‘Right Out of Atlas Shrugged’: Hear an Exasperated Alabama Businessman Tell the Feds – ‘I’m Just Quitting’
- Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:50am by
Dave Urbanski
- Print »
- Email »
Ronnie Bryant was vastly outnumbered.
Leaning against a wall during a recent Birmingham, Alabama, public hearing, Bryant listened to an overflow crowd pepper federal officials with concerns about businesses polluting the drinking water and causing cases of cancer.
After two hours, Bryant—a coal mine owner from Jasper—had heard enough and, in a moment being described as “right out of Atlas Shrugged,” took his turn at the microphone:
“Nearly every day without fail…men stream to these [mining] operations looking for work in Walker County. They can’t pay their mortgage. They can’t pay their car note. They can’t feed their families. They don’t have health insurance. And as I stand here today, I just…you know…what’s the use? I got a permit to open up an underground coal mine that would employ probably 125 people. They’d be paid wages from $50,000 to $150,000 a year. We would consume probably $50 million to $60 million in consumables a year, putting more men to work. And my only idea today is to go home. What’s the use? I see these guys—I see them with tears in their eyes—looking for work. And if there’s so much opposition to these guys making a living, I feel like there’s no need in me putting out the effort to provide work for them. So…basically what I’ve decided is not to open the mine. I’m just quitting. Thank you.”
The Blaze contacted Bryant, and he remains as resolute as he was at last week’s public hearing. To him, it’s just not worth the time, money, and regulatory hassle to open up a new mine—even one located in a remote area with less environmental impact.
“If they want to create jobs, provide health insurance, and increase revenue,” Bryant said in reference to the federal government, “they need to back down on the regulatory burden. It’s like pulling an iron ball with a chain. I’m not saying to make it go away—just the stuff that’s not pertinent or useful.”
Terry Douglas, who owns two mines in Jasper with Bryant, said it costs them about $250,000 per mine in permit fees alone and that paperwork and regulatory inspections are a constant presence (as well as an additional revenue strain). When asked about typical concerns surrounding coal mining—including companies skirting health and safety regulations—Douglas said it “doesn’t make sense” to let safety lapse and risk losing miners to illness or injury when it would only cost more to train new personnel.
“We take care of our equipment and take care of our people,” Douglas said. “The regulations make coal miners out to be criminals; but we’re not outlaws. Coal mining is an art. I have a civil engineering degree; Ronnie has a mining engineering degree. It’s not wildcat whiskey we’re making; this is drinking whiskey we got.”
Bryant pointed to less stringent environmental regulations in countries such as China, saying that the U.S. is falling behind even though it has abundant resources. “But you can’t get to them,” he said, adding that while there are concerns over dwindling wildlife populations, “people are becoming the endangered species.”
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, regional administrator for EPA’s Southeast Region, attended the Birmingham public hearing but could not be reached for comment.
(h/t David McElroy)
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 582 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 411 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 408 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 374 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 363 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 408 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 411 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 363 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 408 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (732)
Joe Tuesday Dienstag
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:04amIt may not seem to be a very big deal to most, but the real implications are frightening.
Report Post »dwh320
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:15amJust another example of Obamanomics at work shutting down America’s ability to prosper.
Report Post »Seasoldier
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:22amAtlas shrugged, indeed. The Socialist Culture of Death Elitists have decided that they don’t like coal, so it doesn’t really matter how hard these businessmen try to comply with the regulations imposed upon them. More regulations will be invented. This is the historic tactic of the Socialists and history has already shown us the ultimate result. This man stated the problem very succinctly and took the only action left to a man of integrity. Pray our country and pray for everyone immersed in the Culture of Death, and work to remove them from every local, state and federal position of political, judicial and bureaucratic authority.
Edct
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:24amYou will see this more and more as big dumb government run by political whore politician attorneys regulate and tax this country into a third world country…..we must throw out all these spending bums who use our dollars as money for their own checkbook.
Report Post »escape_from_socialism
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:26amThis is why I don’t want to rise debt ceiling. No $$$ for regulators and their stupid regulations.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:26amIndeed, the noose gets even tighter and tighter about the neck of the American people and those who employ us; soon enough they will all say enough is enough, and the only employer for people will be the government itself.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:30amHow is it that people view shutting down their company as a bad thing when it is for a greater good. The greater good is to starve an out of control parasite sucking the life from everything. I have deliberately not opened a company to starve the parasite and I hope it collapses soon.
Report Post »Tucson Patriot
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:32amJust part of Odumba’s “Shared Sacrifice” no one works. We are to be reduced to a third world living standards. Now thats the Hope & Change the Marxist administration agrees with.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:33amAh, da gubment at work destroying itself, is this a great country or what.
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:39amIt‘s sad this country’s run by academics with no fundamental understanding of basic economics.
Report Post »lovenfl3
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:40amHere you go liberals, this is how it ends when you play class warfare. You can only bite the hand that feeds you so many times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtwXCyZCPqM
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:50amI feel even more compelled to finally read Atlas Shrugged I just baought the paperback 50th Anniversary edition! This man is totally correct in what he is doing…when it is more proffitable to do nothing then people will do nothing!!! Cutting back on spending means to mean a surplus so why does this man-child President insist on “tax increases” you know “increased revenues” wink wink nudge nudge….
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:55amYou are always going to encounter someone complaining about something. There seems to be no end. But Mr. Bryant’s problem of facing many who oppose his mines is a problem my businesses face in dealing with the public. We could even regulate us down the the Neanderthal Age and you would still find people to complain about something.
The goverment has become the biggest crook known here in the U.S. Social Security. When it comes to Ponzi schemes the gov’t. has the market cornered. Also, the government, in the case of mining as this article mentioned, requires protection money ($250,000) under the guise of permitting. It doesn‘t take that much money for the gov’t. to issue a permit. And the mining industry is just one of many that is extorted by the government. I wonder just how much money is taxes in a gallon of gas. I heard recently that the oil companies make 6 cents for each gallon of gas. If this is correct where’s the money going to? I really would love a breakdown of the taxes of a gallon of gasoline.
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:58amHow do the men in Washington DC sleep at night? How? If that band of crooks were holding a real gun to OUR HEADS we’d have them arrested! What’s it going to take America?
Report Post »Jim in Houston
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:01amdwh320: You are absolutely spot on! This administration has done everything it possibly can to kill the American economy so we can become a third world sh#t hole with Oblamer as our “Dear Leader”.
Report Post »boomboom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:03amI know this makes the man-child president sooo pleased.
Report Post »vtxphantom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:05amThis is obama’s dream for the country. Pain, suffering, and the death of a great country.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:06amObama’s agenda becoming reality. Tragic.
Report Post »drybackinpi
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:08amThis is a result of the EPA medeling in all things energy in their never ending quest to stop America in it’s tracks.
Report Post »Bum thrower
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:19amObamanomics……..spreading the ‘wealth’ (aka missery) around; just helpin and lookin‘ out for the ’little guy’……………when are the dumb ass folks gonna wake up and start to understand that no risk no reward; I’m not gonna work to feed YOU! to make YOUR life comfortable; I am not in the deal for YOU! If you want something for nothing keep voting Democrat; how’s that “Hope and Change’ working out for ya? Check with your SIEU local to see when the next ‘unemployment check’ rally is to be held.
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:20amThese business owners need to do what odumbo does… build and expand regardless to what the courts say. I am BEYOND fed up with these EVIL people messing with our lives and freedom. I’m with this guy… I’m done, Gloves are off….
Go to every meeting you can. Know the facts and “call them out” on their lies! People, we need to step it up now.
Report Post »SFYMP
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:29amFor sooner12
Report Post »The feds get the first 28 cents, then the state tax, then the county tax, thats another .30. Some places like wash. and ca. it can be over a dollar in taxes. In my county in NV they take the taxes out five decimal points (.00000) I used to deliver about 45,000 gals a day amazing how much a hundreth of a cent can add up in volume. on a good day before obamaville we shipped 1 million gals. a day out of our local tank farm. The govt. got $580,000 a day in TAXES from just one tank farm, for doing nothing. The oil refinery makes about .06 profit on a gal. the distributor another .06 to.10 profit and the retailer (service station) .05 to.010 cents It has always insulted our intelligence that the govt. made .30 cents more after all the profit was made on a gallon. who profits more, Shell or the govt. that did nothing but regulate and steal.
Erabin
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:29amAtlas Shrugged: A book written by a hypocrite to appeal to the high school junior.
If you‘re out of high school and still believe what’s in that book you should take a good, long look at yourself and start changing a few things.
Report Post »myway
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:29amI never dreamed we could regulate our country out of jobs from coal to oil and on to NASA. We don’t hear about jobs people are getting only jobs that will never happen or they have lost because of liberals and their actions. 20% of the country running the rest of us into poverty with a leader who has no experience and claims he has a plan. However we never see one. To many CZARS with funky commie backgrounds. This is what we get from a community organizer. This is very sad this man is quitting.
Report Post »lobster
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:30amThis over-regulation started many years ago. I had an inspector for the state of CA tell me his job was to shut down smaller labs so they wouldn’t have so much to do at the state level. This same mentality is prevalent throughout the “inspector” grade people country wide. There was a small limestone mine (open pit) that wanted to open in Kern County. The eco-freaks showed up in droves to protest. It would save the farmers of the San Joaquin 400 miles of trucking to bring in Ag lime, but no, these folks thought it was absolutely awful. It was going to add 40 more trucks a day on the 58, out of 11500 already using that route. The county supervisors did approve it. One clown posing as a chemist with a phD said the problem with the limestone was heavy metals, bunk, this was pharmaceutical grade calcium carbonate.
Report Post »Bluefish49
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:31amOh but if he would agree to let his workers unionize all the strict regulations would somehow go away.
Report Post »myway
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:36amIt is frighting and very sad! This is the commie plan for us. Can you imagine another term of Obama?
Report Post »Lover of America
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:57amWhat exactly are you referring to in the article? Want to make sure I undestand you’re comment.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:07amMining all over thr US is being attacked.The Dept. of Fish And Game is considering listing the Mountain Yellow legged frog as endangered species. This will stop mining near all mountain streams and stop gold mining. If you could open all the new mines and old ones just sitting null you could put thousands of folks to work and collect billions in taxes as income. It takes 5 years to open a mine and tens od tousands of $$$ in fees.The government will reject your envirenmental study until you sue. The tree huggers then come out and do theit siut. We have 5 rare minerals in the US but have not been able to open a mine yet because of the deal obama did with China.
Report Post »AmericanPatriot02
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:13amThese Barakanomics need to stop! Does Ostupida really think he’s going to be able to raise taxes in order to save this country! Not while I’m around! Taxes don’t do anything but take money from one person and spread it around the country to do nice things with it, but I’ll never see it! Damn Soros and his agendas! Herr-y Reid needs to back off and start using my money to build things in MY community! Not in, Obomba’s Chicago, not in LA, but in the small church towns where we do what we say, and we say we believe and god and that we have the best steak in the country! Amen!
Report Post »FormerLib
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:17amWhat’s sad is realizing our days of achievement are behind us. The Empire State Building was built in a single year, using 1920s/30s technology. Hoover Dam took a mere 5 years. We went from the first workable jet engine in the mid 1940s to a man on the moon and back in just 25 years. The freeway system of the entire US was built in 35 years. Today, it would take years of permits by multiple agencies, environmental impact studies, hearings, lawsuits by grievance groups, plan check, labor relations, etc to even begin to get any of these projects off the ground. The housing project I work on has a guy from the federal government come by twice a week to monitor how much mud is being tracked onto the road way ( a secondary road, by the way, not a main highway) and fines may be issued if it exceeds an arbitrary standard. We have become the “can-do anything“ nation to the ”can’t do anything” one in just 30 years. I hope everyone likes the Third World, because we’ll be there in another 50 years.
old white guy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:17amthe idiot obama said he would bankrupt the coal mines. see, he is keeping one of his promises. there needs to be a serious march on washington not to beg but to tell all there that their time is up.
Report Post »Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:22amThis is sooooo AWESOME!!!!
Don’t shed a tear for Mr. Bryant. You all must understand, that we need thousands more John Galts like him. Only once the host refuses to be a victim of the parasites can healing begin. Make no mistake, this thing comes to an end eventually. It doesn’t end on Wall Street or get fixed by DC politicians. That’s all window dressings. When Atlas shrugs it all stops. THAT will be the dawning of a new day! THAT will be the birthday of a new dawn of liberty. Yes, it will be ugly. The parasites won’t slink silently away. They will come with everything they have. But it philosophically and fundamentally won’t work! You see it already, look at the cabinet. Do any of them have qualifications to run anything? No. Everything will wither and die. It is on the corpse of this monster that we will erect the cornerstone of a new day. Thanks Mr. Bryant.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:26amI think that underground coal mines are way too dangerous for Austro-Libertarians to use this example to make their point.
Now, surface mining is way safer for everyone. The Environmentalists can go to another country and ask the animals to bring them food, since they hate tools so much; Don’t destroy our economy for that miserable ideology.
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:32am“Just another example of Obamanomics at work shutting down America’s ability to prosper.”
Yeah because 2 1/2 years ago there weren’t any of these regulations. There wasn‘t a Bureau of Mining Safety because there weren’t any unscrupulous mine owners that cut corners costing the lives of mine workers. None of that happened before Obama, everything was just fine and dandy.
Republicans never passed laws opening the doors for Corporations to realize wild profits and tax breaks, actually rewarding them for shutting down American factories and shipping good jobs overseas so slave wage workers. That didn’t happen either.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:57amThe EPA needs to be chopped off at the ankles!
Report Post »nomorpc4me
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:42pmWow, what if big business used the old union tactic and went on strike? Beyond scary. Obama would nationalize everything in a week.
Report Post »De minimus
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:50pmOh it matters, just not to the Marxists running the government.
Report Post »southerngal
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:51pmthe small community where i run my business created a town center out of thin air because they thought it would be great for the community to have a “downtown” . Except that they want the businesses to spend their own money to create their concept, and they want the tax payers to fund its development, and they want federal money,your money to top it off.. But wow, they had this great idea with the only means of funding it is with someone elses money. Shear genius. I have refused to spend a dollar of my effort towards it. They dont show up to do the work. They dont take the risk. they dont collect the tax dollars. but they sure want to spend it. “atlas shrugged” Where is john gault? he is every person who takes a stand not to be used by the clueless, inept, bureaucrats who only have the collective good in mind. I understand this man completely and my project palled in comparison. I dont work for the community. but i provide much for the community by my efforts and my business.
Report Post »mikem1969
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:02pmOne more example of over-burdensome regulations killing jobs and hurting the people. Good old lib progressive logic at work.
Report Post »valricoslash
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:12pmObama and his administration, expecially the EPA and DOE are abunch of leftist morons. Obama has no clue about jobs, or economics. In fact, I seriously doubt that he could make change at McDonalds. And, some of his Czars should be doing time at Levenworth. Its too bad that those unfortunate miners will not be able to pay their mortgage or car payments for lack of well paying jobs. They can thank Obama and I hope they remember this in 2012. In fact, if everyone who lost their job in this economy voted against Obama in 2012, it would be a landslide for his opponent.
Report Post »hereandnow
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:12pmThe socialist indoctrinated society will one day have a black market for a sheet of toilet paper….
Report Post »AlansTigg
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:19pmterrifying!
Report Post »towerguy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:33pmWho is John Galt?
Report Post »Want our country back
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:36pmDWH320
Just another example of Obamanomics at work shutting down America’s ability to prosper.
———————————————————————————————————————–
You are so right. This is a heartbreaking story for Americans but not for this administration. They have managed to create such a hostile environment that a lot of people are throwing up their hands and saying ‘the hell with it’ or ‘I quit’, BUT we CANNOT give in to that temptation. I think if we lock arms and all rally around each other WE THE PEOPLE may not win each fight but WE WILL WIN THE WAR….2012… Please don’t give up & don’t get discouraged. We’re the USA & we don’t quit.
God Bless the USA
Report Post »4areason
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:00pmI think Ronnie is onto something. All business should go ‘on strike’ for one full week. No work, no pay, no phones, nothing. Let all of us recognize just how much business provides to our daily living. Maybe the unions and the government need a taste of their own medicine!
Report Post »Mtroom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:19pmIt’s sad…you can here it in the guys voice as he speaks….this is the kinda man you wanna work for
Report Post »pschlentz
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:19pmGod Fearing Americans, drive this Administration out of office before our Country is ruined!!! What will it take for everyone to fight?
Report Post »Isn’t it obvious that common sense will not give you the right answer. This is all, VERY OBVIOUSLY, on purpose.
This Administration just won the battle with this coal miner, they absolutely got exactly what they want, they won (and we lost). SAD!!
John Langley
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:19pmIt is no wonder why so many people are un-employed in this country. Joe, don’t hang your head, keep it up. It seems that our current occupants of the White House and the majority in Congress are living in some kind of a common sense warp. In other words their common sense is warpped! The only reason we are in the finiancial mess we are in today is because we as Americans at large have lost confidence in our government and this is what is freightening to me. Confidence is the basis for all human personality action and reaction to problems that confront us every day. Heck, even having sex is rooted in having confidence. We must have confidence that change is comming! Perhaps not soon enough, but it is comming. I just hope thoes who are in power now when they are out of power will be able with confidence to come out of the Washington common sense warp and realize that the only thing they have lost is years of time left in their life.
Report Post »jkendal
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:24pmHe is doing EXACTLY what obama wants him to do by quitting. He said he was going to go after the coal industry and he’s doing it. What industry is next???
We quit at our own peril. They WANT us all to quit so they can take over! They want control over every aspect of our lives! Many people scoffed at that statement. Still scoffing???
Well, I’m not going to quit fighting this regime – I will continue to fight even if I’m drawing my last breath!!!!!!
Report Post »Shiroi Raion
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:31pmWe know he isn’t the only one. Absurd amounts of red tape, high taxes, Obamacare… There are BUSINESS SPACE FOR SALE / FOR RENT signs all over this city. The mall here used to be packed every day so you would have to drive up and down 4 to 8 lanes before finding a spot. NOT ANYMORE. Drive right up and there’s always a spot in the front. Obamanomics = Fewer jobs, less revenue, more uncertainty, more depression, more desperation. Is he trying to destroy the greatest country that ever was or is he an idiot? Well, must be both… if he wants to fundamentally transform America, he’s an idiot.
Report Post »Nanny
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:49pmWhat will it take to convince the American people that this administration has an agenda that is anti-America. Obama’s race bating, his class warfare, his energy policy, his Marxists views, his violation of our Constitution, his handling of our debt crisis, his payoffs to the unions, his so called healthcare bill that no Federal employee will need us sign up for, and his constant lying with every speech he makes. This man is doing everything he can to destroy our Republic. WHY? Is George Soros setting him up to be a dictator? Did you hear his recent speech to LaRaza? Think about it America and become active to defeat this traitor in 2012.
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:02pmNobody tells me how to or what to do, when it comes to my business!!! That would be my choice of how to handle red tape, Go underground (Until they went away) and move further away. Enough buzy body with guns thugery, the government.
Report Post »mdb749
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:27pmRemember Obama promising that opening a coal mine would be cost prohibitive? Well, here we are.
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:27pmYou are so right. Remember barack and biden said that if you wanted to open a coal burning electric plant we‘ll make it so tough for you that you’ll go broke. That does affect the miners and the industry. This shows barack that his plan to kick the legs out from underneath our country as far as energy production is working. barack is the enemy of the United States.
Report Post »Huguenot Descendant
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 4:44pmIt’s scary to know how Washington keeps spending and adding more and more debt to China. All the while here in America regulations keep being stacked up onto businesses that could provide jobs and help fix the American economy. Soon the American businesses are going to get tired of the regulations and quit just as this man did. But heaven forbid China gets sick of America‘s failing currency and starts to claim on America’s resources. When that day comes of course the left will blame the small business owners for not doing their part.
What is happening to America right now is pure evil. It’s complete regulations and control. A scary thought indeed.
Report Post »clockwork
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 4:58pmYes, it‘s scary and it’s painful!! This could be just the first of many – or at least any that we know of. Who knows how many people have closed their businesses of all kinds because of the burdens handed to them.
If you want to know what “runs” Obama, read “The Roots of Obama’s Rage” by Dinesh D’Souza. Glenn Beck interviewed him on his program and I immediately bought this book. You wouldn’t believe what it says!!! Also available at your public library. Not a big, thick book; very easy to read and understand.
Report Post »DeliverUsFromEvil
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 5:32pmThis story makes me sick to my stomach. It shows how detached Obama and his administration are from the everyday plight of entrepreneurs and job seekers. This government is sucking the life out of the American people, demoralizing it’s job creators and workers, and making our great nation the laughing stock of the world.
Obama makes Jimmy Carter seem Mt. Rushmore-worthy.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 5:47pmHey folks, go to http://www.icmj.com the Prospecting and Mining Journal and find out how obama has shut down mining in the USA. There is a Canidian diamond mine the goes to the Wyoming border and stops. Over 2000 people are employed but the mining company can’t get the permits to mine in the USA. If the EPA was shut down over a half million Americans could be put to work. The salerys and taxes plus corporate taxes would knock a trillion dollars off the national debt.
Report Post »98harley
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 6:15pmRemember, Obama said you can try mining for coal but I will shut you down…
Report Post »AmericanPatriot01
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 7:06pmSTARVE THE BEAST!!!
Do NOT allow an increase in the debt limit!!
Do NOT allow them to raise taxes!!
BOYCOTT the IRS!!
BOYCOTT the banks!!
STARVE THE BEAST!! They will have to stop spending when the have no more money!! and they will fail and crash this government BEAST!!
The American poeple will pick up the peices and rebuild our constitutional government. Yea there will be pain in the process but we will be able to flush the toilet and start freash!! We can build it better and with the lessons we have learned in this mess, we will be GLORIOUS agan. This was a grand experiment and now we have our results. NOW we can do it right and perfect the USA!! This time we take the founders and work in the safegards that will not allow this to happen again.
America is the nation that can take tradgedy and make it GLORIOUS!! With GOD, everything is possible!!! With the faithfull everything is probable!!
Report Post »egonzalez945
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 7:23pm“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined as the rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known and less fixed?”
Report Post »-James Madison
Bluebonnet
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 7:58pmSo many restrictions. Why would anyone want to open a business? So where do the people get jobs?
Report Post »If many of the restrictions were for our safety or good, I’d understand. Most is to teach us we must give up our rights to the government. Remember the little kids trying to sell lemonade had to shut down or buy a permit? They just want to take away initiative to work on our own at any age.
OneFunR6
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:44pmThese people are not interested in helping anyone but themselves.
They are not interested in protecting or providing for OTHER people’s
FREEDOM to PURSUE LIFE, LIBERTY OR HAPPINESS,
they are only interested in CONTROLing others for their own benefit.
God always wins. So ask, who’s side are they on?
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:04pmThis “is” exactly what they want!
Report Post »rcsyoung
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:20pmThis administration has no conscience or sanity……this is just another part of the “green movement” on the road to destroy capitalism. Sadly, they are also destroying the heart and soul of Americans as well.
Report Post »Howyinthehills
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 12:11amAgreed Joe,
Report Post »This goes way beyond O’Bama, the confluence of greens (rabid environmentalists) and the reds(collectivists) is destroying our Greco-Roman culture with their altruist anti human claptrap.
american1st
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 1:24amfor those of you blaming this on obama ….YOU ARE WRONG…. this has been going on under the republicans “leadership” just as much, just because it happened on his watch doesn’t mean he is the cause… LOOK DEEPER… i wouldn’t let the current administration of the hook, but this isn’t a party problem or a president problem this is a WASHINGTON ESTABLISHMENT problem!!!!
we need to take our government back…
Report Post »79USMC83
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 6:43amThis is exactly why the REGULATIONS are in place. The HIDDEN AGENDA by the “Governement Stupid” is the NATIONALIZATION of “ALL” of America’s Fossil Fuels, Timber “LAND,LAND,LAND” HOUSES and any thing else of VALUE !!!. It has NOTHING to do with the enviroment. The trillion dollar Debt “Crisis” is a MYTH when they are chomping at the bit thinking of ALL the OIL, NATURAL GAS and COAL this country has !!! TERM LIMITS NOW !!! FAIR TAX NOW !!!!
Report Post »CONSTRUCTIONSTEVE
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 8:19amIt is in the road-bridge construction also….the epa has cripple our industry and common sense is out of date ! The money spent on useless items is incredible
Report Post »drbage
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 9:10amBravo to him for standing up for his principles and saying what he means and meaning what he says. The LSM(lame stream media) and the Revs will, of course, demonize this man, yet they will remain silent about the fact that Obama-ite Jeffrey Immelt has shipped another few thousand jobs over to China(X-ray machine division) and that taxpayer-funded Government Motors first big move after the bailout was to build a new assembly plant in Mexico! How do those actions help the American worker and economy?
Report Post »develdog84
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 12:20pmsooner12, the .06 a gallon is the refiners profit. there are many levels that make up the gas price. the largest profit is the well owners. there profit run from about 10% for US offshore wells to 200% for OPEC wells. As far as taxes go, the brake down per gal is; .25 fed, .15- .36 state then county and city sales tax. and that is just the direct tax on fuel. The oil co also has to pay royalties, severance tax reclamation tax to both state and the feds just to name a few in the domestic oil they produce .
Report Post »adaismeus
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 12:48pmI am bookmarking this. I homeschool and right now for lit we are doing atlas shrugged …..what an example, sad very sad.
Report Post »Pujols
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 7:57pmWhen people have to deside whether to heat their homes or feed their families this is going to be a big deal and Obama will be long gone. Obama will some day be the most hated person from The USA. Pray for Him. Maybe God can open His tiny little heart so He can see the harm He is doing to the Contry.
Report Post »jnobfan
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 8:45amThats a real shame. IMO the only card America has left to play to create jobs is harvesting the vast energy reserves in the west and Alaska. I see no other option. We simply cannot compete in most manufacturing industries with China and others so what do we have left?
Report Post »Very little except energy.
@ Coyote2
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 10:09amHe’s got enough money to last for eternity so quitting is no big deal to him.
Report Post »C. Schwehr
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 12:25pmTo ARABIN: A book written by a hypocrite? Strange that you should belittle one of the classics of American literature because you’re socialist? Don‘t you like the message just because it’s coming true in front of your own lying eyes?
Report Post »Another Soros TROLL bites the dust!
ccrsmobile
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:37amIn answer to Hauschild‘s comment that our leaders don’t know economics, you’re wrong. They know economics very well, and they’re using economics to destroy America by leading us into socialism. That’s how you do it, you bankrupt a country first.
Report Post »Bernard Gui
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 1:52amSo how many jobs did Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming create today?
Report Post »militarybrat1
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 8:16amI just got goose bumps down my spine. I am re-reading Atlas Shrugged. Right out of the book. No body cares. Who is John Galt? Wake up America. This is going to start happening more often.
Report Post »Harland
Posted on May 15, 2012 at 2:43pmOkay so what this yokel is saying in essence is “ if I am not allowed to pollute and contaminate the steams, creeks and ground water that you and your children drink and the air you breath, If I have to obey common sense safety rules and regulations in order to protect the lives and health of miners working in my mines and to prevent blowouts, cave-ins and methane fires and black lung “ I’m gonna take my ball and go home.
Report Post »So just how do you figure that this blows back on Obama? Just because these things and the workes need protecting? Do you really want to go back to the late 1800′s
stinkybisquit
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:04amShrug.
Report Post »jaxy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:39amSeriously shrug?….If you are cold hearted you can shrug about one guy and the 125 people who won’t have jobs. The issue is that this is going on in every industry and every state and is killing people’s hopes and dreams.
Report Post »KPEdwards
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:10am@JAXY
Right … or the fact that the public was complaining about mines polluting their *drinking water* and causing cases of *cancer*. He brings up China. I’ll do one better, how about in Mongolia where they are just starting to mine – and severely pollute the rivers where the locals wash and were getting drinking water from.
Report Post »bobrsta
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:17amJaxy – read Atlas Shrugged, you’ll get the reference. Atlas, carrying the weight of an un appreciative world. What would you tell him to do? “Shrug”
Report Post »intothelight
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:29amI really don’t want to know who John Galt is, just WHERE the hell is he?
Report Post »OUTRIDER WRITER
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:46am@Bobrsta
Report Post »Well said. It’s what StinkyBiscuit meant; but, most people frequenting this forum wouldn’t have understood and, indeed, that single word reply lends itself to a host of meanings.
..
Good that you took the time to explain.
…
Buster Hyman
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:33amThe “issue” is that GOVERNMENT is killing the liberties, freedoms, and thereby the ability of the human spirit to create and thereby thrive. Remove the shackles of government, return our right to the foundational religion and morality and we can enjoy their blessings once again.
Y’all have a nice day.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 4:59pm@Buster
Report Post »The reason that it continues to spiral out of control is that the criminal politicians have co-opted the law enforcement community into siding with them. In exchange for protecting the politicians from the public, the police unions are promised and delivered exorbatant salaries and pensions. So, it goes on and on.
OneFunR6
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:40pmMil-Dot,
Civil war in 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 yr
God always wins.
the law enforcement community better decide who’s side they are on,
Report Post »we the people’s, or the criminal politicians
VISITORNUMBER3
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:04amThis is truly sad…
Report Post »Brad Wesselmann
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:33amNo, it is not! This signals the return of logic to chaos…it will just be a while before it takes hold. Next, only value for value will be acceptable and the ability to produce will again be appreciated and encouraged.
Report Post »rflussier
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:07pm@Brad: That’s my hope as well. It’s been my dream for about 5 years now. Sadly, the purposeful collapse by the opposing faction means that they think it’ll lead to thier dream as well (totalitarian state or one form or another).
One of us will eventually be right. I keeping thinking about which group will best survive a collapse, and I keep thinking “fly over” states. Can you imagine the hell that will be the major cities if a collapse really occurs?
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:03amFiction turns to truth, in realtime!
Report Post »towerguy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:48pmRight on. Every time I see a new report about stolen copper, I think about Taggart Transcontinental being unable to get messages because the copper wires have been taken and sold for scrap. The worst part for me is that the people who would most benefit from reading Atlas Shrugged will never undertake the effort. Perhaps if Ayn had stayed with the original title of “The Strike”, statist / progressive America would read the book thinking that the SEIU, CWA, AFL-CIO or UFCW put it out as a “how to get the rich” manual.
Report Post »kathleenlee
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:03amAnd so it begins. Regulations so burdensome that business just walks away. This administration and the EPA are ruining opportunities for the American people. People who are desparate for work. What the hells the point??? Coal production can be made safer and enviromentally better, but the feds just keep putting out more and more regs, the kind that kill business. Not just coal mining, but all business. America is not business friendly any longer, hasn’t been for a few years now. That’s why all the jobs are overseas. We’re in real trouble America…This government needs to get out of every aspect of our lives…let Americans invent, prosper and turn this Republic around.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:15amThis is exactly what the administration wants….everyone unemployed and sucking on the government teat. Who will not vote for them if they get all their benefits from them and they think the Republicans will take it all away? Plus, if everyone is on the government teat, they can collapse the economy faster…..can you say Cloward and Piven?
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:40amThe EPA is also sending millions of America TAX DOLLARS – our MONEY – to China and elsewhere in the world to help fight global warming, among other things. Obama is not on the side of America, but rather is on the side of the world.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:56amDon’t forget the push push push that is being done to cause a “rebellion” real or concieved to cause him to get his “civilian military police force” to enforce the “law”! Bottom up Top down……..I pray every day for the sanity to return to our country…..Semper Fidelis to God Country and Corps!
Report Post »henryKnox
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:36pmThey are using environment and global warming hoaxes to gain leverege in their quest to control the American people. If we are free and prosperous they will not be able to enslave us. These regulations are intended to kill our spirit just as they did with this coal mine owner. They are succeeding. We the people are losing. If we chose to fight back we may save our freedom, if not, we will become like the Soviet Union. They used regulations to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people, look it up.
Report Post »lylejk
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:03amI’m from Alabama and I lost my job over a year ago. Been doing contract work, but my last job was in April and it stinks to high hog heaven. Now this guy is giving up which means more jobs lost. The FEDs gotta stop this crap. They apparently want revolution since they are creating the environment for it. They think they will be safe behind the walls in DC but ultimately they won’t be. They are even contemplating on creating a special or Super Congress (http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/SuperCongress-debtceiling-Senate-House/2011/07/24/id/404631) which will all but destroy our Republic. Wake up folks. It’s going to get ugly. :)
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:18amThanks for the link. The founding fathers intentionally wanted things to take a while. If you can fast-track anything, you have a dictatorship, or a government lead by a few, what’s that called, ologarchy?
Report Post »Banter
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:06amNo, it’s called tyranny.
Report Post »wesleyapril
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:01pmIts what we have now.
Report Post »kenny1960
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:03amThere is going to be more and more of this, Business people who have enough money to retire are just going to say why should I put up with Obama and Pelosi and Reid s regulations ?? I do not need this headache , So I am going to retire. The Democrats have destroyed this economy with their massive health care bill and EPA regulations
Report Post »50BMG
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:09amThere’s already been plenty of people who have just had enough. I’m one of them. I sold my small business (apx. 20 employees) and will never, ever again start or buy another business in the United States.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:21amMe too. I called it quits and took an early retirement a year ago. It just is not worth all the hassle and I have enough to live on…so…Time to fish…
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:36am@PLAINDEVELOPER….I hear you 18 months ago I had 41 one employees now I have 7, between the employees wanting to join a union and the health care I decided to be a little more organized and have some one else bring the goods and parts in from the Far East. I dont have to rent two warehouses any more I dont have to pay insurances and security I dont have to worry about staff and I dont have to have massive amounts of inventory on hand. The best part of it is I dont have whiney employees (not all) phoning in sick every Friday. The 7 shipping and reciving people are in thier 40′s and I dont have a theft problem anymore. the best part is I make more money.
Kneale
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:00amDitto…..
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:46amOil_Robb you make more money, but our society pays a heavy price, as we export raw materials to China/Taiwan/Etc, and import finished goods, we loose natural resources we can never replace, this can’t be sustained for long.
Report Post »Rogue
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:57amMany of us small business owners are in the same boat as Mr. Bryant. For those still lucky enough to be in business, a large majority of us are in survival mode right now, trying to maintain our current employees without having to lay anyone off. It’s not just the EPA, as in Mr. Bryant’s case – any possible regulations that apply to your business have suddenly become a massive burden over the last two years. EPA, FDA, OSHA, IRS, Health Department, DOT…the list goes on for miles. More often than not, multiple agencies have jurisdiction over any type of manufacturing or production business, each with thier own rules and regulations. Many of even the smallest of businesses have been forced to create full time positions just to address regulatory issues. Creating positions that add no value to your business and don’t produce anything may work for Government jobs, but not in business – it is zero return on investment. Democrats wonder why businesses aren’t hiring, but small business knows exactly why. In addition to current conditions, we are being threatened now with additional taxes and even more regulations. No business owner in thier right mind would overextend themselves in this environment, and create jobs that they may be forced to cut in the months or years ahead.
Please reach out to friends, family and neighbors, and urge them to vote Republican in 2012. Many small buisnesses will not survive another 4 years of Obamanomics.
Report Post »sb36695
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:49amI WANT TO RETIRE! But it’s not time for me, so what am I supposed to do? I have been self-emloyed for 25 years, and now I get to fight it alone. I didn’t vote for Obummer, so why am I suffering?
Report Post »rflussier
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:54am@Swampy: I understand what you’re saying to Oil_Robb, but why should he sacrifice himself to prop up an invalid system? No one should every be asked to do that. He was given a system of rules, and made a logical, rational decision based on those rules. He owes nothing to no one. I believe you’ll agree with that.
I too used to run a business that employed 25 software development consultants. We made a lot of money for a lot of families. Then, it got to be more of a hassle that it was worth (between employees demanding new benefits, the gov’t demanding more taxes, etc), so I sold off the business (they closed the business within 18 months). Now I work with my wife, we have no other employees, we’re enjoying life and making a decent living. We owe no one else anything.
Report Post »henryKnox
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:28pmUnfortunately, this is their goal. If they can get all the productive people to quit then they can grow the number of dependent people. Once they get enough dependent people then they can enslave us all because we will have no way to fight back. This is the way it has happened throughout history in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela etc.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:09pmI worked overtime as much as possible and all extra money went into paying all my bills off and bought gold and silver. Then I retired. I’m fishing and riding my Harley. It’s great. No more using my money to pay lazy welfare freaks for me. I SHRUGGED. Obama doesn’t tell me what to think. He’s a nutcase.
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amGod Bless this American Soul. Atlas Shrugged is a great way to model your life if you are selfish, bitter and sad. Which is OK.
While she was still alive, Ayn Rand disdained Christianity and actually wrote that she considered Ronald Reagan a weakling. In Objectivism, (the Atlas Shrugged philosophy), reason is everything and selfishness is the primary virtue. Religion is a fraud and extramarital promiscuity is openly encouraged. Altruism is a crime against human excellence and humanitarian self-sacrifice is the most contemptible weakness.
Atlas Shrugged – It’s ALL about Me, and who I can screw (literally).
But, it’s a life! Badda-Bing!
TEA
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:08amThat’s a valid point. However, there are other fuel sources that are far cleaner burning such as natural gas from hydrofracking, and up in NY they environmental extremists are trying to shut that down as well. Then they all go home to their air-conditioned houses and smoke weed, not even stopping to think that their electricity is generated by burning a dirtier fuel, coal.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:18amYou are answering your own posts? Have some patience, sooner or later you will get a rise out of someone and they will talk to you. :-)
Report Post »dc5
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:27amYou have either read Atlas Shrugged and failed miserably to comprehend the principles of Objectivism, or you are a liar and have never gone near the book. Regardless, go get yourself a copy and read it. It will do you a lot of intellectual good.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:29amI didn’t hear this guy say anything about “modeling his life” according to Atlas Shrugged. All I heard was him expressing his exasperation & frustration with all the hoops the government requires business owners to jump through. And his decision not to jump.
Report Post »NOTAMUSHROOM
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:31am@ENCINOM
Wow. Thanks for that bitter and sad book review. Sure proves the point that progressivism is a mental disorder since you completely missed the message of Rand’s book and you left out the inconvenient truth that Rand was born in communist (oh that’s right we call it progressivism nowadays) Russia where she saw all of the things she wrote about as a warning to the rest of us.
But hey, that’s OK too. Thanks for reminding us that it’s just not possible to have an intelligent conversation with one of the takers.
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:03amRand died of lung cancer on Medicare using a fake name, penniless and without her rich but selfish friends. Her hate for Government only extended to her followers, she used every available dole.
Ayn was a free love queen that was a confirmed Christ-hating, anti-Zionist adulteress who disparaged conservatives from Buckley to Nixon to Goldwater to Reagan.
She was supposedly “crazier than a Minnesota congress person!” But, nobody is perfect.
I just wonder if many of her Blaze supporters are not going to be embarrassed someday when they find out she (morally and sexually) misbehaved like someone you do not want your children to emulate.
Report Post »TEA
UlyssesP
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:12amGoodness, encinom, you missed his whole point.
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:18amThis and your follow up comments are historically accurate, Rand wasn’t exactly a nice person and certainly not religious in any stretch of the imagination. All one needs to know to understand the followers of this blog is their unquestioning devotion to Sarah Palin. Truth and honesty are not ingredients used in the making of their form of reality.
Report Post »BlueStrat
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:20amUlysses, Encinom doesn’t WANT to get the point!
It’s all about distracting people AWAY FROM the point, for Encinom.
Encinom is unable to argue the point on the merits, as that would reveal the absolute insanity of the positions the Left has taken. All that is left for Encinom is to attempt to distract and muddy the waters.
It‘s the Lefts’ internet-posting equivalent of “But…but…you’re a POOPY-HEAD!!”. LOL!!
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:34amTrolltrain, why the childish hostilities here after being so pleasant and complimentary in the email you sent me? You weren’t drinking and emailing I hope.
Report Post »rflussier
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:38amI’m so often tempted to respond to this poster with coherant, reasoned arguments. Then I pull back and say “why?”. He’ll never understand, because he doesn’t want to understand.
If everyone lived with Rational Self-Interest (what many call “selfishness”), then who would the gov’t have to take care of? Of course, most people simply refuse to understand the “rational” part, and simply call you “greedy” while holding out their hand for your hard-earned money.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:49amI am being hostile now because in your email you told me you were going to quit the silly games of using more than 1 user. We all know all of your persona, it is just childish. You asked for my help in trying to get others to like you and I tried, but you will not listen! Never mind you promised to move out of your mom’s basement and get a job, I really did not expect that to happen. But you could at least at like an adult when you are in here, after all, you are 13 years old now!
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:32pmTrolltrain, sorry for hitting a nerve when you’ve been hitting the bottle. Judging by that lie-filled, emotional rant of yours, you will have a lot to talk about when it’s your turn to share at your next AA meeting.
wow
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:42pmListen, just because I won’t let you come over and molest my sheep does not give you the right to be rude to me! I am sorry I had to tell your mama about your perversions but I thought maybe she would help you. It is now obvious that she never loved you and I understand your pent up anger, but I cannot help you unless you first try and help yourself.
Report Post »towerguy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:01pmI laugh when leftists declare that every person who reads and enjoys Atlas Shrugged must follow Ayn Rand’s philosophy 100%. Every liberal / statist I know takes whatever part they want out of religion, economic policy, statutory law and even the Constitution to justify their ends without reservation, so they can “feel better” about things. Damn the facts! Conservatives & Libertarians, though, must be objectivists because they agree with parts of a book. This is yet another example (among many) of the disease that is liberalism, socialism & statism.
Report Post »wolverine
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:38pmYou are still a moron
Report Post »NYHuguenot
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:49pmYou must have read different book than the rest of us. While the heroine and reardon may have been adulterers I din’t see that Rand said that was part of her philosophy though she herself was an adultress. She also does not advocate pure selfishness. Instead she says if you want to give to charity or help others then by all means do so. But don’t do it because someone expects you to or demands it of you. Even Rand wasn’t naive enough to believe civilization could exist without human empathy and cooperation. The thing to remember is that everything must be voluntary on your part. If you voluntarily decide to live in the city then you obligate yourself to live under the laws of the city. If you don’t then get in the car and go out to the desert and live in a trailer. Need anything? it’s for sale. We don’t owe it to you. Don’t expect to be taken care of. Unless we want to.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:55pmAyn Rand was randy. So what.
Report Post »We get a different moral from Atlas shrugged than Ayn did. It happens. We took the right moral from the book.
The playwright of “Mother Courage” rewrote it several times because the audience loved Mother Courage and they were suppose to hate her.
This is what happens when an author, playwright, or movie director hits upon archetypes and so is successful although their philosophy is crap.
George Lucas consulted Joseph Campbell about archetypes. The result is that Star Wars is a success, while Lucas is politically naive. That explains the enigma of Hollywood in a nutshell.
Truthbeliever2
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 4:14pm@ Beckisnuts
LOL I was unaware that so many people have you pegged for the loser you are.
How does that feel?
TOOL!
Report Post »ghostsouls
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 4:34pm@MONICNE Please stop lying here. Here are the facts: “Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982, at her home in New York City”
Report Post »“An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand’s law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand’s behalf she secured Rand’s Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O’Connor (husband Frank O’Connor).” Ayn, Ann, symantics, and she got her husband’s social security, like many widows, so what, that’s not welfare, her and her husband paid their fair share over the years. She did not die of cancer…..more lies…you people crack me up…just keep saying things that are not true, hoping everyone will believe you if you say it long enough. Get your facts straight before you post!
I Love Roark
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 5:15pmMonicne,
Report Post »So, objectivists are selfish, bitter, and sad? Wow. How many do you know, or have conversed with. The objectivists that I know constantly seek to better their character, improve their professional and life skills–and love honestly and completely. Certainly Ayn Rand was an aetheist, and had no use for religion. What you have overlooked, that regardless of her disbelief in God, she believed in values, morality, and the never-ending quest to attempt to perfect ones soul. Reason is indeed everything–because that’s the tool we use to perceive reality and to learn what works! Genuine emotion is the RESULT of what one’s thinks (of one’s reason). Feelings (real feelings) do NOT exist independently of reason.
There is a difference between selishness and greed. To be selfish is to care about your interests–this can be good or bad, depending upon your moral character. What many people deem “selfish” is actually greed.
In objectivist philosophy, sexual desire is the result of your highest values. If you value integrity, hard-work, and truth–the person you desire will naturally share those values. It’s worth mentioning that Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggert shared values–Rearden and his wife did not.
Altruism is the pursuit of self-sacrifice above all. It is suicide in slow doses–just look at the people who practice it.
Disapproving of Reagan is hardly a character flaw–it was an opinion based upon his policies. She was entitled to her view.
MONICNE
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 5:41pmDear I_Love_Roarke
I am indeed honored that you set up a brand new account just to set me straight.
I agree with everything you said.
I was not criticizing Ayn for not agreeing with those politicians I mentioned, I was just pointing out where she stood in the Conservative mainstream of her time.
Obviously, objectivist sexual desire is the result of their highest values. They just do not value marriage vows and self control as much as self actualization and gratifying activity.
Actually, as a teen, my favorite aspect of Atlas Shrugged was the non-stop boinking. Hubba Hubba.
TEA
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 6:07pmGHOSTSOULS! How quick you are to say LIAR! Maybe I was too brief!
Ayn suffered for a decade with terminal cancer, but officially her heart gave out. I should have said it just like that. So you are correct, and I salute you.
Factually, Rand hid the fact she was on disability (and Medicare) from her loving public in those years, and she was sadly frustrated with personal peccadilloes and poverty. But like I said, she had a life!
Perhaps I was too brief in my statements, here is a Cut & Paste out of Wikipedia:
“A heavy smoker, Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974.[78][79] Several more of her closest associates parted company with her[80] and during the late 1970s her activities within the Objectivist movement declined, especially after the death of her husband, on November 9, 1979.[81] One of her final projects was work on a never-completed television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.[82]
Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982, at her home in New York City,[83] and was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.[84] Rand’s funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including Alan Greenspan. A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket.[85] ”
Thanks ghost, I appreciate you calling me out like that.
TEA
Report Post »uncleherbert
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 2:09pmI do not think you believe in private property? Say it ain’t so!
Report Post »michaelmoron
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:35amMonicne. I am very disappointed. You replaced your Nancy Pelosi as a Clown Avatar, for this Boehner as a Fairy, Avatar. Only, We realize Boehner is a Pansy now. he is a RINO. So we like your rendition. They must be paying you a lot to come on here and dis-credit us. If you were not getting paid, you would be a Conservative or a Libertarian by now. Tell Soros or the Pentagon, I am Personally, too much for you to handle, on an intellectual level. And someone like I, can verbally and morally shut you down and put you in your place at anytime. I am your Alfa Male. You are My Bit@h!
Report Post »Anytime you want to attempt to debate me…Bring it !!!!
MONICNE
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 12:01pm((‘Boehner as a fairy’ avatar))
((Only, we))
((He is))
((discredit))
((I am personally too much for you to handle on an intellectual level))
((someone like me))
Dear, Miss, Moron, me is like, thinking, about. Like. “what to attempt to debate” when it’s like, really hard to read your so called sentences. For reel.
LMAO visualizing you as the sleazy hippo Mikey Moore, such great fun you are. TEA
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:36pmMiss Moron, thanks for the perky post!
Staying up late drinking?
Your over the top invective reminds me of Representative Scrappy Coco (R-Plantation) with his absolutely Victorian email to put his senior Congresswoman in her place.
Like Scrappy you seem to be itching for a fight with a frustratingly superior peer. You seem nice; yet quite afraid of women, which makes you lash out wildly and inappropriately at your perceived enemy.
Well Michele, you can fight me all you want but as far as I am concerned you are a fellow American and someday you will mature, so I salute your hot temper, and wish you happiness within your four white walls.
And thanks for the advice on avatars! You are a born artiste! Ciao bella!
TEA
Report Post »Attention2Detail
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amHow many more would-be business owners feel exactly the same way?
Report Post »BlueStrat
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:20amMe, for one.
I had the opportunity to open a small factory manufacturing vacuum-tube guitar & bass amps in Kalamazoo, MI, a town that used to be famous for musical instrument and related manufacturing (Gibson used to be here…now they’re in TN). I would have started out employing approximately 85 people, probably ending up at around 250 employees, starting at ~$10/hr plus benefits for entry-level electronic assembly.
It would have pumped millions into the economy every year and tens of thousands in tax revenues.
Between the Labor regulations and the EPA compliance costs, plus the projected Obamacare costs, the local & State regulatory & zoning hassles, legal consumer regulation liabilities, plus the likelihood of dealing with attempts to Unionize the workers, it’s simply not worth it.
I understand completely just how this mine operator feels.
And it’s a dang shame that, because of bloated, over-reaching & intrusive government, America is no longer the “Land of Opportunity”.
Report Post »Utahcatholic
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:24pmI do; I have a business plan in place, have 500K in hard cash, have selected a location, have negotiated a lease, would employe 12-15 people, have even interviewed some…………………….but I‘ll be damned if I’m going to hit the “Start button” while this corrupt Chicago progressive bunch is running the country.
November 2012 can’t come sonn enough. The countries survival hangs in the balance.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:29pmUTAH:
Report Post »Cash won‘t be worth the paper it’s written on. Almost worthless already.
ghostsouls
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 4:40pmBusiness people are NOT making new businesses, shutting down the ones they have, moving businesses to states without union thugs, and moving businesses out of the country to avoid unions and obama with his hands out for more taxes. This is where our tax money is going and where our jobs are going, they no longer exist, or they are being moved out of the country and some other country is benefiting from American businesses.
Report Post »Utahcatholic
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 6:00pmChips1……….I HEAR YOU. I know the Fed has/is destroying my cash but I‘ll be damned if I’ll give it to the Wall St thieves. I’d rather give it to Vegas.
Report Post »Teaparty-grammy
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 1:48amUnfortunately, it is the small businesses that provide the lion’s share of jobs in this country–not the big corporations you are always hearing about. The evil little puppet in the White House knows that–or at least his string-pullers do, which is why small business has been under attack ever since he took office–it is the best and quickest way to undermine and collapse our economy.
Report Post »Seabee79
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amWell obama and his minion of idiots said he want’s to shut down the coal industry. we get about 50% of our power from coal plants. they should all get together and shut down at the same time and let the country go dark, and say see democrats this is what you get with out coal. do it on a nice Hot day.
Report Post »AmericanPatriot02
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:40amBut what about all the people who believe in God and vote for the Christian politicians? I don’t vote for Slowmama! Why should MY lights go out? We should just sign an agreement stating that we’ll stick to coal forever. Anyway, are there any rallies coming up? I am ready to yell and someone and make a sign!
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:58amThe EPA is putting in regulations that will require rolling blackouts across this nation like they already have in most 3rd world nations. Can you imagine how much it will screw the few jobs we have left when 2 to 3 hours every day factories/phone centers/doctors offices/stores are forced to shut down due to no power.
Report Post »Vixvenom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amBy design, my friend….just begun….
Report Post »NJTMATO
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amThis is what Obama promised. He said that you could open a coal mine, but you’ll go bankrupt …he is true to his word. This is terribly sad. I hope people are angry enough to get rid of this administration, the lunatic left fringe, the outrageous regulations and the stupid climate changers…..climate does change…it has changed forever, this is nothing NEW!!!
Report Post »Bullcop34
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:43amAnd now, just this morning, it has been reported that GE is moving it’s XRAY division to China. Isn’t the Job Czar the former CEO of GE????(sarcasm, I know the answer)
Report Post »Redhandpaddy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amWelcome to the world of the progressives where men are seen as a virus or pollutant.
Report Post »hud
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:02amWelcome to Obama land. What can I say? We‘ve been going down this road for the 70 yrs I’ve been around. One thing is for sure it will never get better under dumbocrap rule.
Report Post »HELLRAISER
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:01amIt’s sad when you wake one morning and realize that your own Government is the enemy.
Report Post »wesleyapril
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:08pmOr you get into a discussion on facebook and you see “When did Russia become better than my country?”
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:36pmIt doesn’s hurt so much, after a couple years!
Report Post »noline
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:01amI’m speechless
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:00amI don‘t know much about coal mining and I don’t know anything about this man’s company BUT, what he said makes sense. And I think more and more business owners (or those considering starting a new business) have reached the same level of frustration with the government and have come to the same conclusion….why bother?
Report Post »Vechorik
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:07amI know how the guy feels. I also own a business and I’m retirement age. I always figured I’d work until I die, but Obama’s administration has convinced me, it’s time to close down.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:08amI have shut down my business because of Government BS. I work on my own, pay my menial taxes and provide no other person a living BECAUSE of GOVERNMENT.
Government regulations have killed this Nation. Maybe we can someday restore it all when the Government can’t pay the EPA USDA and all the other lying Government agencies and they have to shut down. YEA!!
Report Post »lynda1276
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:35amSame here…we started our business in 1972 and employ about 14 people. We do not like the way this country is headed. We are talking now about shutting down and even moving to another country. I never thought i would feel this way.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:07amAbout 18 months ago I closed the very successful small business I’d owned for over twelve years. Not necessarily due to increased government requirements but I saw the writing on the wall and knew the government’s actions were strangling the economy – and would continue to do so. Thankfully I‘d always practiced good financial management and hadn’t incurred any major debt. Sold remaining inventory at pennies on the dollar, paid off a couple minor obligations and walked away with some profit. But it was hard to give up something I’d worked so hard to achieve.
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:00amwho is John Galt?
Report Post »circleDwagons
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:38amwhere is John Galt? If one is retirement age and has resources it is Ok to drop out but what about the 30-50′s who have families to support. Head forward, it’s our time to STAND.
Report Post »Under God Amen
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:53amWe the People
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:00amAs long as the Obama mindset reigns in D.C., this is only going to become increasingly common.
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:41amIt won’t be long. He will not win another term.
Report Post »BIGJAYINPA
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:59amIt would seem that someone has broken the code. This is what the current government wants. They want to drive the small businessman out of the market and replace him with the government or an approved union friendly large corp. They will control where we work, what we make and ensure that all we earn goes to the government who will then see to it that each of us has what they feel we need. We are only here to support the approved government programs…Just sayin’
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 10:06am“Bryant listened to an overflow crowd pepper federal officials with concerns about businesses polluting the drinking water and causing cases of cancer.”
Well, you gotta do things safe, is all. Or QUIT.
The old guy has made money, and has had enough. Some younger, stronger and better man will use that mining license to do things safely.
Just Sayin’
TEA
Report Post »eagle2715
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:34amMonicne, you have very little understanding of what this man is saying, or how buisness is financed and run.
Report Post »19RANDY59
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:21pmMonicne is an idiot just sayin’
Report Post »wolverine
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 2:35pmMonicne is a moron
Report Post »wesleyapril
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:09pmEven her avatar – darn – she must have stopped going to school in third grade.
Report Post »bellbook
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:29pmMONICNE, People die of cancer due to many causes…some caused by our own government(fluoride in our water is 1 example)…The EPA with regulations is stopping a business from starting…this keeps people from working which keeps them from feeding & supporting their families…and also it will eventually limit our electricty use.
Report Post »FIATLUX
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:49pmIn reply to children like Monicne: Clearly, she’s a product of the Al Gore social-engineering educational farce. Notice how she cheers on Ayn Rand’s personal-life depravity, but denounces what valid principles are attributeable to her philosophy.
She says, “Some younger, stronger and better man will use that mining license to do things safely.” Stronger? Better? Safer? The only ones left ready to take up the where “The old guy” leaves off, are the federal official vulchers themselves via their corrupt minnions, FDA, EPA, ACLU, ad infinitum. With their free passes, they don’t worry about regulations or standards. Look at GE, why aren’t federal officials breathing down their necks? Because they don’t eat their own, that’s why. Meanwhile, GE Healthcare is relocating and investing $2 billion in China!! Two billion! Here’s a federally subsidized company that uses more than 50% of coal to generate electricity, doubled our costs in the last two years, takes tremendous profits, and turns around and invests in China.
Report Post »I’m certain that China will appreciate the Monicnes of this country who take pride in driving around in their “green” coal-burning Priuses, “boinking” away ala Rand, while “The old guy” who “has made money, and has had enough” relinquishes more resources to their future welfare.
Jeepzea
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:59amDefund and eliminate the EPA.
Report Post »hud
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:05amCommerce dept, education, secret service, and trillions of other oversight depts
Report Post »Ray2447
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:06amDemocrat eco-nazis
Report Post »randy
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:59amGood for him…….. I feel the same way
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:59amJESUS GOD, are YOU on YOUR way to get YOUR people?
We need YOUR help, LORD. Grant us YOUR courage when we have none of our own.
GOD, YOU can beat down the liberals, the evil people in our government. Do it, LORD. Use us to accomplish YOUR purposes while we are in this world. Thank YOU, LORD.
In JESUS’ precious name, amen!
Report Post »pscully17
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:17amthe BEYONDCOAL youth movement, using school kids to attack industry is a dangerous game, which they have no idea how that will impact their own future. Taxes, energy costs, interest rates, ballooning unemployment…they wont be able to live. Their standard of living will be equal to that of 1800s standards. Their ability to produce goods, grow food, or travel will cease to exist!!! but, nobody is telling them that. Its this selective sharing of facts that the Progressives have perfected to keep the youth stupid. Coal is the cheapest way to create electricty.. its health hazards have been diminsihed by leaps and bounds over the last 50 years.. yet, to the apparently RICH environmental whackos, who are currently winning the argument as Lisa jackson and the EPA juggernaut steamrolls businesses and has aleady received guarentees from Duke Energy, Americon Energy and Power and several other power plant owners, and coal mine operators, that they will shut down operations. The Nytimes article from Dec 10, 2010, stated the costs of compliance to Businesses, states and counties will run at least near $90 BIllion ANNUALLY!! if you think unemployment is high now, wait another 10-18 months when all these unmeetable regulations kill the power grid. That should be fun during the winter months, and another summer of sustained heatwaves. The People need to stand up and storm the bastille, and say NO MORE!! Quit OVER-GOVERNING US! YOU ARE KILLING AMERICA
Report Post »freeweever
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 9:41amLet’s Roll !!!!
Report Post »LOJ
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:58amIts sad, but Obama is achieving his goals to destroy America.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 11:27pmObama, Reid, Pelosi – and the American Public that believes that money grows on trees and that paper has value. Our money is backed by the full faith and confidence in the US Government – and NOTHING else. There are still more people that LIKE Obama than dislike him or his Socialist Agenda. There are abundantly more people that don’t give a rats butt – because none of this has really affected them. They are still buying cars, food, taking cruises, buying season tickets to NFL games, going to NASCAR races, Going to MickeyMouseland, attending $35,000 a plate dinners to reelect Obama – you folks better get real – there aren’t enough of you to do squat – except run your mouths. There is a congress with no guts and more than half are progressive socialists – even on the R side of the house. Politics is their religion and they are more fanatical that the worst Muslim in the world about protecting their religion and power.
Report Post »tmkphx1962
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 8:58amObama is getting his way. We need a real leader in the White House.
Report Post »Vowel_Movement
Posted on July 27, 2011 at 4:15pmA new LEADER? Whut chu tawlin bout Willis?
Obama ain’t no leader. He couldn’t lead a full blown flat broke alchololic to an open bar. He is simply a jIve arsed, Mr. Bo Jangles marionette dancing the Commie jig on a international one world order, Marxist String.
Report Post »