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The Onion buys Infowars

I’ve said this 1000 times, but it always bears repeating…

The only way to get big money out of politics is to get politics out of big money.

This is a very predictable consequence of having a government that is deeply entwined with commerce…not only in terms of the public sector’s direct share of our GDP, but also in the way of other kinds of influence like trade restriction, regulation, etc.

We’ve created a government where there’s a whole lot of money on the line. As such, it should surprise nobody that people with a lot of money on the line spend it in ways to affect what it does and doesn’t do.

We chose this.
This is spot on. And I don't think either side of the aisle is all that interested in fixing it.
 
This is spot on. And I don't think either side of the aisle is all that interested in fixing it.
If this DOGE thing is at all serious (and I’m skeptical) then we will get a chance to find out when these things get passed over to Congress.

That said, government inefficiency isn’t where the bulk of our fiscal pain comes from. But it’s a start, anyway.
 
Musk isn’t the first person to throw gobs of money at a politician to help get them elected and curry favor, but with his advisory role and DOGE thing, it’s starting to look like he’ll have unprecedented ability to directly influence and impact policy, regulation and governing.
I think you are trying too hard to condemn and criticize Musk. That couldn’t be because he supports Trump, is it? Musk is an innovator and a very creative guy. He has shortcomings and arguably has skin in the game. Even with that, there is nobody, and I mean nobody, better suited to change the unsustainable government paradigm than him.

Musk is okay with ending retail subsidies for EV’s. That will help Tesla and hurt others. Even though Musk is Tesla’s largest shareholder, he only owns <25%. Regardless of how much benefit he personally gets from ending the subsidy, it’s still a good idea to end it.
 
To play devil’s advocate, isn’t this a better way for that influence to manifest than the usual way it does?

It’s being done out in the wide open. And if there’s anything Musk recommends that involves one of his companies getting some kind of subsidy, etc, it will be seen by all and (obviously) scrutinized.

Also, we always assume that the removal or lack of a regulation is what interested parties want out of government influence. Sometimes it’s the addition of a regulation.
I think a lot of important things go on in government at every level that are not out in the wide open.
 
I think you are trying too hard to condemn and criticize Musk. That couldn’t be because he supports Trump, is it? Musk is an innovator and a very creative guy. He has shortcomings and arguably has skin in the game. Even with that, there is nobody, and I mean nobody, better suited to change the unsustainable government paradigm than him.

Musk is okay with ending retail subsidies for EV’s. That will help Tesla and hurt others. Even though Musk is Tesla’s largest shareholder, he only owns <25%. Regardless of how much benefit he personally gets from ending the subsidy, it’s still a good idea to end it.
I'm guessing he's not even in the team picture for possible "best suited person" to change the govt. paradigm. I don't understand this at all.

He's a good businessman and engineer.
 
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If this DOGE thing is at all serious (and I’m skeptical) then we will get a chance to find out when these things get passed over to Congress.

That said, government inefficiency isn’t where the bulk of our fiscal pain comes from. But it’s a start, anyway.
The problem with the federal government is the result of decades and decades of legalized corruption. Ike warned us about the military industrial complex and he was right. His warning was peanuts because the corruption he warned about metastasized into energy, health care, climate, social services, and hundreds of unproductive areas of “research” that are nothing but thousands of mini- boondoggles. I have no expectations that Musk and Ramaswamy can change this in the next four years. But I do expect them to call out the problems, and plant the seeds to begin substantial changes in our public spending, both in the so- called discretionary side, and the so-called entitlement side. It’s a tall order. But if not them who? If not now when?
 
I'm guessing he's not even in the team picture for possible "best suited person" to change the govt. paradigm. I don't understand this at all.

He's a good businessman and engineer.
He bought Twitter and fired 80% of the employees without a noticeable loss of function. He cut the cost of launching a kilo into orbit by 75%. He brought high speed dependable internet to rural America, and to most of the world, for around $100 per user per month. There is no team here. He is the guy.
 
I'm guessing he's not even in the team picture for possible "best suited person" to change the govt. paradigm. I don't understand this at all.

He's a good businessman and engineer.
I agree. I think a lot of people conflate “makes obscene amounts of money” with being good at everything.
 
He bought Twitter and fired 80% of the employees without a noticeable loss of function. He cut the cost of launching a kilo into orbit by 75%. He brought high speed dependable internet to rural America, and to most of the world, for around $100 per user per month. There is no team here. He is the guy.

Was launching a kilo into orbit that big of a thing?

Seems like a waste to me.
 
I agree. I think a lot of people conflate “makes obscene amounts of money” with being good at everything.
Bill Gates is exhibit “A”. The guy has really done nothing innovative. MS Dos was created by smarter people, Gates turned that into obscene money. He has done some pretty good things with education, but he really has t changed the world in which he operates.

Musk? He single-handedly created a rocket-ship company that the whole world can’t match, including China. He made gobs of money with Falcon and Starlink. Starship, according to Shotwell, (Space X CEO) will be bigger than both.
 
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