Host Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 70 stations) by admonishing Democrats and others for attacking Uber and its drivers because they aren’t unionized and don’t fuel the union political machine.
The first guest on Made in America was Ivan Osorio from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who agreed with Neal’s assessment that Uber is being attacked by unions who want to see drivers classified as employees so they can be unionized.
“Union employees are usually regimented, working specific hours and shifts. Uber drivers don’t conform to that, driving irregular, short-term hours, and are contractors, not employees,” noted Osorio, who added that Uber is also being attacked because they are more dependable than cabs, charge lower fees, and go into neighborhoods that some taxis won’t venture into.
Osorio added that Uber attacks by unions aren’t as fierce as the war being waged against fast food franchises like McDonalds, failing to take into account that they are owned by small business owners, not by the corporation. But unions want to intimidate them into joining the union so that unions can use the dues to further their political aims. The tragedy is that NLRB stands behind this.
“Unions will take dues from anyone. But the majority of their membership are government employees, not from the private sector and they want to see this grow,” proposed Osorio.
Curtis Ellis from the American Jobs Alliance, returned to Made in America to suggest that Donald Trump is hitting a nerve across America because he taps into a general feeling that decades of disastrous trade deals and failed immigration policies are destroying the middle class.
Neal agreed, adding that George Bush’s failures led to Obama’s election, and now Obama’s failures are leading to support for Trump.
“Trump is drawing big crowds, but he really doesn’t have an immigration plan other than putting up a wall, which has drawn great public approval. It’s all about emotion and intellect that fire up the crowds. In essence, the silent majority isn’t silent anymore,” maintained Dr. Rich Roffman, co-host of Made in America.
Ellis can see Trump beating Hillary in the rust belt states because his message appeals to the working class, who are getting hurt by Obama policies, including his immigration policy. People at the lower end of the pay scale, which includes blacks and Hispanics, all share the desire to get back to work.
The next guest on Made in America was Marita Noon from Energy Makes America Great, who proposed that the EPA is on such a quest for power that they are now regulating puddles in back yards.
“The EPA is charged with protecting ‘waters of the U.S.,’ but it is only supposed to apply to navigational waterways. However, now they want to regulate any kind of water, even in a backyard. A woman in Virginia with a small stream in her backyard wanted to build a gazebo near the stream, but the EPA knocked on her door and told her it was disallowed because it was too close to her stream. The EPA and its environmental allies are on a power grab. They don’t like fossil fuels and they don’t even like cows, because they emit methane. It’s out of control,” suggested Noon.
The final guest on Made in America was Gordon Chang, the author of the “Coming Collapse of China,” who proposed that from 1978 through the mid-1990s, China had the fastest-growing economy in the world, but its leaders failed to plan for current global economic conditions.
“It’s only a matter of a few years before China suffers a crippling financial collapse. They are admitting that their economy will only grow by 2.2 percent, but even that might not be attainable,” according to Chang.
Chang suggested that people look at China the way we once looked at Japan—economic giants that influenced the world. But just as Japan’s influence has waned, so will China’s. Even if China fails and continues their predatory trade policies, it will have a minimum impact on the U.S. because China needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs China.
Wrapping up the show, Neal commented on the sad fall of Jared Fogle as the Subway spokesperson, and suggested that that it offers a lesson to other advertisers that the vetting process must be more thorough.
On his ongoing report on cronyism, Dr. Roffman revealed that after the government audited the Department of Homeland Security, it was found that some agents with government credit cards spent $31,000 at Starbucks – all taxpayer money (24 percent of which the auditing bureau found appropriate). And that from 2012-2014, DHS employees charged $400,000 to their government-issued credit cards.
“Am I the only one that is outraged that that the government never has any qualms about spending taxpayer money for their own personal benefit? I’m pretty sure that that this defines cronyism,” concluded Dr. Roffman.
Neal reminded listeners that the IRS has excelled in spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money on lavish parties and other perks.
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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