Video interview: Sen. Ron Johnson and Atlas Shrugged, The Atlas Society

"Fight to be free." These are the words of Republican Senator and businessman Ron Johnson, and he is so committed to the fight, he had the words inscribed at the foot of a giant Atlas statue in his hometown of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Johnson recently sat down with Laurie Rice of The Atlas Society to discuss the ideas of Atlas Shrugged, his experience running a successful manufacturing company, the goals of his political career, and the future of the American economy and culture.

Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged grow in influence everyday. In expressing the impact Atlas Shrugged has had on his ideas, Senator Ron Johnson is in the company of politicians such as Paul Ryan (who spoke at an Atlas Society event in 2005), Congressman Allen West (who gave an interview to The Atlas Society's Ed Hudgins in June 2012) and 2012 Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson (who was interviewed by TAS CEO Aaron Day). These American leaders are using the ideas of Objectivism to realize their goals and shape the world according to their values. The Atlas Society is here to provide, explain, and promote the philosophical framework for " Objectivism in life and thought."

Ron Johnson is a member of the budget committee and the appropriations committee in the United States Senate. Before he was elected to serve Wisconsin in 2010, Ron Johnson was a CEO and accountant at Pacur, a medical device packaging company in Oshkosh.

To learn more about Ron Johnson or to explore the charts and numbers he cites in this Atlas Society interview, visit http://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/ . See further video interviews with Ron Johnson at CNN (speaking about the fiscal cliff) and CNBC . Read about his start in politics in " Mr. Johnson Goes To Washington " in The Wall Street Journal.

UPDATE: As of February 4, this Atlas Society video interview with Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) was picked up by numerous media outlets, including Politico , The Nation , The Blaze , Mother Jones , The Huffington Post , Slate , The Chicago Tribune , Human Events , Reason Magazine , The Hill , Roll Call , Politics Nation with Al Sharpton on msnbc , The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch , L'Opinione , The Northwestern.com , The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , and Right Wisconsin .