Neal Asbury began his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 47 stations) by expressing his discomfort with President Obama’s recent initiative to fund manufacturing hubs in Chicago; Canton, Ohio; and in North Carolina.
“As an entrepreneur myself operating manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S., do I really want the government deciding where entrepreneurs like me should establish operations? Why those three locations and not elsewhere? That’s intrusive and especially ironic since Obama’s tax and regulatory policies have actually contributed to manufacturers shutting down operations or moving their facilities,” proposed Neal.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman wondered who is going to pay for these hubs, and suggested that this was another example of our expanding government influence with the ever-growing opportunity for cronyism.
Made in America welcomed first-time guest Jorge Lima, policy director for The LIBRE Initiative, a non-profit grassroots organization that advances the principles and values of economic freedom to empower the U.S. Hispanic community so it can thrive and contribute to a more prosperous America.
Lima suggested that Hispanics are largely ignored in the conversation about entrepreneurship despite the fact that Hispanics are leaders nationally in creating small businesses and hiring.
“We’re tired of the broken promises by the Obama administration when it comes to supporting entrepreneurs, especially Hispanics. His healthcare policies are really hurting Hispanic employers who must make tough decisions on paying for employee healthcare or passing more of the burden onto their employees who won’t be able to afford it. Entrepreneurs should be concerned about ways to grow their businesses, not how to manage healthcare costs,” said Lima.
Lima noted that his organization has started an accountability campaign to send a message to Congress and to the president that they will be held accountable for bad decisions, such as the healthcare policy and the failed immigration policy.
Neal and Dr. Roffman returned to their discussion about the president’s feel good speech about creating manufacturing hubs.
“This is going to be another example of Obama giving a speech and proposing programs that lack any action. We can’t build manufacturing hubs if we don’t have employees with the skill sets required for modern manufacturing. Earning a liberal arts degree is nice, but it’s hard to find a job, which is why most of these graduates have moved back home and taken minimum wage jobs. They would have been better served by going to trade schools where within 8 months they would gained the skills to find a good paying manufacturing job,” proposed Neal.
Dr. Roffman agreed, noting that establishing these government selected hubs just adds more bureaucracy, and won’t create jobs for months or years. The result is that more people will drop out of the workforce, making them feel irrelevant. That’s the fastest way to kill innovation.
Neal wants to see a change of heart when it comes to advocating new government policies, especially a change in heart regarding taxes, regulations and support for unionism.
Wayne Crews, VP for policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined the show to discuss the increasing power grab by the executive branch of the government.
“Our constitution isn’t perfect, but it’s better than what we have now. Congress only passed 72 laws under Obama, while his regulatory agencies passed 3,600 new rules and regulations. In essence, his regulatory agencies are setting law, especially those controlling critical issues in finance, banking and healthcare,” according to Crews.
Crews said we’re not just seeing a separation of power, we’re seeing too much power…period. He wants to see Congress take back the power they gave to the executive branch. “We don’t want to put the government in the driver’s seat when it comes to our lives.”
The final guest on “Made in America” was return guest John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who shared his contention that George Washington was a true entrepreneur, who transformed himself after leaving the presidency.
“Washington had a small tobacco operation, but converted the land to wheat, which lead to his creating a prosperous flour mill and whisky distillery at Mr. Vernon, which can still be seen today,” said Berlau, who added that Washington was also a pioneer in crowd sourcing.
Reminding listeners that cronyism hurts all of us, Neal and co-host Dr. Rich Roffman concluded the show by returning to ways that cronyism rewards the few at the expense of the many.
“There is nothing more precious to America than our freedom of the press, but the FCC recently made a power grab to try and control the content of media outlets whose political agenda clashes with those of the Obama administration. They hired USC and the University of Wisconsin to monitor select media to determine their slant on stories. How were these two universities chosen? Both received a combined $1.8 million from large Democratic fundraiser George Soros. A coincidence? I think not,” 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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