China’s Real Intentions Toward America

These days, America competing with China is like an American runner competing against a Chinese runner, except that the American runner has to carry an anvil. It may be against the rules, but there’s little anyone can do about it. The Chinese have the advantage. But let’s not delude ourselves about China’s aims. China want to surpass the United States as the world’s leading economy. And they want to replace the dollar with the yuan as the world’s preferred currency. They are making progress in both areas. So it’s not surprising that during the recent annual U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue, China was not in the mood to compromise on anything. Although they did agree with passing something against wildlife trafficking, which is a nice idea,... Read More

Rail Dispute Over Keystone Pipeline Follows a Long Tradition of Cronyism

Our nation’s railroad system has always been a source of pride. It helped America expand from coast to coast, and by 1860, nearly every major city was linked by rail. In addition, most farms were within five miles of a rail line so they could ship produce and livestock. Yet, with this growth has come a long history of cronyism connected to the nation’s rail system. We usually recall fondly the golden spike that marked the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States, which connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. What gets glossed over is that railroad companies were given taxpayer-funded government bonds and enormous tracts of land with which to build. Then, much like today, they hired lobbyists to ensure that in exchange for votes, politicians... Read More

America’s Ex-Im Bank Is Needed To Compete

With all the barriers stacked up against American entrepreneurs, a bright spot has been access to working capital through the Export-Import Bank, which is essential if American exporters are to compete in the global marketplace. Ex-Im provides working capital guarantees, insurance and direct loans to American manufacturers, helping to open new foreign markets that allow the U.S. economy to grow, while creating good-paying jobs. Yet some in Congress are leaning toward not reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank. A vote is scheduled for September. As an independent, self-sustaining agency of the federal government, Ex-Im Bank has an 80-year record of supporting U.S. jobs by financing the exports of American goods and services. By doing so, the Ex-Im Bank has supported 1.2 million private-sector... Read More

Shutting Down Ex-Im Bank Punishes American Entrepreneurs and Job Seekers

With all the barriers stacked up against American entrepreneurs, a bright spot has been access to working capital through the Export-Import Bank, which is essential if American exporters are to compete in the global marketplace. Ex-Im provides working capital guarantees, insurance and direct loans to American manufacturers, helping to open new foreign markets that allow the U.S. economy to grow, while creating good-paying jobs. Yet some in Congress are leaning toward not reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank. A vote is scheduled for September. As an independent, self-sustaining agency of the federal government, Ex-Im Bank has an 80-year record of supporting U.S. jobs by financing the exports of American goods and services. By doing so, the Ex-Im Bank has supported 1.2 million private-sector... Read More

An Attack on Intellectual Property Is an Attack on US Business

While the Washington Redskins trademark and logos are the source of heated debate, we seem to have ignored the fact that the team’s intellectual property belongs to them, as granted by the U.S. government dating back more than 80 years. Therefore, the U.S Patent and Trademark Office’s decision to revoke the trademark is an attack on intellectual property and the start of a slippery slope for businesses trying to protect their property rights. This is all about ideology, and not about the legality of a trademark. Does this mean that as a business owner I have to look over my shoulder for fear that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can void my intellectual property at any moment? Can the government now decide on a whim what trademarks are offensive? What powerful force... Read More

Corporate Tax Rate Driving American Companies Overseas

Time was when the United States was No. 1 in numerous economic categories. Unfortunately, we have traded our swagger in indicators that make us stronger for a tax code that makes us weaker: American companies face the highest statutory corporate income tax rate in the world — 39.1 percent. According to the Tax Foundation, this overall rate of 39.1 percent is a combination of the 35 percent federal rate plus the average rate levied by U.S. states. This puts the United States at a major competitive disadvantage in global trade. “Corporations headquartered in the 33 other industrialized countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), however, face an average rate of 25 percent,” the Tax Foundation notes. “Even corporations in... Read More

Hello New Carbon Tax; Goodbye 250,000 American Jobs

My father was born and raised in West Virginia, and is now buried in the heart of coal country. So President Obama’s war on coal and fossil fuels is not only a terrible policy decision, but it’s one that resonates with me personally. Stephen Moore, founder of the Free Enterprise Fund, was recently a guest on my radio show, Made in America, and predicted that the way the Obama administration is waging war on fossil fuels, the coal industry could be dead in 10 years. He characterized this as a “jihad against coal.” Moore made the interesting observation that part of the reason that the Obama administration takes credit for the improvement in the economy is due to the enormous progress in ratcheting up oil and natural gas production. With this new output came a... Read More

Obamacare Alienating the President’s Staunchest Supporters

When you start tallying up all the people who despise Obamacare, the line gets pretty long. But one group having a big problem with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) might surprise you: union members, who have historically been the staunchest supporters of President Obama and the Democrats. When the ACA was first proposed, the administration knew it had to woo trade unions if it was ever to gain approval. Unions publicly rallied for its passage. But behind closed doors, unions demanded that Obama grant special waivers for their members so they didn’t need to comply with Obamacare’s onerous mandates. The unions were comfortable with these promises . . . at least at first. But slowly they began to question Obama’s commitment to tamping down their members’ healthcare... Read More

Over-Regulation Leads to Under-Innovation

According to the 2013 Global Innovation Index, released by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United States ranks as the fifth most innovative country, behind Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. While this is an improvement from 2012, when the United States was 10th, there is one root cause for America’s failure to be crowned the top country in innovation: this nation’s lack of support for entrepreneurs. Where do new ideas come from? From startups and visionaries that just need some support and capital to make their ideas a reality. This nation’s entrepreneurs drive innovation, job creation and our economy. Why can Sweden excel in innovation when the United States cannot? The answer is that Sweden... Read More

Senate Refuses to Play Let’s Make a Deal on Keystone XL Pipeline

The Senate vote on the Keystone XL pipeline this week was like that old game show Let’s Make A Deal. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., doing a Bob Barker impression, told Republicans if they looked behind Door Number One and voted for his energy bill, they could trade their vote for what was behind Door Number Two, which could be the Keystone XL pipeline, or some other prize. Republicans wisely decided not to play the game and blocked Reid’s energy-efficiency bill after Reid repeatedly blocked their efforts to vote on five energy amendments, including approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. The entire affair was an exercise in futility from the start, since everyone knew that President Obama would veto the Keystone XL pipeline if it crossed his desk. The American Petroleum Institute... Read More