The Patriot Post® · Bernie Sanders Picks a Fight With Mickey Mouse

Disney has been an American hallmark for a good many decades now. In its last fiscal year, the entertainment behemoth reported a net income of nearly $9 billion on revenue totaling $55 billion. Suffice to say, consumers the world over love Disney. No doubt CEO Bob Iger does too — he hauls in tens of millions of dollars annually (his earnings may balloon to $400 million-plus over the ensuing four years). And like most corporate giant leaders are apt to do, portions of his and Disney’s fortunes are being invested in leftist undertakings.

Iger is a Democrat cultivator and ideologue. Two years ago he helped organize a Hillary Clinton fundraiser. And in retribution for Donald Trump’s resolution to either alter or abandon the Paris climate accord, Iger left the president’s advisory council. Bernie Sanders no doubt approves of this, but the Vermont senator nevertheless condemned Iger’s enterprise while in Anaheim, California, over the weekend to promote a “living wage” rally. Sanders lectured, “I want to hear the moral defense of a company that makes $9 billion in profits, $400 million for their CEOs and have a 30-year worker going hungry.”

Peter Heck observes: “The irony is probably lost on Bernie and Iger both that the reason ‘living expenses’ are so high for Disneyland workers is because they are living in a state that has been governed exclusively by progressives for many decades. They have a bloated welfare system, a high tax rate, a high corporate tax rate, and artificially inflated wages — which, unbelievably, is what Bernie is demanding more of in order to solve this problem.”

As hypocritical as this is, Democrats have the strategic advantage because envy is a powerful motivator. As Heck goes on to note: “Legislatively imposing a higher pay wage than what the market places on the skills being performed may win votes and sound good in front of the cameras. But when the votes have been cast and the camera lights are turned off, those demanding such action (like Bernie) have left town by the time the consequences hit. … But rest assured that the moment all that starts happening, those same politicians like Bernie will roll back into town to blast ‘corporate greed’ and the free market for causing such misery.” This charade is not what any of us would call entertaining.