Posted on 12/11/2016 8:04:07 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
On Saturday, we learned that Tim Cook and Sheryl Sandberg were among a handful of tech moguls being summoned to Donald Trump’s gilded lair for a mysterious summit this week, but the full roster of invitees remained unknown. Today, The Wall Street Journal added a name to the President-elect’s guest list: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
The exact purpose of the meeting between some of America’s most successful businesspeople and Donald Trump is still unclear. If Peter Thiel’s alleged recruitment efforts are any indication, the summit will serve as an opportunity for Silicon Valley leaders to share their ideas with the next President of the United States.
If it’s like a similar post-election gathering of media organizations at Trump Tower (described by one attendee as a “fucking firing squad”), however, Musk and company will probably be asked to bow before the American Empire’s new god-king.
As the Journal notes, Musk potentially has far more at stake than his peers:
SpaceX’s single largest customer is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which over the past eight years has awarded contracts valued at more than $6.5 billion to deliver cargo and eventually, U.S. astronauts, to the international space station. The company also seeks to win hundreds of millions of dollars of additional contracts from the U.S. Air Force over the next few years.
Tesla benefits from government tax credits that reduce the effective price of its vehicles. The electric car maker recently acquired SolarCity Corp., a company founded by Mr. Musk’s cousins that installs solar panels, a portion of the cost of which can be offset by federal tax credits.
Even under the best circumstances, however, the summit seems unlikely to be the kind of meeting of minds Silicon Valley Trump supporters like Thiel might be hoping for.
“Look, this is obviously a circus,” a source told Recode. “Everyone in tech just wants to be invisible right now when it comes to this administration, but has to participate since we have done it before.”
Trump: “I know where your lips have been for the past 8 years, get them away from my ring...”
Who is this moron Hudon Hongo?
Whatever else he is Musk is a businessman and knows he must not alienate the President of the United States and it is better for business if he can have a good relationship with him or at least not be marked as an enemy.
Musk is a huckster. He isn’t going to be transformed by the opportunity to “do right”.
He has been a hog at the public trough for ages.
Musk’s rockets burn kerosene and liquid oxygen for now. Will switch to liquefied natural gas and oxygen later.
Burt Rutan’s rocketry burns synthetic rubber and nitrous oxide.
Space shuttle’s side boosters burned aluminum and a perchlorate oxidizer. Shuttle’s mains burned liquid hydrogen and Lox.
Of course he is. His businesses have been built around various elements of government contracts and/or largess/tax breaks.
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