October 27, 2010

Government Intervention

VP Biden says,

"Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive. In the middle of the Civil War you had a guy named Lincoln paying people $16,000 for every 40 miles of track they laid across the continental United States. … No private enterprise would have done that for another 35 years."

In other words, the government has glommed onto and intruded upon every great idea anyone has had in America for the last 200 years.  Besides that, Biden is talking about the Transcontinental Railroad and the government paid minimum $16K in bonds per mile -- much more over more difficult terrain -- not per 40 miles.  Does Biden mention that the whole idea was tied up in Congress for decades because all of them wanted the railroad to go through their own state?  It wasn't until the South seceded from the Union that the North was able to pass the legislation for Lincoln to sign.

Aside from that, can VP Biden point to the legislation that invented the assembly line?  The electric light? The telephone? The air conditioner?  Duct tape?  Toasters? Slinkies? Airplanes?  The iPod?  Google?  How about aspirin?  Did government vision invent aspirin, because his statement is so idiotic it gives me a really big headache.


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