Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Lawmaker: Obama Era Looks Like Atlas Shrugged

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 5, 2009 4:07 PM CST
Email

(Newser) – A California congressman thinks President Obama’s economic policies are leading the country down the path described in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, the Washington Independent reports. “The achievers, the people who create all the things that benefit rest of us, are going on strike,” Republican John Campbell said. “A kind of protest from the people who create jobs, the people who create wealth.”

Those people “are pulling back from their ambitions because they see how they’ll be punished for them,” said Campbell, known for giving his interns copies of the novel. So how long until the rich retreat and watch society crumble? “That will happen when people expect that there ought to be a recovery going on, and it isn’t.”

Republican John Campbell represents California's 48th Congressional District.
Republican John Campbell represents California's 48th Congressional District.
In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, the rich retreat to a hiding place to start their own society
In Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," the rich retreat to a hiding place to start their own society   (Flikr)
The cover of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
The cover of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."   (Amazon.com)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 30 comments
BackAgain
Mar 6, 2009 7:27 PM CST
SOCIALISM has never worked. Pack bags and get your rears to Cuba, Venezuela or California.
Guest
Mar 6, 2009 6:53 AM CST
Funny, it would lead me to believe just the opposite.
Doctor-Zaius
Mar 6, 2009 6:51 AM CST
Oh for the love of God. All we are talking about here is rolling back the Bush tax cuts to where we were under Clinton. You would think they were eating their children. For 10,000 years - all of recorded civilization - the tax burden has been carried by the little guy on the bottom of the pyramid. It's only been for the last 100 years or so that society has decided - and rightly so - the those most capable of carrying the burden should shoulder more of the responsibility. Would anyone care to guess what the top income tax rate under Dwight D. Eisenhower was? It was 91% and Kennedy came along and proposed a tax cut to 70% and he was a hero. The average top tax rate for the 20th century was 61%. Nobody is talking about raising taxes anywhere near those figures. Give it up grand-standing GOP. You are losing the PR war.

Most Americans think Obama supports bigger government: poll
Fox News

 
Barack Obama • California • congressman • socialism • liberals • Ayn Rand

More Newser Stories

Feds to California Pot Shops: Shut or Be Shut Down

Steve Wynn: Businesses 'Frightened to Death' of Obama

Lefty Bloggers: Obama 'Just Not That Into Us'

Obama Meets With Steve Jobs, Google VP

Obama-Hitler Billboard Divides Tea Party
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne