Carl's Jr. HQ Moving From Calif. to Nashville; Press Avoids Saying Why

Newsbusters reports:

For years, Andrew F. Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast-food chains, has been telling the world that while the U.S. government makes life needlessly miserable for businesses, California, where it has been headquartered, is exponentially worse.

This week, CKE announced that it is moving its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee. A story at the Orange County Register failed to go beyond the company's deliberately non-combative statement to explain why. As far as I can tell, the Los Angeles Times hasn't covered the move at all (I can't be absolutely sure because the paper's search engine is demonstrably horrible). Meanwhile, LA's CBS News affiliate appears to have intentionally omitted their reporter's attempt to cite "the unfavorable economic climate here in California" as a factor contributing to the move from its print coverage of the story.

In June 2013, Puzder told the Wall Street Journal that his chain would not expand in California because the state "is not interested in having businesses grow," noting among many other things that it takes 285 days to get a building permit after signing a lease. This means the chain has to pay rent for over nine months, plus the time needed to build, while not earning any revenues.

You'll want to read the entire article.