As a successful CEO in the restaurant industry, Andy Puzder uniquely understands how important the profit motive is to our country's ultimate prosperity. Furthermore, as the grandson of immigrants, the son of a car salesman, and someone who worked his way up from earning minimum wage to running an international business, he has a first-hand view of how America's exceptional capitalist spirit can lift everyone to success. In 2016, the American people faced a stark choice between two very different presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton spent most of her adult life involved in politics and promised to uphold and advance the progressive legacy of President Barack Obama who had first won the White House on promises to "spread the wealth around." Donald Trump, on the other hand, came from the business world, was an unapologetic capitalist, used his own personal wealth as inspiration, and promised simply to "Make America Great Again." By choosing Trump over Clinton, the American people put a stop to decades of government expansion under progressive leadership, and they might just have saved our economy by doing so. America was once a land where everyone was encouraged to seek their fortune - the more prosperous our citizens, the more our whole society could in turn prosper. But leftist forces in the United States have been seeking to tarnish the pursuit of prosperity and to paint profit as an evil motivation fit only for greedy plutocrats. Andrew Puzder understands this first-hand after a progressive smear campaign stopped him from joining President Trump's cabinet. As Puzder explains in his new book, THE CAPITALIST COMEBACK, this was an act of desperation from a left wing facing irrelevance with a pro-business president in the White House. From its roots in the Progressive Era to labor unions to education to entertainment to its political resurgence with avowed socialist candidates such as Bernie Sanders, Puzder traces the development of the anti-profit forces in the United States and shows how, under President Trump, they can be vanquished for good.

Over the last two months, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a robust American economy into disarray, completely shutting down major business sectors and putting millions of people out of work overnight. With so much at stake and with all options seemingly on the table, it is crucial that we commit ourselves to the long-term goal of restoring the sorts of free-market policies that led to the Trump Economic Boom prior to the China Virus crisis. Although massive government interventions that Barack Obama pursued following the Great Recession might presently appear beneficial or even essential, a return to Obama's "new normal" of stagnant growth would lead to disastrous and persisting economic damage. We must instead return, as soon as is safely possible, to the Trump model of economic prosperity that produced the strongest labor market in modern history.

As we begin the process of reopening our economy, it is critical that we get back to work. The economic shutdown was intended to slow the spread of a lethal virus, not to permanently sacrifice our freedoms-and certainly not to expand government power and "fundamentally transform" America. During the shutdown, we've learned what that transformed America would look like, and it is ugly. With millions of people out of work and dependent on government-lacking the dignity of a job, the security of a paycheck, or the opportunity for a better future-depression and despair are creating an "epidemic within the pandemic" of suicides and drug and alcohol addiction. While there are risks, if we follow safety protocols and protect the vulnerable, we can safely reignite our economy as we undo the lockdown, eliminate policies that discourage work and enact policies that encourage hiring and growth. It's time to reject the transformation to permanent government dependence and return instead to individual freedom and prosperity.