Written by Lynn Goya,

Anti-government  patriots who disparage civil servants, government grants for research  and all the various programs, projects and proposals either deliberately or innocently forget that government provides the floor for America’s prosperity.  With the current political environment, it isn’t hard to imagine a world where the cracks in that floor continues to crumble.  Let’s take a look at what  the government has done for us over the past few decades.

Have you checked Facebook or email this morning?.  Driven to work or the VA? Used GPS?

By pooling our resources through taxes and funding basic research, society has provided the private sector with innovations that have created the greatest economy in the world.  If we forget that fact and pull back on funding for programs like NASA, the EPA and university research, we will all be poorer – literally.

The Internet

Al Gore was repeatedly mocked for taking credit for creating the Internet, but the truth is that he pushed through the bill that funded the research that got us the technology we think of as “the internet.”  Research towards the development of the Internet began in the 1960’s through the National Science Foundation, which both funded and developed research, as well as assisted private commercial interests.  A little known, or at least often overlooked, fact is that the Internet was originally developed as a more efficient way for the military to communicate.                                                                                                        

One of the beneficial things to come out of the Cold War, the Defense Advanced Research Agency (ARPA), was created as a reaction to the USSR’s Sputnik, specifically to develop technology for the military.  ARPA then founded the Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO).  The IPTO’s job was to maintain viability of the communication networks and connect the computers between the Pentagon, Cheyenne Mountain, and SAC headquarters. 

By the 1990’s, the Internet had become largely commercialized as well.  But the Internet got its start from government research and funding. 

GPS, Cell Phones

The private sector has made billions of dollars on one of the government’s greatest creations.  By putting a satellite into space, we created a boon for innovation that has been hard to match.  NASA’s research and development was  responsible for giving rise to the Advanced Communications Technology Satellites (ACTS) in 1993. ACTS developed several key points, which ultimately made a communication satellite constellation a practical reality. 

Shortly after this, corporations jumped on board and invested in broadband satellites.  But without government program investment none of the residual technology would have been able to happen. 

Highways

            It’s hard to argue that there is a single American – corporation or human — living today who doesn’t benefit from the highway system.   The Federal Highway Act of 1956, signed into law by President Eisenhower, funded 90 percent of highway construction costs.  Using national security as a basis, Eisenhower argued for the project citing the need for a way to transport troops in the event of a ground invasion.

            For non-driving  Americas who don’t get visited by friends and family who come by car, and who don’t order products that are delivered by truck,  one assumes that they can do this because they use public transit. 

Railroads

            Today, it is still more efficient to ship via rail than by truck.  According to data from the Union Pacific press release issued, railroads are three times as fuel-efficient as trucks.  Moreover, the data stated that  1) One intermodal train can take 280 trucks (equal to 1,100 cars) off our already congested highways and 2) Trains carrying other types of freight can take up to 500 trucks off the highway.  (Granted, this information comes from Union Pacific Corporation, self-styled as “one of American’s leading transportation companies,” but the data appears fairly reliable.  Should one be inclined to inquire further, call James Barnes (402) 544-3560.)  Further evidence of this green-friendly form of transportation comes from transportation consultant Wendell Cox, who stated that diverting just 25% of truck freight to rail would lead to the following by 2025:

2.8 billion fewer traveler-hours wasted in congested traffic

A savings of 16 billion gallons of fuel

Nearly 800,000 fewer tons of air pollution.

And the railroads were begun, like other major projects, by the federal government.  It is true that most of the railroads were built by private enterprise, but they were chartered through state government.  The First Transcontinental Highway was built by Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad, incidentally during the Civil War, but it was supported and funded by Congress with 30-year U.S. government bonds and huge land grants of government-owned land.

Additionally, Amtrack (a combination of “America” and “track”) is the only intercity passenger train service in the U.S. and it is  government-owned.