The Burger and the Billionaire

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Andy Puzder, the nominee for the Trump cabinet post of Labor Secretary, has withdrawn his name from consideration after it was revealed that Puzder -- the billionaire CEO of an empire of fast-food restaurants -- had been accused of spousal abuse by his ex-wife and had once employed a non-documented immigrant as a domestic worker. Domestic baggage is not new to the Trump administration, and is a powerful instrument with which to gauge a politician's level of hypocrisy.

It has been the obvious practice of the Trump regime to demonstrate its disdain for contrasting points of view by deliberately appointing to cabinet positions people whose opinions have been diametrically opposed to the agencies to which they have been nominated. In some cases the contrasts have been stark, as though Lewis Carrol had the blueprints.

Lets take environmental policy. During his tenure as Attorney General in Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt brought 19 lawsuits against the EPA to kill a host of environmental regulations in place since before the Obama administration. What did President Trump do? He gave in to his litigious nature and gave the finger to environmental concerns--he nominated Pruitt to be the next EPA administrator.

In spite of numerous appeals, Pudzer rejected demands to guarantee minimum wage for workers at his fast-food joints. Bloomberg reported Puzder's salary and "other compensation" as $4.485 million. Case closed.

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