The American System Is Not a Democracy

March 5, 2010

WASHINGTON--Today marks the 66th anniversary of the German Nazi party’s rise to power--not through a bloody coup, but a democratic vote.

Hit the Brakes on Government Health Care

March 1, 2010

WASHINGTON--“New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof gives us his best case for passing ObamaCare,” writes Don Watkins, an analyst with the Ayn Rand Center:

Health Care: More Government Is Not the Answer

February 22, 2010

WASHINGTON--President Obama’s latest proposal for health care reform will give the Health and Human Services Department the ability to deny or limit “substantial” premium increases, contains an insurance mandate, and bars insurance companies from denying coverage, according to the Associated Press.

We’d like to invite you to upcoming events at the University of Colorado (Auraria campus) and the University of Chicago:

Christianity vs. Objectivism: Which Is the Proper Philosophy for Living on Earth?

Who: Dr. Edwin A. Locke, Dean’s Professor (Emeritus) of Motivation and Leadership at the R. H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland

What: A talk that contrasts the philosophies of Christianity with Objectivism and argues that Objectivism is the philosophy required to live on earth

A Pivotal Day in Iran

February 11, 2010

WASHINGTON--“Today marks the 31st anniversary of the coalescing of Iran’s Islamist revolution,” writes Elan Journo, a fellow with the Ayn Rand Center. “But on this deeply symbolic day, which Tehran usually spends glorifying its militant, tyrannical rule, millions of Iranian citizens are showing mass defiance and repudiation of the regime.

Don’t Confuse Political Profiteers with Producers

February 4, 2010

WASHINGTON--“President Obama is pushing Congress to enact his Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee, a bank tax that will fall on institutions that never asked for TARP money, never took TARP money, or already paid back TARP money,” write Don Watkins and Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Center.

Can We Talk About Ending Social Security Now?

January 29, 2010

WASHINGTON--This Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of the first Social Security check, issued to Mrs. Ida May Fuller on January, 31, 1940. Virtually no one today questions the need for this program.

Obama’s Attack on Free Speech

January 28, 2010

WASHINGTON--President Obama’s first State of the Union address featured a strong rebuff of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which struck down restrictions on certain kinds of political speech by corporations.

State of the Union in One Sentence

January 28, 2010

WASHINGTON--“President Obama’s State of the Union address can be summarized in one sentence,” writes Alex Epstein, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center. “We need to rise above fear, hesitation, and partisan politics--to give the government all the power it needs to solve all our problems.

The U.N.’s Afghanistan Solution: Befriend the Taliban

January 26, 2010

WASHINGTON--“Later this week world leaders and diplomats will meet in London to discuss the situation in Afghanistan,” writes Elan Journo, a fellow with the Ayn Rand Center. “In the lead-up to the international conference, the New York Times reports:

We’d like to invite you to an upcoming event:

 Spark! Speaker Series presents:

When Should the U.S. Use Military Force?

The Philosophic Foundations of Freedom: A Conference on the Principle of Individual Rights

A conference at UCLA

Who (in order of appearance):

“Atlas Shrugged” Sets a New Record!

January 21, 2010

Irvine, CA--Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” sold more than 500,000 copies in 2009, more than double the previous record set in 2008, reports Penguin USA, publisher of the four American editions. For the first time, combined annual sales of Ayn Rand’s four novels totaled more than 1,000,000 copies.

Is President Obama Carrying on the Bush Legacy?

January 19, 2010

WASHINGTON--“He increased government spending to historic highs. He poured vast amounts of money into a half-baked scheme to ‘stimulate’ the economy. He bailed out failed companies. He expanded government control over medicine. He denounced ‘corporate greed’ and saddled businessmen with crippling regulations and controls.

The President’s Shylock Tax

January 18, 2010

WASHINGTON--“President Obama is giving many rationalizations for his ‘Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee’--but none of them hold water,” argues Alex Epstein, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center.

Put Down the Salt, or Else!

January 15, 2010

WASHINGTON--“New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t like the amount of salt that Americans consume--and therefore he wants to force us to consume less,” says Jeff Scialabba, a writer with the Ayn Rand Center.

Disconnected Dots

January 14, 2010

WASHINGTON--“Last week President Obama claimed that ‘our intelligence community failed to connect those dots’ signaling a plot to blow up Flight 253,” writes Elan Journo, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center. “But ritual flogging of the intelligence community has diverted attention from a larger failure--this one belonging squarely on Obama’s shoulders.

The Chavez School of Socialism

January 11, 2010

WASHINGTON--Venezuela’s socialist dictator Hugo Chavez devalued his country’s currency by 50 percent this weekend, sparking fears of price inflation. Chavez reasserted his government’s authority to seize any entity that boosts its prices, saying, “People, don’t let them rob you, denounce it, and I’m capable of taking over that business.”

Who Is Today’s Wesley Mouch? Barack Obama

January 8, 2010

WASHINGTON--Last night John Stossel aired a one-hour special on Ayn Rand’s classic novel “Atlas Shrugged.” In it, referring to one of the novel’s greatest villains, Stossel asked the question, “Who is today’s Wesley Mouch?”

Republicans Tougher on Foreign Policy?

January 6, 2010

WASHINGTON--The national security debacle on Christmas Day made President Obama look weak on national security. The Republicans are trying to capitalize on the administration’s self-proclaimed “screw up” and “regain [their] traditional advantages on security issues,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Atlas Shrugged” Still Making News

January 5, 2010

WASHINGTON--The Ayn Rand Center is excited to announce that “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand’s magnum opus, will be the subject of Thursday’s edition of “Stossel” on the Fox Business Network.

It’s Time to Morally Support Iranian Protesters

January 4, 2010

WASHINGTON--“The clerics in Iran have led crowds in chants of ‘death to America’ for 30-plus years,” writes Elan Journo, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center, “but now protesters in Iran are reportedly shouting ‘death to Khamenei.’

End Our Selfless Foreign Policy

December 31, 2009

WASHINGTON--The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for a blast that killed eight American civilians in Afghanistan, including officers of the Central Intelligence Agency. It may be the biggest loss of American intelligence personnel since the beginning of the war. After eight years of fighting, how is the Taliban still able to commit such heinous bombings?

“Systemic Failure” to Defend American Values

December 30, 2009

WASHINGTON--President Obama called the missed signals and unshared intelligence that may have prevented the attack on flight 253 a “systemic failure.” The president is superficially correct. But the failure goes beyond the nation’s security system and highlights the reason these attacks will continue to occur: our “systemic failure” to properly defend our way of life.

More Than an “Isolated Extremist”

December 29, 2009

WASHINGTON--Commenting on the failed Christmas attack of Flight 253, President Obama called the incident an act of “terrorism” and the would-be bomber an “isolated extremist.”

Drop the “Public Option” for the “Private Option”

December 28, 2009

WASHINGTON--House Democrats are willing to forgo a “public option” in the final health care bill, reports the Washington Times, as long as the legislation can accomplish three things: “create more choice for insurers, create more competition for insurance companies and . . . contain costs.” But even without an explicit “public option,” the final bill presupposes only one way to accomplish those ends: government intervention.

War on (Fill in the Misleading Blank)

December 24, 2009

WASHINGTON--“One of the worst foreign policy developments of 2009 was also one of the most underreported--the Obama administration’s decision to do away with the official use of the term ‘global war on terror’ in favor of ‘Overseas Contingency Operation,’” writes Elan Journo, fellow at the Ayn Rand Center.

The Ayn Rand Institute

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Commercialism Only Adds to Joy of Holidays

December 21, 2009

WASHINGTON--Another Christmas is upon us, and with it come the inevitable calls to make the holiday less commercial.

Inside the Mind of a Financial Dictator

December 15, 2009

WASHINGTON--After summoning the heads of the nation’s largest financial institutions to the White House yesterday, President Obama said of the banks, “we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy." Obama went on to outline a number of lending policies he wants to see the banks follow.