Host Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America by welcoming WAFS in Atlanta as the program’s 71st affiliate. Neal wants to see more attention paid to economic freedom so that America can prosper and bring jobs back to the U.S.
Co-host Dr. Rich Roffman proposing that revitalizing the U.S. manufacturing base will spur job growth and increase exports.
The first guest on Made in America was David Holt from the Consumer Energy Alliance, who maintained that by pushing back on oil and mining, the Obama administration has stunted job growth since the energy field has created thousands of good paying jobs—and could lead the way to national prosperity.
“Sixty percent of America’s energy needs are being met domestically, yet the Obama administration has put so many roadblocks on arctic exploration in Alaska (where 90 percent of the state has ties to energy) that it is forcing Shell to stop drilling which will result in thousands of Alaskan oil field workers having to look for work in other states. It sends a bad signal to America,” noted Holt.
Holt proposed that while Obama looked like he was allowing oil companies to drill offshore; it was merely a smokescreen since so many restrictions were piled on that Shell had to pull out after drilling one well, instead of digging multiple wells, which is customary.
“It was a red herring form the Obama administration that made it look it was allowing offshore drilling, but merely appeased his environmental supporters by pulling the plug prematurely,” maintained Dr. Roffman.
“All we hear from Obama is ‘no.’ But what is his energy plan? Nobody knows. The only thing that he is accomplishing is driving up consumer energy prices,” concluded Holt.
The conversation turned to Obama’s failure to create good paying American jobs.
“We’re engaged in a race to the bottom. Obama keeps announcing new jobs but most of them are minimum wage jobs that were designed as a first job to give young people work experience. Instead, these jobs are going to the family’s main wage earner which doesn’t generate the money they need to live on. It’s gotten so bad that after Berkley, California announced a $19 an hour minimum wage, stage actors are suing their union because the minimum wage will make it impossible for theaters to operate profitably, reducing the number of shows they can produce and the number of actors that can hone their craft,” according to Neal.
Dr. Roffman agreed, recalling that his son started with Apple as a minimum wage employee, but after 8 years, is a manager making good money since he built up his experience and skills.
Neal and Dr. Roffman engaged in a brief discussion of Bernie Sanders’ plan to give money to anyone who needs it, prompting the playing of the iconic song from Fiddler on the Roof: “If I were a rich man.”
The next Made in America guest was Bill Tatro writing for Townhall, who highlighted the fact that America is losing 50,000 export jobs a month, resulting from an ongoing global recession.
“GDP is down around the world. If people aren’t buying your products, it’s hard to export anything,” said Tatro.
Tatro recalled the impact of a global economic crisis on his hometown of Rochester, NY, when the Kodak plant laid-off 25,000 workers. The company promised to find jobs for everyone; and they did. The problem was that workers making $60,000 a year found themselves making $15,000.
“They had a job, but not a sustainable one. This is exactly what is going on around the country,” maintained Tatro.
The final guest on Made in America was Charlotte Hays from the Independent Women’s Forum, who is concerned that the government is intruding more frequently into the workplace, which could have disastrous results for workers, especially for women.
“I want to see equal pay for both men and women, but new labor laws are going way beyond their intentions. For example, if a man gets a merit raise for superior work, lawyers can come in and demand that women receive the same raise. It will kill merit raises, but will make lawyers very rich,” maintained Hays, who added that Hannah Beth Jackson, who sponsored the new legislation, had lawyers and law firms as one of her biggest sponsors in her last election. “A bit of cronyism here?”
“The culture of the workplace is being changed…and not for the better,” noted Neal.
Neal returned to a discussion on minimum wage, noting that the American Action Forum is estimating that if a national $15 per hour minimum wage were passed, it could result in 6.6 million lost jobs.
Dr. Roffman added a new installment of his cronyism report with the news that when Bill Clinton wanted money for their foundation–to fund a national healthplan in Rwanda, he had a hard time rounding up donors. But then Hillary became Secretary of State, the $27 million he wanted magically appeared through her department.
“That my friend is Clinton Cronyism at its best,” 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.
OCT
