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Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Andrew Mikula and Retailers Association of Massachusetts’ Jon Hurst about the state of small business in Massachusetts six months into the pandemic. They discuss the observations and recommendations of Pioneer’s new report, “The Long View: A Public Policy Roadmap for Saving Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Recovery Period.”
Interview Guest
The White House web and social media team is whip-sharp. A day after the event with small businesses we get highlight videos out on the lawn. Even the images over the video titles paint a picture of America beyond the Beltway and the cultural capitals; just look at the line-up of the newest videos on the White House YouTube channel. We see the leader of the nation’s oldest public health service, the original federal force to stop infectious disease from entering and spreading through our port towns and cities. He, for the first time, provides inconvenient truth about the lethal side effects of the prescribed “public health” response to the pandemic. So, you get expert and human story arguments for reopening America as quickly and fully as possible.
President Trump has twice now given a formal farewell to a senior member of his administration. You will recall the White House farewell for 
Andy Puzder joined us at Freedom Fest to discuss the minimum wage, small business regulations, his withdrawal from his Labor Secretary nomination, the poignant discussion he had with Mike Pence, and his last marketing effort at Carl’s Jr., creating possibly one of the greatest commercials in modern times (video below).
terday that President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as leader of the Small Business Administration. The announcement immediately triggered sneering and snark from hipsters horrified that anyone related to trashy, macho, violent, misogynistic television would be allowed to sully the hallowed halls of the SBA. “What qualifications” they ask “does she have other than the fact that she donated $6 million to a super PAC funding Trump’s presidential campaign and $5 million to the Trump foundation?”
As politicos focused on South Carolina and Nevada, my company was running a weekend roundtable for business owners, where we train and break bread with real people facing real challenges due to the real economy. These people aren’t statistics. They aren’t categorized or sliced and diced into compartments that make up an axis on some government chart. The employees they have laid off don’t consider themselves as U3, U6, or U12. They are real people with real families and real bills.
In recent years the iconic Capitol building has been draped in scaffolding due to a needed restoration, the first improvements since 1959-1960 to the symbol of American democracy. From afar the dome has always appeared to be a brilliant beacon conveying American exceptionalism. On a closer look, behind the countless coats of paint and patchwork, the age and weather have taken its toll. The repairs to preserve the dome will allow the Capitol to continue to shine for future generations.
