against raising the debt ceiling.
“Everybody knows you have to live within your means, so raising the debt ceiling doesn’t help the country but it adds debt to future generations and it doesn’t create jobs. Passing on debt is not fair to future generations and it is simply irresponsible,” said Kelly.
Dr. Roffman noted that family farmers are being saddled with debt, who are having a hard enough time meeting their financial obligations and may be unable to leave their farm to their children. “If all of us have to live within our budgets, so does the government,” said Dr. Roffman.
Congressman Kelly proposed that the nation has to change course, and our number one priority must be on job creation and the economy.
Frequent guest Seton Motley, the president of Less Government, an organization dedicated to, well, less government including protecting the First Amendment from governmental assault, returned to the show to discuss America’s floundering trade program.
“People forget that the failed Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, that sought to control trade, caused prices to increase on 20,000 U.S. goods and contributed to the Great Depression. We’re not at that stage, but the U.S. acts in a global economy so we must invigorate our trade program, or we might contribute to a global depression,” predicted Motley, who added that the Democrats are actually impeding this process by not giving President Obama fast track trade authority.
Returning as a guest on “Made in America” was Stephen Moore, chief economist for The Heritage Foundation, who returned to the discussion about the UAW vote in Tennessee. He was actually in Tennessee during the union voting and brought his first-hand perspective.
“The unions have been trying to get a foothold in southern states for years, recognizing that more and more plants are being built in non-union right-to-work states. The strange part of this vote is that VW’s plant management actually welcomed the UAW’s participation because in Europe, unions are more cooperative. I think they would have found that while European unions are partners, in America, they are adversarial,” proposed Moore, who added that VW would have reflected that old adage: ‘be careful what you wish for.”
Moore suggested that the anti-union vote was not only a blow to the UAW, but to the Obama administration and the Democratic Party, which are in the back pocket of unions. This vote, predicted Moore, might signal a death knell for trade unions who continue to lose clout and members. Only public and government unions are seeing any growth.
“I don’t think we’ve heard the last of the vote in Tennessee and I wouldn’t be surprised if a recount was ordered by the union. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to institute card check, the public balloting that allows unions to intimidate workers to vote for the union,” concluded Moore.
Returning to Made in Americas was former Congressman Bob Beauprez (R-CO), who founded A Line of Sight, which presents informed commentary on issues ranging from education to foreign policy and energy.
Beauprez brought his Colorado perspective to the ongoing rosy employment numbers being communicated by the Obama administration regarding the supposed jobs that are being created.
“We get reports that the population of Colorado has gone up by 80,000 people, but 71,000 of our current citizens have left the workforce because they couldn’t find jobs, and we lost 30,000 new jobs. Yet, we still keep getting reports about how well the economy is doing. This economy is still going in the wrong direction,” according to Beauprez, who added that people in Colorado voted down a large tax increase because they were sick of seeing employers move operations to other states with more favorable tax policies.
“It’s all about unintended consequences, like raising the minimum wage, which the CBO predicts will cause the loss of 1,000,000 jobs, and will put small franchises out of business,” said Dr. Roffman.
Neal concluded with the proposal that states should decide these kinds of issues, not the federal government.
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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