Historical Illiteracy and the Tea Party, or Facts Matter, Part Whatever
One of the irritating quirks of the Tea Party and the Republican Party base (but that's a redundant statement) is that they are historically ignorant. Rather willfully so, in fact. Here's a case in point; the "Republican position on climate change."
Says the article: "We didn’t get the railroad by making horse-drawn wagons more expensive; we didn’t get the automobile by taxing the railroads." Now, this is technically correct, but we did move both modes of transportation from novelty to necessity by huge and direct government subsidies.
In the case of rail, just one example is that the US Congress created the Union Pacific railroad company and told it to build the transcontinental railway. Not only did Congress create the company, they funded it with 30-year bonds and land grants. In the case of the automobile, in 1903, there was less than 150 miles (240 kilometers) of paved roads between [US] coasts. Those free (as opposed to toll) roads were built with taxpayer money, Federal, state and local.
In short, the United States has a long history of providing subsidies to new technology, either by taxing the old tech or just handing cash to the new tech.
Says the article: "We didn’t get the railroad by making horse-drawn wagons more expensive; we didn’t get the automobile by taxing the railroads." Now, this is technically correct, but we did move both modes of transportation from novelty to necessity by huge and direct government subsidies.
In the case of rail, just one example is that the US Congress created the Union Pacific railroad company and told it to build the transcontinental railway. Not only did Congress create the company, they funded it with 30-year bonds and land grants. In the case of the automobile, in 1903, there was less than 150 miles (240 kilometers) of paved roads between [US] coasts. Those free (as opposed to toll) roads were built with taxpayer money, Federal, state and local.
In short, the United States has a long history of providing subsidies to new technology, either by taxing the old tech or just handing cash to the new tech.