Free enterprise doesn’t help all

John H. Schnatter and the Koch brothers are funding an Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise at the University of Kentucky. Schnatter says “free enterprise is the greatest mechanism mankind has ever created to eliminate poverty, enhance prosperity.” It certainly has been for Schnatter, who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but what about his “120,000 team members”?

The average Papa John’s Pizza team member makes about $10 per hour. The majority have no benefits. Even store managers at the top of the pay scale at $16.45 per hour barely make it into the lower middle class.

Schnatter could write off the cost of delivery trucks as a business expense. Instead he uses the much more cost-effective method of expecting delivery drivers to wear out their own cars. Rather than reimburse them 55 cents per mile as allowed by the IRS, he reimburses only 85 cents per delivery.

Schnatter spends millions sponsoring the NFL and hiring celebrities like Peyton Manning for endorsements. His version of “free enterprise” looks much like the coal barons of 100 years ago who got wealthy by keeping coal miners in poverty.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Free enterprise doesn’t help all."