This week on ‘Truth for America’ Neal Asbury opened the show by asking whether President Obama and his staff have a severe case of Attention Deficit Disorder. He compared them to cats that go after shiny objects. “Every time the administration tries to tackle job creation – the biggest challenge facing the nation – something else comes along that distracts them. Yes, the oil spill is a disaster, and they need all of the resources available, but the economy is also a disaster,” noted Asbury.

Asbury took exception to the Obama administration’s claims that it added 431,000 new jobs in May because almost all of the job creation came from short-term hiring for the 2010 census. Essentially, they are only part-time jobs.

What is particularly disappointing is that the private sector only added 41,000 jobs, which is not enough to make a dent in unemployment, which is over 9.9 percent, not including those who have given up looking or took “shadow jobs” (jobs beneath their skills).

“Imagine how many jobs would have been created if we encouraged entrepreneurs and small business by eliminating the uncertainty that prevents risk taking. This includes high taxes, card check, and cap and trade regulations,” said Asbury.

He wondered when President Obama will be able to concentrate on two issues at the same time. According to Asbury, “Obama has to keep his eyes on job creation while he’s distracted by other issues. Because it’s only a matter of time before he’s distracted again. This time it will have to do with him trying to save his job. Maybe then he can pay more attention to unemployment.”

Neal’s first guest, and a returning guest to the show, was Marco Rubio (R-FL) who served in the Florida House of Representatives and is currently running for the Senate against the more moderate Republican Governor, Charlie Crist. In most polls Rubio leads Crist because he is highly regarded by voters for his principled, energetic and idea-driven leadership. Rubio has been endorsed by the Truth for America Show where he made one of his first public appearances after announcing his candidacy.
Rubio said his top two priorities are ensuring that there are enough funds to support national defense to combat terrorism from groups like al Qaeda and the Taliban. The second priority is bringing down the rising national debt expected to hit $19.5 trillion by 2015. The danger of the rising debt is that it means that there is less money to use for national defense and other priorities, according to Rubio.

Rubio is concerned that people are not investing in the economy because they see the government tapping into the treasury, leaving less money for the average small business. This also translates into higher interest rates, which also acts as a disincentive to invest.

When it comes to Iran, Rubio characterizes the country as a “regional power that wants to impose their view on the world. All they want is power and America is standing in its way. They have no desire to negotiate – they want to build bombs. The people in Iran despise their leaders.”

Rubio believes that America’s lack of support for the young people that protested the illegitimate election will be perceived in history as a “critical mistake” by the Obama administration, because it represented the best opportunity yet to topple the government.

Rubio thinks that the US is quickly running out of options to deal with Iran and that sanctions are not working. As much as he does not want to see a military solution, it may be something worth considering. “Even surrounding Muslim nations are scared of Iran,” contends Rubio.

As for the BP Gulf oil spill, Rubio proposed that the Obama administration wasted too much time reacting to the Louisiana oil spill because they were mired in bureaucracy and ineptitude. Their priorities should be stopping the leak form getting worse and getting BP to pay for it. A study also should be done so that this kind of disaster will never happen again.

He would like to see America embark on a new energy policy that will involve encouraging alternate fuels, boosting domestic productivity, tapping into new sources of energy such as clean coal, and investing in Green energy options such as wind and solar.

Rubio likes his chances in the upcoming election, but says he is not going to drive himself crazy looking at polls every day. “Either you win or you don’t. Pundits rarely know what’s really going on. My goal is to get elected,” said Rubio.

Also joining “Neal Asbury’s Truth for America” for a repeat visit was Peter Cohan, president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. His strategy consulting practice helps companies in technology-intensive industries to identify, evaluate, and profit from new business opportunities created by changing technology.

Cohan discussed his new book “Capital Rising,” which details how some financial firms are “gaming the system” by linking their computers to the NYSE so that they get advanced information about companies and economic news. This allows them to make no risk investments, leveraging their advanced knowledge. The result is that some traders are making more than $2.5 billion a year.

“These companies make billions of dollars but they don’t create jobs or build up companies, the way other world markets do. The US has let these investment firms manipulate financial markets, essentially letting them wag the tail of the dog,” said Cohan. “What’s worse is they only pay 15 percent on their capital gains.”

Cohan took exception to the common perception that the economic stimulus package was a mistake. He noted that the majority of economists thought the stimulus package was necessary, and traced the strategy back to the Great Depression of the 1930s which initiated a stimulus package that could have prevented the Market Crash if the private sector had held up their end.

The discussion turned to the European economic crisis, which Cohan said could be traced to the mistake of letting Greece and Spain into the Euro market. He noted that their debt ratio was too high and they lacked the financial discipline to balance their national budget. Now $750 billion is being invested in Greece and Spain to bail them out of debt, which is just a fraction of what they really need. He believes that the European debt level is at $12 trillion and that debt accounts for 130 percent of GDP in Greece. But he also warned that debt is now 80 percent of America’s GDP, which is dangerously high.

Cohan predicted that if the current trend continues the Euro could disappear within five years, and will be perceived as a “failed experiment.” He proposed that the mistake they made was creating a common treasury, but not forcing each country to control their own budget.

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