Host Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America (now on 70 stations) by wondering why the pope chose to tackle controversial topics like climate change and capitalism when he had built such goodwill with most of America.
An organization not building goodwill in America is Volkswagen, whose emission control manipulation was the Made in America topic taken up by Kyle Feldscher from the Washington Examiner.
As a lead-in, Neal noted that by cheating on their emission control technology Volkswagen could lose $18 billion, possibly putting them out of business.
“This is a worst case scenario for Volkswagen as they were building a reputation for being environmentally responsible. But you can’t confuse the fact that Volkswagen had to use 100 million lines of code to manipulate their emission control technology so that when inspected it would pass emission control all the while spewing out 40 times the acceptable standard for pollutants,” noted Feldscher.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman added that the fallout from this could have far reaching ramifications, as 34 states are thinking about suing Volkswagen for their reckless behavior. Dr. Roffman also pointed out that Volkswagen is one of several German-based companies that have been tagged for corporate misbehavior.
Feldscher reported that as the spotlight focuses on Volkswagen, the EPA is looking at other auto manufacturers to see if they are also manipulating their emission control devices.
“This is really a blow to consumers who bought Volkswagens because they thought they were helping the environment. But now they find they were doing the opposite. Although there is no recall yet, drivers are concerned whether they should continue driving their cars. The only advice from the EPA is to not drive as much, which is really not a solution” concluded Feldscher.
Return guest Patrick J. Michaels, director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, resumed the discussion about the pope’s visit to America.
“The pope said that it is the role of government to discard certain technologies and promote other options–clearly talking about fossil fuels. While he talks about the poor, he needs to understand that when cheap energy sources are available, it helps pull people out of poverty. If you want people to pay attention to the environment, you first have to resolve the poverty question,” suggested Michaels.
Dr. Roffman agreed that the pope has strong ties to the Argentinian approach to big government. But he can’t apply this approach to the 21st century.
“The pope is really the ‘Pope of Big Government,’ who uses leftist theology to push the philosophies of the Perons in Argentina and their embrace of redistributing wealth,” concluded Michaels.
The next guest on Made in America was Michael Whatley from the Consumer Energy Alliance, who took Hillary Clinton to task for her pronouncement that she does not approve of the Keystone Pipeline.
“It’s been 17 years since the permits were first drawn up for the Keystone Pipeline, and even though both the Senate and House are in favor of Keystone, it has become a litmus test for some voters. Hillary is simply trying to shore up her environmental base because she he is sagging in the polls,” proposed Whatley, who added that while she tries to appeal to environmentalists she is turning off labor, which supports Keystone.
Whatley noted that Hillary’s vote against Keystone flies in the face of the Obama administration’s own studies which have shown that Keystone is the safest and least expensive way to transport oil. The U.S. uses 830,000 barrels of oil a day and having a steady source of domestic oil will reduce our dependency on oil from the Middle East and Venezuela.
The final guest on Made in America was returning guest Michelle Minton from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who revealed that despite Australia’s strict regulations on tobacco sales, including forcing all tobacco manufacturers to retail their brand with plain packaging devoid of fancy advertising and logos. Yet, cigarette consumption actually rose and only waned when taxes shot up.
“We know that advertising impacts consumer behavior so we would assume that without advertising tobacco sales would go down, but they didn’t. Evidence shows that adults who smoke will continue to smoke. The only hope is among younger kids, who might be discouraged from taking up the habit to be cool. At some point, the ‘Nanny State,’ makes sense, but it’s not working in Australia and in the U.K.,” maintained Minton.
Wrapping up the show, co-host Dr. Rich Roffman continued his exploration of the impact robots are having on society. He highlighted a robot actor whose owners are trying to get it a Screen Actors Guild union card and even health insurance.
Dr. Roffman concluded his report by taking issue with the explosion of corruption and cronyism that pervades the government.
“A recent Gallup poll noted that 75 percent of Americans see widespread government corruption. This is not a surprise. This comes on the heels of a report by Caterpillar that may be laying off 22,000 workers, which would have a huge impact on the economy. But President Obama, on his white steed, agrees to come to the rescue of the laid off workers if congress passes his stimulus bill. The message is: remember which party saved your jobs,” proposed Dr. Roffman.
Finally, Dr. Roffman reminded listeners that the State Department, under then Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, created an arrangement for her longtime aide and confidante Huma Abedin to work for private clients as a consultant while serving as a top adviser in the department. That’s called “double dipping” and in this case–it’s illegal.
“Two salaries–no work. Only in crony America,” 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.
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