Sort of. The nations budget crisis is getting critical and the measures needed to fix it, basically cutting entitlements, are way outside the Overton window. Thus Musk needs to expand the Overton window and fast.
That no recission bills have been passed, which can be passed by simple majorities in both houses, tells me that the problem is still Congress. Trump has definitely squandered an opportunity but there isn't very much he can do about the U.S.'s finances without the active participation of Congress. If Trump takes a stand on the next continuing resolution, I would support him but I would expect Congress at this point to override a veto if the goverment is shut down for more than 3 months.
no such opportunity reasonably existed given local concerns and the thin margins, and he has been discussing his debt reduction strategy repeatedly/capitalize us land and mineral wealth, selling of 5 million buck gold cards 9expensive green cards, tariffs, reduced trade deficits and much higher groth rates plus doge efforts,,,over and over, itbdoes not and never has happened easily nor quickly.
I've heard that rescission bills must originate with the President by law, so it's the White House's fault for not explaining the process and executing it. Can Congress only do one thing at a time?
It's nice to have the disputes out in the open, rather than done in catty, behind the scenes fashion. They are both very smart and I assume they will eventually calm down and figure out a functional path forward.
Most of the people around Trump are very much in his debt; that is not so much the case with Musk, which ought to moderate Trump's attacks. Worst case, Musk goes back to being an all-time tech genius and Trump goes back to being an epochal politician, each doing his own thing in separate spheres.
The timing and technique of it all is...odd. I'm giving this one the reliable 72-96 hour rule and letting things play out before making an assumptions. Kayfabe or autistic spasms? Could be both.
Never piss off a gigantic ego or a giant ego with Aspergers. A clash between titans with the responses of little kids. Great fodder for the Democrats and their media lapdogs but otherwise sound and fury signifying nothing.
Trump did look up to The Boss and Elon might be hooked on ketamine like Billy was on booze. I hope Donnie brings out Elon on Old Timer's Day and announces he plans to have him manage DOGE next season.
If this is kayfabe (eg to take the leftist heat off Musk’s businesses) I think they have overplayed it.
My gut says this is a real fight, but it may be rooted in manimal issues like Musk screwing Miller’s wife and being taunted by Bessant, Bannon weighing in on behalf of Miller. Bar-fight emotions. The Epstein jab is a telling low blow with the MAGA base already angry with Bondi Kash and Bongino playing the three blind monkeys.
I see Musk going into exile on a space station while he waits to be emperor of Mars.
paul, massie, davidson, cramer, hawley need to show leadership qualities and a better knowledge of non dem cbo accounting. same with musk annd he was given a statutorily 120 day appointment. as trump said he is bitching about the ev tax provision and the withdrawal of his man for the nasa appt. hilarious give his fed pork intake for so many years.
Musk has made it easier for the BBB to pass because his allegations are so outlandish that any serious Republican, except for quasi-quacks like Paul and Massie, can't really attach themselves to Musk because he's directly opposing Trump himself. Any hopes of starting a political party for Musk are also gone as well and would probably be as successful as William Randolph Hearst's attempt to create a party on the left. Really, Musk has little recourse but to grovel for forgiveness or just wait out the turmoil back in Texas.
It's too late to grovel. He really should flee. He has too many enemies on both sides. Trump could take him on a one-way helicopter trip to the Atlantic Ocean and not face a single investigation.
I don't think this is a ploy at all but if it is one it is about the only thing that will minimize the brand damage done to Tesla, the present source of Musk's wealth. I do think Musk underestimated the damage that would be done to his biggest company because his customer base was almost exclusively left politically. I doubt progressives will ever forgive Musk for working to get Trump elected a second time, but I wish him luck.
Musk's mistake was trying to be co-president. A cult leader can tolerate many things from lieutenants, but never a rival messiah. Least of all one on the inside.
I can’t help but think that regardless of who’s right in the Trump v Musk detonation, America will be the loser. What still seems to be (have been?) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset our increasingly awful gov has been squandered.
The clown show is in power right now because the last administration was staffed by deluded idiots who believed that it wasn't obvious to the public that the figurehead in charge was rapidly going senile. There are plenty of red noses to go around.
I suspect that when Elon Musk is on a project, he gets very little sleep. He can function for a long time that way, but eventually it gets to him as it would anybody else.
Fun fact: ketamine is a stimulant at low doses. We can also bet he's using just about everything else, given the NYT report is hardly the only profile of his drug habit.
Don't know. Two loonies fighting each other and their only offer is their lunacy: Musk and his nazi crush, Trump and his crooketry. The probability of one of them prevailing is as murky as what their ideologies bring forward, more idiocy.
RE Big Beautiful Bill: Debt has its limits. Nobody knows when it will implode, but it will. Although I dislike both, I side with Elon on this.
If the three asteroids were significantly larger and posed an ELE, then the ever expanding national debt wouldn’t matter. But since there is no immediate ELE threat, I would support Musk. But that support wouldn’t be Musk vs. Trump alone but Musk vs. any Congress Critter who would vote against a budget bill that implemented DOGE recommended spending cuts (mostly Democrats but also some Republicans) and Trump.
What I don’t know is to what degree the BBB is an accommodation to political reality and the best deal that Trump thinks he can get. If he were to propose a top bracket increase of 1-2%, that would defuse the major Democratic talking point of “tax cuts for billionaires” without doing too much damage to the economic incentives to invest and build that are associated with higher marginal tax rates. To the degree that those increased tax rates generated actual revenue, they could result in a lower deficit and possibly lower interest rates, which would spur economic activity.
There’s too much fat in the budget. The problem is spending, not taxation. Our debt to GNP ratio is well over 100% and destroying the credit worthiness of the U.S. government. How do we get out of this debt spiral without reigniting inflation to pay the debt and interest with a fiat currency that is rapidly sinking to Monopoly money levels of value?
Stop expanding the debt at a rate faster than the GNP growth. Then cut further and keep cutting.
Thanks for at least mentioning some policy specifics. All political stories these days are catty 'can you believe what he said' and gossipy BS. When I was young people debated political and economic issues.
Hoping it is 4D chess.
Sort of. The nations budget crisis is getting critical and the measures needed to fix it, basically cutting entitlements, are way outside the Overton window. Thus Musk needs to expand the Overton window and fast.
I’m thinking Cheeto told Elon to go negative because Cheeto said such to Joe Rogan https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxWgebQcpuu5FKXfAmHTRnSfTVLbLl123T?si=Se0mMjVNcMGVwX9y
A lot of people didn’t get much work done today :)
That no recission bills have been passed, which can be passed by simple majorities in both houses, tells me that the problem is still Congress. Trump has definitely squandered an opportunity but there isn't very much he can do about the U.S.'s finances without the active participation of Congress. If Trump takes a stand on the next continuing resolution, I would support him but I would expect Congress at this point to override a veto if the goverment is shut down for more than 3 months.
no such opportunity reasonably existed given local concerns and the thin margins, and he has been discussing his debt reduction strategy repeatedly/capitalize us land and mineral wealth, selling of 5 million buck gold cards 9expensive green cards, tariffs, reduced trade deficits and much higher groth rates plus doge efforts,,,over and over, itbdoes not and never has happened easily nor quickly.
I've heard that rescission bills must originate with the President by law, so it's the White House's fault for not explaining the process and executing it. Can Congress only do one thing at a time?
It's nice to have the disputes out in the open, rather than done in catty, behind the scenes fashion. They are both very smart and I assume they will eventually calm down and figure out a functional path forward.
Most of the people around Trump are very much in his debt; that is not so much the case with Musk, which ought to moderate Trump's attacks. Worst case, Musk goes back to being an all-time tech genius and Trump goes back to being an epochal politician, each doing his own thing in separate spheres.
Musk is guaranteed to lose. The only question is how much.
Personally, I don't expect him to even live much longer.
Remember Musk is the main reason Trump's second term has been more successful than his first.
The timing and technique of it all is...odd. I'm giving this one the reliable 72-96 hour rule and letting things play out before making an assumptions. Kayfabe or autistic spasms? Could be both.
Wise approach.
Never piss off a gigantic ego or a giant ego with Aspergers. A clash between titans with the responses of little kids. Great fodder for the Democrats and their media lapdogs but otherwise sound and fury signifying nothing.
Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner
ooh good one.
Trump did look up to The Boss and Elon might be hooked on ketamine like Billy was on booze. I hope Donnie brings out Elon on Old Timer's Day and announces he plans to have him manage DOGE next season.
Right. Trump considered the late publicity-hound owner of the New York Yankees to be a role model and mentor.
Who will be the Reggie Jackson?
Joe Rogan is the straw that stirs the drink!
If this is kayfabe (eg to take the leftist heat off Musk’s businesses) I think they have overplayed it.
My gut says this is a real fight, but it may be rooted in manimal issues like Musk screwing Miller’s wife and being taunted by Bessant, Bannon weighing in on behalf of Miller. Bar-fight emotions. The Epstein jab is a telling low blow with the MAGA base already angry with Bondi Kash and Bongino playing the three blind monkeys.
I see Musk going into exile on a space station while he waits to be emperor of Mars.
I’m thinking Cheeto told Elon to go negative because Cheeto said such to Joe Rogan https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxWgebQcpuu5FKXfAmHTRnSfTVLbLl123T?si=Se0mMjVNcMGVwX9y
paul, massie, davidson, cramer, hawley need to show leadership qualities and a better knowledge of non dem cbo accounting. same with musk annd he was given a statutorily 120 day appointment. as trump said he is bitching about the ev tax provision and the withdrawal of his man for the nasa appt. hilarious give his fed pork intake for so many years.
Musk has made it easier for the BBB to pass because his allegations are so outlandish that any serious Republican, except for quasi-quacks like Paul and Massie, can't really attach themselves to Musk because he's directly opposing Trump himself. Any hopes of starting a political party for Musk are also gone as well and would probably be as successful as William Randolph Hearst's attempt to create a party on the left. Really, Musk has little recourse but to grovel for forgiveness or just wait out the turmoil back in Texas.
It's too late to grovel. He really should flee. He has too many enemies on both sides. Trump could take him on a one-way helicopter trip to the Atlantic Ocean and not face a single investigation.
I don't think this is a ploy at all but if it is one it is about the only thing that will minimize the brand damage done to Tesla, the present source of Musk's wealth. I do think Musk underestimated the damage that would be done to his biggest company because his customer base was almost exclusively left politically. I doubt progressives will ever forgive Musk for working to get Trump elected a second time, but I wish him luck.
Nope, leftists aren’t the forgiving types.
He should have known that Trump supporters weren’t his client base. He offended his base without a thought. Stupid.
Musk's mistake was trying to be co-president. A cult leader can tolerate many things from lieutenants, but never a rival messiah. Least of all one on the inside.
schmusk firms have received 38 billion in federal tax braks and grants over their years of operation.
I can’t help but think that regardless of who’s right in the Trump v Musk detonation, America will be the loser. What still seems to be (have been?) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset our increasingly awful gov has been squandered.
The manner and tone of Musk's attacks frankly veer into the crazy realm, making me wonder if those stories about his drug use have some validity.
Pretty sure the drug stories are accurate.
Too much money, not enough restraint.
True.
(Way too much money + not enough restraint) + (Way too much power + no restraint whatsoever) = clown show
The clown show is in power right now because the last administration was staffed by deluded idiots who believed that it wasn't obvious to the public that the figurehead in charge was rapidly going senile. There are plenty of red noses to go around.
I suspect that when Elon Musk is on a project, he gets very little sleep. He can function for a long time that way, but eventually it gets to him as it would anybody else.
Fun fact: ketamine is a stimulant at low doses. We can also bet he's using just about everything else, given the NYT report is hardly the only profile of his drug habit.
Don't know. Two loonies fighting each other and their only offer is their lunacy: Musk and his nazi crush, Trump and his crooketry. The probability of one of them prevailing is as murky as what their ideologies bring forward, more idiocy.
RE Big Beautiful Bill: Debt has its limits. Nobody knows when it will implode, but it will. Although I dislike both, I side with Elon on this.
Because you're a nazi too, right?
If the three asteroids were significantly larger and posed an ELE, then the ever expanding national debt wouldn’t matter. But since there is no immediate ELE threat, I would support Musk. But that support wouldn’t be Musk vs. Trump alone but Musk vs. any Congress Critter who would vote against a budget bill that implemented DOGE recommended spending cuts (mostly Democrats but also some Republicans) and Trump.
What I don’t know is to what degree the BBB is an accommodation to political reality and the best deal that Trump thinks he can get. If he were to propose a top bracket increase of 1-2%, that would defuse the major Democratic talking point of “tax cuts for billionaires” without doing too much damage to the economic incentives to invest and build that are associated with higher marginal tax rates. To the degree that those increased tax rates generated actual revenue, they could result in a lower deficit and possibly lower interest rates, which would spur economic activity.
There’s too much fat in the budget. The problem is spending, not taxation. Our debt to GNP ratio is well over 100% and destroying the credit worthiness of the U.S. government. How do we get out of this debt spiral without reigniting inflation to pay the debt and interest with a fiat currency that is rapidly sinking to Monopoly money levels of value?
Stop expanding the debt at a rate faster than the GNP growth. Then cut further and keep cutting.
Bottom line: my vote is for Musk.
Thanks for at least mentioning some policy specifics. All political stories these days are catty 'can you believe what he said' and gossipy BS. When I was young people debated political and economic issues.