Neal Asbury opened his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Made in America” show on Radio America by noting that the right to work is a basic American tenet and that Michigan’s decision to become the nation’s 24th right-to-work state is another indication that unions are no longer creating or preserving American jobs.
Joining the show as a first time guest was conservative radio host Steve Deace, who grew up in Michigan and still has strong ties there. An advocate of free enterprise and market competition, Deace suggested that it was inevitable for Michigan to become a right-to-work state.
“I think unions historically have been an imperfect but mostly necessary check-and-balance against corporatism, which I and most other liberty-loving Americans loathe. But now unions have become almost religious cults, working only on the behalf of what’s best for the group without thinking of everyone else. Unionism just doesn’t work anymore,” said Deace. This coming from a former teamster!
He is saddened by the demise of Detroit and the State of Michigan, which has been one of the country’s 20 best economies once since 1990. Other once-forced union states like Indiana (never been a top 20 state); Ohio (never); and Wisconsin (only twice) have all become right-to-work states. Deace maintained that from 1999-2009 personal income in right-to-work states has increased by more than 28 percent while forced union states have only increased by just over 14 percent.
Host Neal Asbury concurred, adding that in Detroit, Michigan’s largest city,34.5 percent of citizens are on food stamps and that 45.7 percent aren’t even in the workforce anymore.
“How can this be if the GM bailout created so many auto jobs? If you look at the actual figures, the Obama administration bailout only created 4,500 new net jobs at GM,” said Neal.
Deace agreed and added that only seven percent of Michigan’s eighth graders are proficient in reading, and that only Florida and Georgia have lower graduation rates.
“The old lefties that supported the federal government and wanted it to take care of everyone are now the new lefties that support “statesism,” creating its own political agenda. History has shown us this simply won’t work,” concluded Deace.
Neal and his co-host Dr. Rich Roffman turned the conversation back to the GM bailout.
“American taxpayers paid billions of dollars to GM to create only 4,500 new jobs. That makes no sense. And now Obama is trying to create an exit strategy to divest ourselves of GM stock, which will cost more billions of dollars that taxpayers will lose. We are all getting hosed,” said Neal.
Dr. Roffman added that American taxpayers will lose $14 – $17 billion on the divestiture of some 200 million GM shares, even while Terence O’Sullivan, the president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, draws a salary of $618,000.
Joining the show as a return guest was Republican Representative, Blake Farenthold, a lifelong resident of South Texas, who represents Texas’ 27th district.
“If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, on April 15 anyone making over $30,000 as an individual or $45,000 as a family will be hit with a tax increase of $3,000. In addition, if we go off the fiscal cliff, death taxes that allow for $5 million to be willed to heirs, will be excessively taxed, punishing people like farmers whose property usually exceeds $5 million,” predicted Farenthold.
Farenthold suggested that Obama will blame the Republicans if the country goes over the fiscal cliff. He noted that House Speaker John A. Boehner’s compromise plan isn’t likely to be accepted by conservative Republicans.
“We in the GOP can’t message ourselves out of a paper bag. In reality, anything we can do to avert the fiscal cliff is a tax cut,” concluded Farenthold.
Made in America’s final guest was new guest Marlo Lewis, Jr., a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he writes on global warming, energy policy, and other public policy issues.
Lewis took exception to the tour by author, activist and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben, who Lewis characterizes “as another climate alarmist who suggests that every day we don’t end our use of fossil fuels, it’s another day we come closer to the end of civilization.”
“I mean this guy is going around to college campuses demanding that they divest themselves of any holdings they have in energy companies that use fossil fuels. It’s part of a “fossil free” agenda. It’s like Al Gore’s ridiculous plan for the U.S. to go to “O-carbon electricity” in six years. What is funny about the leaders of this fossil free movement is that they show up to rallies in big gas guzzling cars,” said Lewis.
Taking up the fiscal cliff debate, Neal recalled how in 2010 the Republicans had Obama on the ropes, but they overplayed their hand and now they will be blamed for the fiscal cliff.
“The way Republicans played this was a huge mistake, but there will be a way for the Democrats to be linked to this in the next election…and it will come back to bite them,” added Neal.
Dr. Roffman suggested that Obama is in a campaign mode and isn’t going to let up as he works toward the 2014 election.
“His method is to attack and demonize Republicans. He wants them to take the fall if we go over the fiscal cliff. But the Democrats should be held responsible if taxes go up in 2013. I mean the Democrats rejected Boehner’s Plan B compromise plan, which is essentially Nancy Pelosi’s Plan A. It makes no sense,” concluded Dr. Roffman.
Each week Neal Asbury’s 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.nealasbrysmadeinamerica.com.
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