Host Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 69 stations) with a prediction that employer provided health care coverage is in danger of being eroded as health care costs soar under Obamacare. Employers may convert employee healthcare coverage to the federal government program, which will give employees the short end of the stick.
The first guest on Made in America was Carrie Sheffield from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who returned to the show to make the case that right to work is favored by most workers in the U.S.
Neal noted that 48 percent of American workers live in right to work states, to which Sheffield added data that indicates that 75 percent of people surveyed support the right to work.
“Twenty-five percent of states honor right to work, which has seen companies uproot so that they don’t have to contend with union bosses. Workers don’t want to be forced to pay dues to unions only to see that money go to political parties that they don’t support. Detroit is a perfect example of a city where unions destroyed the economy and jobs,” maintained Sheffield, who added that she is troubled by the rise in union membership in the public sector where workers have even less power to control their union membership.
“Unions are operating the way they did in the 1950s, but the workforce is much different today, and do not want to have their money forcibly taken to support people that they don’t support,” noted Neal.
The next guest on Made in America was Kathleen White, director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at Texas Public Policy Foundation, who made the case that federal energy regulations directly impact job creation.
“If our federal government was more sympathetic to American energy companies, they would see huge job growth and see our prestige in the energy industry grow domestically and globally. EU countries would much rather buy energy from the U.S. than Russia. The government must allow more domestic drilling and control EPA regulations, which are a train wreck,” suggested White.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman concurred, noting that America’s energy resurgence is scaring countries like Saudi Arabia, which predicted a $1 trillion drop in global energy investment.
The discussion turned to the federal budget, which has a huge impact on the economy and job creation. It also boosts consumer confidence in the U.S.
“The Obama budget has no chance to get approved by Congress. It has become the most divisive issue facing the country,” according to Neal.
Joining the discussion was Susan Ferrechio from the Washington Examiner, who noted that that the budget is being fought by both parties, as well as internally within the GOP.
“The big sticking points are spending levels, which are still impacted by the sequestration ruling that has been on hiatus for two years. But it’s scheduled to come back, which will again impact spending levels. The GOP wants to have caps on spending, but don’t want these caps to impact military spending and national security. The Republican version is stalled in Congress, but even if it is approved, Obama will veto it. The GOP is driven to see Obamacare overturned,” concluded Ferrechio.
The final guest on Made in America was Aloysius Hogan, an attorney and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who specializes in labor and employment policy for CEI’s Center for Economic Freedom. He is dismayed by the union bias in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
“The Congressional Review Act was intended to provide for an up or down vote on regulations. But it doesn’t seem to apply to the NLRB, which while intended to be an independent board, is instead a five member organization where three of the members are Democrats with a pro-union bias,” according to Hogan.
Hogan is particularly alarmed by a union initiative that allows them to work for years to prepare for a union vote and then spring a surprise union vote that gives employers and employees only 10 days to react. It’s a disadvantage for both of them. Many people refer to it as the ambush election rule,” said Hogan.
As part of his ongoing segment on the rise in robots and cronyism, Dr. Roffman began his report noting that Tesla Motors chief, Elon Musk announced that they expect to have self-driving cars by this summer. And Mercedes recently premiered is working its own version of a driverless car.
Meanwhile, AVA has developed software purported to be able to create matches between men and women.
On the cronyism front, only six companies control some 1500 newspapers, 1100 magazines, 9,000 radio stations and 1500 TV stations. Overseeing these media outlets are: GE, NewsCorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS.
“All but Newscorp are run by cronies of this administration. Bias anyone? It doesn’t take much imagination that with this power comes an ability to influence politics. And it doesn’t help that many media executives are married or have close ties to key Obama influencers,” notes 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.
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