Ayn Rand's Resurgence

Republican deficit hawk Rep. Paul Ryan loves novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand. We’ll look at what it mans to have “Atlas Shrugged” in the middle of the budget debate.

The American budget battle so far is really a battle of ideals. And at the back of a vocal chorus on the Republican/Tea Party right sits the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand.

Rand was the refugee from communist Russia who wrote novels celebrating hyper-individualism, egoism, even selfishness — unregulated capitalism and masters of the universe — in “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.”

Now Republican budget maven Rep. Paul Ryan, Rep. Ron Paul and a forest of Tea Party placards call out her name.

This hour On Point: Ayn Rand, back in the thick of American politics.
- Tom Ashbrook
Guests:

Jonathan Chait, senior editor at The New Republic.

Anne C. Heller, journalist and author of "Ayn Rand and the World She Made."

Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks.