
Elon Musk revealed as one of the largest donors for a House Republican PAC - fahd777
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/14/elon-musk-revealed-as-one-of-the-largest-donors-for-a-house-republican-pac/
======
maxharris
This headline is misleading. Nate Silver writes:

"It's extremely misleading not to mention Musk has a long history of _also_
donating to Democrats, including in this political cycle."

[https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1018211558835404800](https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1018211558835404800)

~~~
mc32
It’s selective outrage to score brownie points with followers and to one up
your other virtue signaling wrestlers.

Anyone in any major industry is donating to multiple parties and candidates.
Who are they going to bug from now, Ford? Oh, noes! They donate to Republican
too.

Meanwhile he donated 20x to the Sierra Club and for some reason that’s totally
ignored.

~~~
eesmith
The CEO of Ford doesn't claim to be a socialist of any flavor. Nearly all of
Hackett's contributions have gone to Republicans, with only a couple to
Democrats. (According to opensecrets.org .)

It is indeed a fact that a company may donate to both Democrats and
Republicans to garner influence with whomever wins. Quoting from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk)
: "Musk further stated, "in order to have your voice be heard in Washington,
you have to make some little contribution"". Quoting from
[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1018333202140680192](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1018333202140680192)
"a reasonable amount to maintain an open dialogue".

That may be true. If so, isn't it a sign of how the system is rigged in favor
of rich? The complaint for decades has been that both major parties are in the
pocket of large businesses and rich people - doesn't this support that view?

Who listens to those of us who can't drop tens of thousands dollars to
participate in the dialogue?

FWIW, the Sierra Club number is more like 150x, not 20x -
[https://thinkprogress.org/elon-musk-house-gop-
contributions-...](https://thinkprogress.org/elon-musk-house-gop-
contributions-ed4cfe71c22c/) says "Michael Brune, said on Twitter that Musk
has donated $6 million to Sierra Club’s climate advocacy."

~~~
mc32
It seems to me this "purity" test many progressives are using is getting too
close to the kinds of tests a few bad movements which destroyed millions of
lives and put civilization behind a few decades.

Basically any deviation is labeled as "not being Marxist enough". They are
following this similar path. It's not good. Mao, Stalin and to a degree mr Xi
is doing this. It's as if progressives who demand this purity are completely
unawares of this.

~~~
eesmith
Really? Do you have any solid basis for this hypothesis? Are you really
calling me a supporter of totalitarian absolutism because I'm sympathetic with
the expressed outrage against Musk?

To start, what does Marxism have to do with any of this?

Aren't there any number of closer equivalences you could have used, without
the specter of government-run mass murder? What about RINO -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_In_Name_Only](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_In_Name_Only)
, or the other way, an appeal to the 'big tent'?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_tent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_tent)
?

(The latter links to 'Multi-tendency', described as 'Multi-tendency political
organisations, especially left-wing groups, accommodate members who are
affiliated or identify with different political ideologies, agendas, interests
or perspectives.' Odd, isn't it, that it highlights how left-wing groups are
more accomodationist?)

Isn't it a pretty normal behavior to expect a higher standard from those one
thinks are friends or allies?

Might it be that Musk's claims of being a socialist actually _are_ based in a
poor understanding of socialism, and that he makes a show of being left-
leaning while his actions stay firmly in the middle of the Overton window?

It seems that any of those are a more likely interpretation than what you
propose.

------
fallingfrog
I don't get it, if you really care so much about renewable energy and the
future of humankind, then why donate to a party that will remove all subsidies
on electric cars, denies that climate change exists, escalates the nuclear
arms race, etc etc etc?

------
Ancalagon
Well this certainly is an interesting piece. I really dont know what to
believe, especially considering I dont really know if I trust the source
(salon.com? Never heard of em). I cant really say Im a huge Musk fan,
considering I agree that the whole cave stunt was likely nothing more than a
PR campaign for him, but this seems quite silly for him to do, if true.

~~~
eesmith
I don't understand your concern about Salon.com. It's a synthesis from several
different sources, and it provides links to the sources.

The donation information comes from ProPublica. Musk's $33,900 donation is at
[https://projects.propublica.org/itemizer/filing/1246378/sche...](https://projects.propublica.org/itemizer/filing/1246378/schedule/sa#AD58122C40CC343FFA20)
.

That in turn links to the primary information at [http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-
bin/forms/C00669622/1246378/sa/A...](http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-
bin/forms/C00669622/1246378/sa/ALL) , where you can see an entry for 33900.00.
(The aggregate donation is 38900.00.)

Why did you need to trust Salon.com when the official information is so
readily available for verification?

Or is there something else from the piece that you are hesitant about?

~~~
Ancalagon
I stand corrected, I did not give my due diligence to following the source
trail and verifying the veracity of the website.

------
iamcreasy
"Reports that I am a top donor to GOP are categorically false. I am not a top
donor to any political party." \- Elon Musk on Twitter

Source:
[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1018330925384458240](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1018330925384458240)

~~~
maxerickson
Is there a tweet where he denies giving money to this particular PAC?

I imagine $35,000 puts you on a fairly short list.

