Speaking at fundraiser for in Manhattan on Tuesday, Joe Biden played a little fast and loose with history. But knowing Biden, he was just making crap up as he went along.
The New York Daily News has the details:
“Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive,” he said. “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.”
The fact that every word Biden said is either oversimplified, misleading or incorrect tends to weaken his argument about the importance of government intervention. But this is, after all, Joe Biden, so let’s not let the truth interfere with a good story.
Fact is, the transcontinental railroad wasn’t built because of government vision. The term “government vision” is an oxymoron. The concept of a transcontinental railroad had been proposed and pushed by private citizens and private companies for decades. It’s a little known fact of history that Abraham Lincoln represented several major railroads and those with interests in the railroads long before he ever ran for office. It’s been suggested that he was owned – lock, stock and barrel – by he railroads. He continued to represent their interests as long as he was in office.
