The Buying of the President 2004 – The Center for Public Integrity
Skimming through this bio of Dick Cheney, I’m struck by how much
his life has been touched by public spending/government programs.
- his father worked for the Soil Conservation Service, so the
food on his table was paid for with tax dollars - he worked as an electric utility lineman, and I suspect it was
partly a government-funded utility, part of or related to the Rural
Electrification Act - he went to the University of Wyoming, a land-grant college (ie,
funded by the government) - and then there is all his time spent in government positions,
ranging from: -
- Assistant Director of the Cost of Living Council
- Deputy assistant to President Ford/later chief of staff
- 5-term congressman from Wyoming
- secretary of defense under Bush pére
- vice-president under Bush fils (and chair of the
search committee to fill that position: hmmm . . . . )
He did spend some time in private industry between the Bushes,
leveraging his government contacts, most notably enriching the
Halliburton resource-extraction concern. I wonder if he thinks much
about how he owes his career(s) to the vision of the big government
liberals his party, and the administration he currently serves,
attack at every turn.