Host Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 48 stations), by suggesting that the U.S. Patent Offices’ decision to revoke the Washington Redskin’s trademark logo is an attack on intellectual property and the start of a slippery slope for businesses trying to protect their intellectual property rights.
“This is just about ideology, and not about the legality of a trademark. Does this mean that I have to look over my shoulder for fear that the U.S. Patent Office can void my intellectual property? Can the government decide what trademarks are offensive?” posed Neal.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman agreed, wondering why with all the troubles faced by America, including Iraq, Harry Reid decided that this issue was important enough to bring to the Senate floor.
Returning to Made in America was Huey Newsome of Project 21, who took up the controversy surrounding the Redskin’s trademark, and noted that intellectual property is a business’ private property, and capitalism protects private property. “The government is supposed to protect people’s private property, which includes intellectual property, because it has value. So when the government attacks a trademark, they are sending a message that this intellectual property has no value. Yet, they picked on the Redskin’s trademark because it is a very valuable trademark. They are opening a Pandora’s Box that puts ideology above private property,” proposed Newsome.
Dr. Roffman wondered where this will end since there are 600 trademarks that currently carry a Native American image, which are held by 450 companies.
The next guest on Made in America was William Yeatman, a Fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who concluded that the Keystone XL Pipeline debate turned into one about symbolism, and not about energy.
“How can anyone object to a project that will add $9 billion to our economy and employ thousands of workers? Seventy percent of the population supports the Keystone XL Pipeline, yet a small group of environmentalists is dictating Obama’s energy policy. This administration has a knee-jerk reaction when it comes to fossil fuels,” maintained Yeatman.
Dr. Roffman concurred, reminding listeners that the Keystone XL Pipeline will not only contribute to the economy and job creation, but it is a safer way to transport oil than with trains or trucks. It also will have a negligible impact on global warming, adding a mere 1/10th of one percent to our of carbon emission footprint.
Neal added that if the U.S. government embraced clean coal technology, we could help reduce our energy dependency, improve the environment, while exporting this technology to China and India whose people are choking from outdated coal-fired plants.
Returning to Made in America was Wayne Allyn Root, a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee, successful entrepreneur, small business defender, business speaker, Capital Evangelist and author of “The Murder of the Middle Class.”
Root revealed that as a native Nevadan, he is thinking about running against Harry Reid. But in the meantime, he wants to see the Tea Party and the mainstream Republican Party work more closely on issues. He also wants to see the two parts of the GOP come together and support the winning primary candidate.
“The key is to beat the Democrats. But some of the candidates running on the Republican ticket are too moderate and often support Obama initiatives. I can’t vote for someone like that. Look at the fallout after the Democrats in Seattle passed the $15 per hour minimum wage. Small companies are being driven out of business so some business owners are suing the city’s government. It’s an attack on the middle class and it’s killing jobs,” said Root, who added that it only helps big business who are “in cahoots” with the Obama administration.
The final guest on Made in America was return guest Stephen Moore from the Heritage Foundation, whose recent column entitled, “Obama’s Economy: Where did All the Young Workers Go?” revealed that the teen unemployment rate remains at 19.2% — even with the participation rate down sharply. He proposed that the key to younger people finding work is to have started working earlier in their life.
“Studies show that teens that start working at a job at a young age have higher earnings later in life. One study found that those who work as teenagers have earnings that are about 10% higher at age 27 than those who did not work. But these jobs are harder to come by since 2007 when Nancy Pelosi helped pass the minimum wage increase, which shut out younger workers, even as older workers are not retiring,” said Moore, who added that many Americans have opted for government assistance instead of seeking employment.
“There’s a paradigm shift. Older workers are actually competing with younger workers for jobs. If employers can pay experienced workers the same wage as untrained younger workers, it’s an easy decision to make,” suggested Dr. Roffman.
Neal and Dr. Roffman moved on to their weekly segment identifying rampant cronyism.
“Hillary Clinton was rightfully slammed by media after she told a reporter that they were dead broke when they left the White House. But in reality, while they were publicly supporting higher taxes for the wealthy and the increased estate tax, behind the scenes they were working feverishly to escape these taxes by hiding their money; which included millions of dollars and the taxes on two very large homes,” revealed Dr. Roffman, who humorously noted that age has caught up to Hillary Clinton, who today is beginning to resemble Benjamin Franklin.
This lead to Dr. Roffman’s report on how the Obama’s connection with CBS and Steven Spielberg lead to a highly desirable summer job for first daughter Malia as a production assistant on Steven Spielberg’s new CBS TV series, Extent.
“What goes around comes around,” concluded Dr. Roffman.
Each week Neal Asbury’ 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.
JUN
