Today is tax day, but there are many among us who don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes.  If Paul Ryan – who gives a copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to all of his staffers and requires they read it – had his way, the wealthiest among us would pay even less in taxes than they already do, while the rest of us would get hit with a bigger bill each year at this time.

But at what cost?  We’re already headed on the road to austerity.  The rich keep getting richer while the rest of us get screwed.

This morning was the perfect day to speak with my friend Stephen Goldstein about his forthcoming novel, Atlas Drugged – Ayn Rand Be Damned.  It’s the story of a twisted reality in the re-name Corporate States of America, 67 years after the John Galt-led “restoration” –  and we see a dystopian future that is eerily reminiscent of what’s going on today, but with an even greater divide between the 1% and the 99%, OWS encampments known as “Coopervilles” for then-President Cooper, and a Free For All system of economics that is all about the individual, everyone else be damned.

In addition to Atlas Drugged, Stephen has another new book out. This one, non-fiction, When My Mother No Longer Knew My Name: A Son’s “Course” in “Rational” Caregiving.

He’s also my favorite columnist at the South Florida Sun Sentinel…

It’s Tuesday, that means @GottaLaff on the show… Today, we talked about these stories and more…

Ann Romney’s Birthday Party to be Hosted by a Dude Arrested for Barbecuing a Dog

Things I Want To Bitch About

I’ve raised twins, and I have a hunch President Obama works harder than I do.

Mitt Romney adviser admits his boss is a fraud: He only “SOUNDED” “anti-immigrant”.

GOP, Dem politicians: S. Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s new memoir “fiction”, she “just makes stuff up”

Best New Thing of the Day: “Cash mobs” boost small businesses

Nazi Party gets a Washington lobbyist: “When people see the swastika on the ballot, they’ll know what they’re getting.”