Kicking off his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Truth for America Show” on WZAB-AM, Neal Asbury opened the show by admonishing Democratic leaders like Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer for pushing a polarizing issue such as immigration at a time when the country is still reeling from the healthcare debate.  He proposed that this initiative as nothing more than a “naked political ploy to help their floundering reelection campaigns.”

While acknowledging that immigration is a thorny issue, Asbury reiterated his support for immigrants who followed the legal path to citizenship and have made enormous contributions.  This issue resonated with him because while living in Asia for 20 years, he had been married to an Asian woman for 12 years, but still had to wait in long lines for more than six months before he was able to obtain a legal US visa.

“Millions of immigrants in the US are following the legal path to citizenship by standing in these long lines, the way I did.  They should be commended, not vilified and grouped with those who illegally came into this country,” added Asbury.

Neal’s first guest was Michael L. Ducker, president, International of FedEx Express, who rose to his current position from his start with FedEx as a package handler. Today he is responsible for setting strategy and overseeing business operations for the company’s four international regions, as well as its U.S. Export business and Express Freight Services.

While Ducker applauded President Obama’s goal to double exports over the next five years, he had hoped to see more trade promotion coming out of the White House and backed by some leadership to champion the cause and dedicate more resources toward the agenda.   Part of this commitment must be approving the three large pending free trade agreements.

“I think we all want to see more urgency in international trade because it plays such a vital role in job creation.  Increasing international trade should be a top agenda item for Congress if the US is to remain the world’s largest exporter,” said Ducker, who is concerned that other nations have seized trade opportunities abroad by passing the type of bi-lateral trade agreements that would also benefit the US.

Ducker sees growing trade opportunities abroad as many nations are coming out of the global economic downturn and are starting to show GDP growth.   This includes China, India, Brazil, Vietnam and Mexico.

He is encouraged to see that the protectionist stances adopted by other countries during the global economic downturn has been reversed.  “These lead to less economic growth, not more.  Trade barriers have no place in international commerce,” said Ducker.

A source of concern, however, is that exports using ocean vessels have been severely reduced due to a lack of shipping containers. Ducker proposed that the faster than expected global economic improvement caught may shippers by surprise and the industry was not able to ramp up the shipping containers required to meet new demand.  This is already hurting US export companies.  Although Ducker was quick to point out that FedEx was prepared for the turnaround and had acquired the shipping containers they needed.

“We’re seeing GDP rise around the globe and we expect strong demand for our services, so we are cautiously optimistic about the second half of 2010.  We expect to see growth in the national services we have introduced in Mexico, China, the UK and in India,” said Ducker.

Making a return appearance on “Truth for America” was Dr. Eric Wargotz, Republican U.S. Senatorial Candidate for Maryland and current Maryland Commission President.  An experienced leader and activist; a physician-businessman, conservative, and conservationist, Dr. Wargotz proposed that “people are sick and tired of entrenched incumbents who are more worried about their own political life than the people they represent.  They are tired of compromise and empty political rhetoric.”

Wargotz does not think people want a seat at the political table; they “want to chop it up and burn it.”

Wargotz proposes that there are four main issues that resonate with Maryland voters:  1) healthcare, the debate for which is not over, and which he expects to be repealed or be de-funded once the Republicans take back the House; 2) Fiscal responsibility – creating jobs by supporting small business and economically stimulating  domestic manufacturers  through tax cuts; 3) national security abroad and domestically to combat terrorism while also controlling illegal immigration; 4) the health of the Chesapeake Bay, which Wargotz claims his opponent has ignored.

“When it comes to immigration policy, Arizona got it right. They are simply enforcing the federal law on the books.  I expect other states to follow suit,” predicted Wargotz, who noted that

“the US is the only country that rewards illegal immigrants while other countries punish them.”

When the discussion turned to the disastrous recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Wargotz questioned why there was no established policy that dealt with the policies and procedures for these types of ecological disasters. “The White House was asleep at the wheel,” he suggests.

Wargotz is feeling optimistic about his chances to grab the Maryland Senate seat and polls seem to indicate that he is the frontrunner.  Neal Asbury’s Truth for America has formally endorsed Wargotz for the Senate seat.

The Neal Asbury Truth for America show tackles free trade and enterprise issues every Friday from 5:00 PM until 6:00 PM on WZAB-AM 880.  The show is streamed live on line at WWW.880THEBIZ.COM, which is affiliated with Bloomberg Radio and CNBC, and can be heard on 920-WGKA (Atlanta); KSEV (Houston); 1500 AM (Washington D.C.); 1220-KDOW (San Francisco); and 1300-KKOL (Seattle)

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