We just finished the longest election cycle in US history. Debate was a main feature. It would take some doing to total up the number of debates each candidate engaged in. All the debaters had one thing in common. They were running for office. Want to be taken seriously in debating the President? Have the guts to do Obama's campaign rivals did. Run for office.Here's the first of Rush's 35 undeniable truths:
"There is a distinct singular American culture - rugged individualism and self-reliance - which made America great."
Really? Entire books could be written about how white Americans got rich off the labor of their slaves, all the while waxing rhapsodic over the virtues of self-reliance. From the start, the West was not conquered by rifle-toting pioneers, but by the U.S. Army. The government made massive land purchases, without which the conquest of these territories would have been even bloodier. It spent $15 million on the Louisiana Purchase, $25 million on the Texas/California purchase, and $7 million for the Alaska Purchase. The government then turned around and sold this land below cost, at considerable loss to itself. The Preemption Act of 1841, the Graduation Act of 1854 and the Homestead Act of 1862 all gave away land to pioneers for a song. The government continued to develop the West in the early 20th century. It constructed dams and subsidized huge irrigation projects. During the Great Depression, rural electrification programs brought electricity to farmers, which enabled them to use power tools, refrigeration and household appliances to make their work and personal lives easier. The government also built highways into the West, and wired the countryside for telephone service. The government saved countless small farmers by giving them loans to stall foreclosures and tide them over the rough times. And it began paying huge farming subsidies that continue to this day.
Turns out rich Americans got that way with government help.
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