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Andy Puzder on Withdrawing as Labor Secretary
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).
In February 2017, fast-food executive Andy Puzder withdrew his nomination to be Labor Secretary as the White House realized the CEO of CKE Restaurants would go down in defeat due to infighting even on the Republican side of Congress. Only a couple of days following the termination of Mike Flynn, seeing one of President Trump’s cabinet picks walking away was a victory for Democrats, unions, and liberal groups. The New York Times attacked Mr. Puzder’s business record and, more importantly to Andy, his character. Mr. Puzder said his treatment had been “an unprecedented smear campaign.” Democrats vocally lauded Mr. Puzder’s withdrawal as “a victory for working Americans.” Many Conservatives were dismayed as Mr. Puzder, while running both Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, staunchly opposed the Affordable Care Act, spoke out against the Progressives’ effort to increase the minimum wage to $15, and overtime rules. The unions despised his policies and made it personal.
Andy can be found on Twitter and his book Job Creation: How it Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It on Amazon. Produced by Praemonitus Communications; pictures by Thompson Clicks Photo.
https://youtu.be/J6VbJnN8l3A
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Published in General
Smart, tough guy; a really interesting conversation on minimum wage issues, and an insider look at the economics of a massive restaurant chain. Something that no one ever talks about is how state coffers initially benefit from an increased minimum wage (until the jobs disappear). Boosting wages up often means a minimal raise in take-home pay for the employee, but a big boon to the tax man, which may explain how politicians can be talked into voting for it.
There’s so much here to cheer on the growth of small businesses. Great interview, Dave!
Worthy.
Worthy, indeed. Thanks for interviewing him
Remember (way back) McGovern when he tried his hand at an inn in New England and ran smack into the realities of running a small business – which ultimately failed. In a WSJ oped piece he was specific about the problems and confessed that he had never run a business and therefore didn’t appreciate, in all his long years in politics, the obstacles the small business owner faced.
It’s too bad the piece didn’t run in the NYT; maybe some progs would have taken notice. More likely tho, McGovern was probably shunned by some of the more stauncher members of prog class. Can’t have the truth get out.