Every American should be a Wealthy Capitalist

Conservative bloggers met over the weekend in Las Vegas for the RightOnline conference. The two top speakers were Reps. Mike Pence and Michele Bachmann.

A liberal blog, AlterNet snarkily describes Bachmann's role:

LAS VEGAS, NEV. — In two major speeches and in the scuttlebutt of break-out sessions, Tea Party movement activists yesterday witnessed a subtle melding of their ideology with the sensibilities of the religious right and the cold capitalism of libertarian she-ro Ayn Rand.

Over dinner, the RightOnline conference — which is sponsored by Americans for Prosperity — heard from Michele Bachmann...

Resplendently evoking the Gadsden flag — otherwise known as the “Don’t Tread on Me Flag” — in a yellow-and-black ensemble, Bachmann served up the usual dish about the deficit, and how the rescue of the auto industry amounted to some form of “gangster government.” (You can find my live Tweets of Bachmann’s speech here – hashtag #ro10 .)

But Bachmann also defined the Tea Party coalition this way: disaffected Democrats, conservative Republicans, libertarians and “Constitution Party types.”

The social safety net came in for more than its usual share of contempt: Bachmann actually called for ending Social Security and Medicare — which she defined as “welfare” — for all but “the truly needy and the truly disabled.” And then she went all Ayn Rand on her audience. “It is possible for every American to be able to retire a millionaire. It’s entirely possible to do that…if you put away money, and there are alternatives that we can offer.”