A Conservative Movie Review: Atlas Shrugged: Part I

     I once anticipated the release of The Informant!, a movie based on a book by Kurt Eichenwald (Serpent on the Rock, Conspiracy of Fools).  The book is a riveting story about how Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) colludes with other large agri-businesses to control the prices of corn, animal feed and basically everything we buy in grocery stores.  A funny thing happened during the making of the movie.  Somebody at the studio decided that the movie did not have enough action scenes.  They re-edited the movie, added light- hearted music, and turned a smart, complex drama into a comedy.  Luckily there was no big studio involved in the making of Atlas Shrugged:  Part I.

     My companion at the movie remarked about how the movie was "dark," both in tone and setting.  I don't know how intentional this was, but it matched how I envision Rand's work when I read it.  I think that the makers of this movie did a very good job of conveying Rand's tone.  That being said, although I find Rand thought provoking, I also find Rand wordy at times.  The movie also captured this feature well.  I am personally annoyed by the trend of stretching movies and creating unnecessary sequels to get more ticket money (Kill Bill, The Matrix, etc.).  Although I don't think more ticket money is Mr. Aglialoro’s motive, I feel that one good, long movie could have been more satisfying than a trilogy.  Gone With the Wind comes to mind.
     In Atlas Shrugged: Part I, Dagny Taggart runs the largest railroad company in America.  Her best and most competent workers start to disappear. She is drawn to industrialist Henry Rearden. Together, using the untested Rearden Metal, they rebuild the critical Taggart rail line in Colorado.  Viewers are left wondering why all the best minds are disappearing and of course, Who Is John Galt?   
     I definitely enjoyed this movie and feel it was not the waste of time that most movies appear to be.  The people who made this movie definitely did more justice to Ayn Rand than the makers of The Informant! did to Kurt Eichenwald.  Atlas Shrugged is not an action movie, except for very fast trains.  It is not a comedy, either.  It is one of the most thought provoking movies of recent years.  I enjoyed the movie and my companion who is not a fan of Rand stated that they wished they didn't have to wait for Atlas Shrugged: Part II.  Be forewarned that the dialogue in this movie is reminiscent of the banter in 1940's films and that some of the characters will seem long winded by modern standards.  Conscious Conservatives, fans of Ayn Rand, libertarians and people who enjoy older movies like 12 Angry Men, Death of a Salesman or Double Indemnity should like Atlas Shrugged: Part I.

Tax Day Reminder -- Income Taxes Are Evil

END TAXATION!!!

     At 7:00 am on a Tuesday morning, a woman and her ten year old daughter sit at a table enjoying breakfast.  A typical fall day in Midwestern America.  The mother thinks about work and the daughter eagerly awaits seeing her friends at school.

     Doors bust open as a dozen or more armed men wearing body armor fill the house.  "Where's the money!" a gunman shouts, "We want the money!"  The mother and daughter were terrorized.  The mother couldn't handle the trauma.  Three days later she was dead.  She became convinced that she attracted the gunmen, although there is no evidence of that.  She killed herself to keep her children out of harm's way.

     One would hope that local law enforcement would jump on this type of home invasion robbery.  One could hope that senior detectives would labor day and night to bring these perpetrators to justice.  They are not.  Why?  The gunmen that traumatized a family, eventually leading to the mother's death, worked for the Internal Revenue Service.  As of this time, the gunmen have received no known punishment.

     The father, who was away on business at the time of the invasion, filed a wrongful death suit.  The IRS gave it's usual response.  First, it denied all liability.  Then the IRS filed charges of tax fraud against the husband.  The husband now had to fight on two fronts.  One to preserve the memory of his wife and one to keep himself out of prison.

     As Tax Day approaches, we should remember that there was no income tax in the United States of America for the majority of its existence.  The government survived on luxury taxes (alcohol, tobacco, etc.) and import and export tariffs.  The Founding Fathers did not put a general income tax into the Constitution because they were aware of the abuses to which an income tax would lead.  Politicians, whether well-meaning, corrupt or greedy cannot avoid the temptation of taking money from unpopular people to give to popular people.  If the unpopular people complain, they are greeted by gunmen at breakfast.  Why is it wrong for me and my friends to break into a neighbors house to steal their money, but perfectly acceptable for government agents to do it for me? 

     In the case described above, there were no allegations of failure to pay taxes until AFTER a woman was dead, a family was traumatized and a father had fought to get answers.  These incidents are inherent to any system of  Direct Taxation.  All Direct Taxes, including the Income Tax, should be abolished.

TAXES ARE EVIL!!

     

      

Conservatives Should Remember The Good Old Days

1960 Chevy Impala-One Sweet Ride

    One piece of false propaganda that seems to permeate the current federal budget talks is that programs cannot be cut because they have existed forever.  This view is spread by liberals and

conservatives alike.  Agency web sites give false histories that make them seem much older than they truly are.  The Department of Health and Human Services, established in 1980, tells its history as beginning in 1798 with "Passage of an act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen."  This false statement of antiquity is used to make the department seem more vital and indispensable.  In fact, many programs and cabinet level departments did not exist 50 years ago.  Although 50 years may seem like long ago, given that the United States is over 200 years old, it's really not that long ago and definitely not forever.

In 1960, the federal budget was about $92 Billion.  In 2010, the federal government spent about $3.46 Trillion.  Let's look at that.

1960          $92,000,000,000

2010     $3,460,000,000,000

That is a lot more money!!  More than $3.3 trillion more!!  


     The proposed 2012 budget for the Department of Transportation, established 1966, is larger than the ENTIRE federal budget in 1960.   Some programs that didn't exist in 1960 include Public Broadcasting, Medicare, Head Start, the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, Food Stamps and the DEA.  Some of the cabinet level departments that didn't exist are the Departments of Transportation, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Housing and Urban Development.  Just cutting these historically new departments will save about $1.2 Trillion from the 2012 budget.   

     Was the United States really that bad of place in 1960?  I don't think so.  We should remember the "Good Old Days" and dig into all of these new programs.  There are questions that should be asked.  Did a permanent problem exist? Does this program solve that problem?  Does this program not cause any other problems that are worse than the problem the program solves? Is this program constitutional?  If the answers to all these questions are not a resounding yes, we should abolish the program.
     Remember that almost every program that the politicians say is "sacred" is relatively new when looking at the history of the United States.  Many have not been in existence for 50 years and a lot of programs didn't even exist when you were young.  Life wasn't all that bad then and most government programs don't make things better now.  Remember the "good old days" and educate the Liberals who say,"It's been this way forever."