[Atlasphere] Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif) gives all his interns a copy of Atlas Shrugged

[O-Land News Junkie]

Reason Magazine has an excellent new article about Rep. John Campbell, who — as we noted when he replaced Rand fan Christopher Cox who was picked to head the SEC — is himself an admirer of Ayn Rand’s writings.

Author David Weigel notes that Campbell may be in a position to help lead the Republican Congress in a few years.

The article is titled “This is John Campbell Speaking” and begins:

If Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) said his book shelf was a time capsule, a memorial to the modern GOP, you’d believe him. Here is Ste­phen Slivinski’s Buck Wild, a jeremiad against the Bush-era big-spending Republicans. Here is Bruce Bawer’s While Europe Slept, the terrifying tale of how “radical Islam is destroying the West from within.” Here is one of Watergate felon Chuck Colson’s bestsellers on how Christ can save your life.

Less predictable are the tomes bookending the collection: not one but two hardbound cop­ies of Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, a favorite among many supporters of free markets and limited government. “Those aren’t my only two copies,” Campbell says, laughing. “Atlas Shrugged is the book I give to our interns after they spend a summer here, working for free. I consider it to be the authoritative work on the power of the individual.”

It is late September in Washington, D.C. Another Rand disciple is in the news: Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, is on the talk shows promoting his autobiography. Like Greenspan, Campbell is upset that the Repub­lican Party has been growing the government, hiking spending with funds that don’t exist. But Greenspan is out of public life. The 52-year-old Campbell, an Orange County, California, car salesman who arrived in D.C. just two years ago, is one of his party’s fastest-rising stars.

“He’s an absolutely fantastic member of the Republican conference,” says a senior GOP aide. “I think he’s become the heir apparent to lead the Republican Study Committee,” the anti-tax, anti-spending caucus founded in 1973 by then-insurgent proto-Reaganite Republicans. Campbell currently heads the RSC’s Budget and Spending Taskforce.

Here’s a great anecdote from later in the article:

During the floor debate over the defense appropriations bill, Campbell honed in on a $2 million earmark for Sherwin-Williams, a paint company that is developing a “paint shield” for military vehicles. In the process, he locked horns with the fearsome chair­man of the Defense Appropriations Committee, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.). To everyone’s surprise, Campbell cleaned the 33-year congressman’s clock.

After Murtha rambled about how the military probably wanted the paint shield earmark even though it wasn’t on its “priority list,” Campbell pounced. “Mr. Chairman,” he said, “you said you’re ‘sure’ the military [wants it]. So you’re not aware if, in fact, the military has asked for this kind of technology?”

Campbell kept his eyes trained on the Democrat. Murtha didn’t have anything to say.

“I guess the answer to that is no,” Campbell said.

Of course, the House isn’t a debat­ing club. The earmark survived any­way.

See the full article for much more about Campbell and his excellent work.

<script type="text/javascript">
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlasphere.com%2Fmetablog%2F710.php';
addthis_title = 'Rep.+John+Campbell+%28R-Calif%29+gives+all+his+interns+a+copy+of+Atlas+Shrugged';
addthis_pub = '';
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/addthis_widget.php?v=12" >

http://www.theatlasphere.com/metablog/710.php