Sen. Ron Johnson (right) poses in front of a statue of Atlas.Atlas Society/YouTube
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican best known for sparring with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at last week’s Benghazi hearings, says the United States is currently living out the plot of the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged. In an interview with the Rand-inspired Atlas Society, Johnson said he “absolutely” sees parallels between the American economy today and the novel in which government regulations drive prominent businessmen to retreat into a secluded gulch in protest.
As Johnson explains in the interview, his affinity for Rand has literally been set in stone—the former PACUR* CEO helped a friend install a statute of Atlas in Oshkosh, Wis. “There was a big old statue on the side of the road for sale, and it was Atlas,” Johnson says. “It had the world, it was obviously the Atlas Shrugged symbol, and he was thinking about buying it and I said, absolutely, I’ll pay for half of it.” Then they set it up outside his friend’s construction business. (Update: this business.)
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“It’s a real concern,” Johnson said, when asked if he saw examples of the private sector “shrugging”—that is, wilting under the pressure of government regulations. “As I talk to business owners that maybe started their businesses in the ’70s and ’80s, they tell me, with today’s level of taxation and regulation, there’s no way I can start my business today.”
Johnson isn’t the only Wisconsin Republican to lavish praise on Rand. Rep. Paul Ryan once called her “required reading” (also at a speech at the Atlas Society) before later backtracking.
*This post originally misstated the name of Johnson’s company.
