Why do you lie so much?
Politically, Musk has described himself as "half Democrat, half Republican" and "I'm somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative."
[3] In 2018, he stated that he was "not a conservative. I'm registered
independent [and] politically moderate."
[4] Prompted by the emergence of artificial intelligence, Musk has voiced support for a
universal basic income;
[5] he additionally backs
direct democracy and has stated he thinks the government on Mars will be a direct democracy.
[6][7] He has described himself as a "
socialist", but "not the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while actually causing harm"—arguing instead, "true socialism seeks greatest good for all",
[8] but later clarified not to take this tweet too seriously.
[9][
undue weight? – discuss] He supports targeting an inclusive tax rate of 40%, prefers
consumption taxes to
income taxes, and supports the
estate tax, as the "probability of progeny being equally excellent at capital allocation is not high."
[10]
In an interview with
The Washington Post, Musk stated he was a "significant (though not top-tier) donor to Democrats," but that he also gives heavily to Republicans. Musk further stated that political contributions are a requirement in order to have a voice in the United States government.
[11][12] A 2012 report from the
Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that tracks government spending, found that since 2002, SpaceX had spent more than $4 million on
lobbying the
United States Congress and more than $800,000 in political contributions to Democrats and Republicans. As for Musk specifically, the same report said that "SpaceX's campaign to win political support has been systematic and sophisticated," and that "unlike most tech-startups, SpaceX has maintained a significant lobbying presence in Washington almost since day 1." and that "Musk himself has donated roughly $725,000 to various campaigns since 2002. In 2004, he contributed $2,000 to President
George W. Bush's reelection campaign, maxing out (over $100,000)
[13] to
Barack Obama's reelection campaign and donated $5,000 to Republican Sen.
Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, a state critical to the
space industry. [...] All told, Musk and SpaceX gave out roughly $250,000 in the 2012 election cycle."
[11][14]
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