Wow. Just wow. Then George Soros isn’t so evil after all.
Musk is an opportunist. If you’re telling me that it’s Ok to be promoting junk science to the benefit of marketing products (the core business, not the rocket side of things) and that the effects of the government endorsement of junk science is Ok with you AND Conservative...
...then I have some choice words for you dude.
I’m a space junkie, too, but I’m not emotionally-invested in the failings of NASA or the heavily-subsidized activities of Musk’s enterprises. The fact is that with proper leadership, these rocket accomplishments were ALREADY on the table at NASA but the agency faltered.
The fact is ALSO that the junk science in my own state has already resulted in higher utility bills, higher hidden taxes, higher gas taxes and, soon, a brand new $1k/year cap & trade tax. I’m not even going to get into the housing market problem and the jobs market which has my state overworked in low-paying jobs due to ANOTHER facet of government ineptitude: Healthcare.
Government overspending (including subsidies of ALL types), overregulation and overtaxation are anathema to Conservatism.
You made a comment yesterday supporting Rand Paul’s opposition to the OVERspending bill yet you support Musk’s taking the overspent dollars?
Hypocrite. That or you’re severely ideologically-challenged.
Musk is a major part of the problem and his little rocket side business is certainly no solution to anything tangible (free marketing to him is all).
You can take your emotional investment in a leech on US taxpayers and hypocrisy and put it where the sun don’t shine.
Bull hocky.....
Musk is in business and is advancing both science and the art of rocketry. He is private business, Capitalism at work.
The government has seen fit to subsidise private business rather than act as a socialist state and let a barely functional government do it.
You’re delusional. “Junk science”? where? We’re talking about a real rocket, of serious size & capability, actually being launched a few days ago.
Yes, NASA faltered. That’s kinda the point. Faltered for decades. Took some “opportunist” (your term) to fill that gap by going pretty much from zero to reusable Saturn-scale rocket in a short time (that ain’t “junk science”, that’s brilliance).
Junk science in your state is your problem (unless your state is GA, then it’s ours). You’re ranting incoherently as you go from there into cap-and-trade taxes, healthcare, and other points totally unrelated to this thread.
I don’t know why you’re ranting about gov’t overspending. That’s kinda the point of SpaceX: both slashing the cost of big launches, AND get its funding out of gov’t coffers.
Do I approve of the gov’t “subsidizing” Musk’s ventures?
Let’s make this quite clear:
If Musk is GETTING money from the gov’t (beyond simply being a customer), that’s bad.
If the gov’t is NOT TAKING money from Musk (and so he has more to spend on R&D), that’s good.
Tax cuts are good. Tax credits are tax cuts; they’re good. I’m all for tax cuts. AFAIK that’s what Musk is leveraging: lowered taxes, so he can throw more of his own money into R&D rather than having it confiscated for welfare queens. If anything, he’s a prime example of what happens when we stop the gov’t from taking so much money from the productive.
However he’s being “subsidized”, he’s producing more tax revenue as a result. The alleged $5B in “subsidies” he received has more than been paid back by his ventures. Heck, he himself paid $2.5B in taxes in 2016 alone.
Solyndra was “junk science” and “opportunism” and “overspending”. They set up shop, pocketed $millions, and disappeared.
Musk’s ventures are actually producing fruit. Tesla has a line of cars you can actually buy, roughly on par with their non-EV equivalents. SpaceX is making frequent deliveries to space, at attractive prices having slashed launch costs by some 90% thru serious technology advances.
Upshot:
Your gripe is with your legislators, not with Musk. If they’re gonna throw lots of tax BREAKS at him, I’m all for him accepting them.
If the gov’t stopped subsidizing him, Tesla/SpaceX/etc would still be producing.
You’re yelling at the wrong people.
As I was just reminded: Musk doesn’t take a salary. California COMPELS Tesla & SpaceX to pay him minimum wage, but he doesn’t cash the checks. The only money he personally makes out of the ventures comes from stocks, which are the result of other investors deciding that his ventures will actually amount to something. You’re free to think ill of him, but others are putting a LOT of money where their mouths are - and he’s actually getting amazing results.