Red States, Blue Sates, Dissed States

At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, then-Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama famously started his road to the presidency with the speech that included the line: “There are no red states or blue states, just the United States.” If only that were true. Instead, we have a president who not only shows preference to blue states, but also punishes red states and, most damaging, dismisses many other states. Democrats have followed him in lock step, especially when it comes to energy-producing states. Democrats have totally retreated from supporting energy-producing states, as evidenced by their decision to throw Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., under the bus by not giving her the votes she wanted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. She lost the election, and Democrats have essentially... Read More

Thank Obamacare for Driving Older Americans to the GOP

With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, the initial feeling was that older adults would embrace Obamacare and thank President Obama with their support and votes. The euphoria for Obamacare is quickly waning as they find themselves with a shrinking provider network and, in many cases, having to cut ties with long-time physicians. Andy Mangione, vice president of government relations for the Association of Mature American Citizens, a conservative advocacy group for senior citizens, said on my Made in America radio show that their 1.2 million members are united behind one idea: dump Obamacare. Most seniors in the U.S. think they were sold a bill of goods. The belief that younger people with lower healthcare costs would balance out the higher healthcare costs of seniors has not materialized. Instead,... Read More

Lack of Confidence in Obama’s Handling of Ebola Could Sicken Economy

As the stress level for Americans rises because of the known cases of Ebola in the U.S., it takes me back to November 2002 when I was often visiting and working in Hong Kong. That’s when an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in the Guangdong province of China, which borders Hong Kong. Little was known about SARS, and it didn’t help that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) discouraged its press from reporting on SARS and lagged in informing the situation to the World Health Organization (WHO) for four months. In the meantime, when the PRC did report the SARS outbreak, it only reported 305 cases, when in fact there were more than 800 known cases. And when a WHO team travelled to Beijing, it was not allowed to visit the Guangdong province... Read More

Who’s Really Waging the War Against Women?

For years, Democrats have accused Republicans of waging a war against women. But women are starting to take notice that the Obama administration has been no friend to women. This was brought home recently when the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that a record number of women —55.6 million — ared 16 years or older are not participating in the labor force. Is it any wonder that President Obama’s approval rating among women is below 49 percent? This is a big drop from the 70 percent approval rating he received from women on the day he took office. Communities Digital News reported there has been a 14 percent increase in the number of single mothers living in poverty under Obama. Ironically, Obama himself was raised by a single mother. The news for women is depressing everywhere... Read More

Obama Administration Defines Cause and Effect

If you want to see the principle of cause and effect in action, look no further than Obamacare. We have a situation where Obamacare is causing employers to reduce their number of full-time employees to part-time to avoid having to provide government-approved health plans or be penalized. We are now seeing companies that have already converted full-time employees to part-time cutting healthcare benefits altogether and forcing them to buy health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges. It’s hard to escape the irony of this. The administration forces employers to buy government-approved health insurance policies, which causes them to reduce their workforce or work hours, which then creates more part-time workers who no longer are being given health benefits and must purchase... Read More

Take Away the Government’s Checkbook

I run a successful manufacturing and export business. My success depends on our ability to accurately cost the materials and services we consume. If my estimates are wrong, I won’t stay in business very long. Our government has no such apparent obligation. Our tax dollars are being wasted on projects that are so out of sync with accepted norms that one wonders who is involved in these decisions. I think we have to look at President Obama’s advisers, who have almost no business acumen or hands-on business experience. If they did, would they approve the $648 million website for Obamacare when its original budget was $93 million? The start-up costs for this website are greater than are the combined start-up costs for every major social media site, as well as sites like Amazon... Read More

A Bill More Unpopular Than Obamacare Is

You don’t have to go too far to find someone vehemently opposed to Obamacare. What is new these days is that former enthusiastic supporters are now among its biggest critics. From business and union leaders to Republicans and Democrats, to conservatives and liberals, they all finally have something in common: they want Obamacare trashed. The last time a president introduced a bill this contentious was in 1969, when President Nixon had the distinction of introducing the $2.5 billion Family Assistance Plan (FAP), which was universally despised by virtually everyone. With the counsel of Urban Affairs Council Secretary Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Nixon created the FAP, which called for the replacement of bureaucratically administered programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent... Read More

The Cost of Permanent Patients

The United States currently has an estimated 11 million immigrants who entered this country illegally. According to the National Research Council, the migration of these individuals into the United States costs American taxpayers $346 billion annually. Now we are starting to get a feel for the costs being absorbed by one sector — the U.S. healthcare system — to treat this population. And the cost is staggering. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the current cost of treating uninsured immigrants who entered this country illegally at all levels of government to be $4.3 billion a year, primarily at emergency rooms and free clinics. This doesn’t take into account the billions being absorbed by in-patient care delivered by hospitals. Who is picking up these costs? Every... Read More

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

As I watch the general malaise gripping Washington, I find myself thinking about the lyrics of Tom Petty’s hit song: “The waiting is the hardest part.” I know I am not the only one waiting for something to happen to get this nation back on track. Our small businesses, entrepreneurs and 14 million unemployed feel an endless gnawing, the grinding of gears, as America performs like a broken clock. Time stands still. It has become all about the waiting. • The waiting for the Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare so we can get our future healthcare costs under control. The Affordable Healthcare for America Act is anything but affordable. When the majority of states consider it unconstitutional, something is very wrong. It’s just one more thing keeping small business from hiring.... Read More