Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)

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politicalwire.com

Musk Wants a Cut of $42 Billion Biden Internet Plan

"When President Joe Biden put $42 billion behind making high-speed internet accessible across the US, he committed to doing it the old-fashioned way – with miles upon miles of fiber-optic lines," Bloomberg reports. "That frustrated
politicalwire.com politicalwire.com

“When President Joe Biden put $42 billion behind making high-speed internet accessible across the US, he committed to doing it the old-fashioned way – with miles upon miles of fiber-optic lines,” Bloomberg reports.

“That frustrated Elon Musk, who said his Starlink satellite-internet business could get rural areas online faster, at lower cost. Biden’s decision helped drive a wedge between the Democratic president and the world’s richest person, who later used his wealth to help return Donald Trump to the White House.”

“Now, some Republicans want to open the floodgates for Starlink to compete with fiber, potentially shifting billions to Musk.”

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Background

spacenews.com

FCC upholds denial of Starlink’s $900 million rural broadband subsidies

The Federal Communications Commission is standing by last year’s decision to deny Starlink nearly $900 million in rural broadband subsidies.
spacenews.com spacenews.com

"
The Federal Communications Commission is standing by last year’s decision to deny Starlink nearly $900 million in rural broadband subsidies.

The regulator issued its final denial Dec. 12, reaffirming that SpaceX’s satellite broadband service failed to meet requirements for participating in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

“The FCC followed a careful legal, technical and policy review to determine that this applicant had failed to meet its burden to be entitled to” the funds,” FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a news release.

SpaceX was provisionally awarded the subsidies in December 2020 after competing in an auction under the first phase of the RDOF process.

The company was in line for $886 million over 10 years to deliver high-speed broadband to nearly 643,000 homes and businesses in 35 states, after winning one of the largest shares of the multi-billion-dollar fund.

However, the 180 auction winners had to show how they would deploy services that meet RDOF conditions, and this is where the FCC says SpaceX fell short. Terrestrial telco LTD Broadband was also denied $1.3 billion in provisionally awarded subsidies.

RDOF requirements include providing 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds.

According to the latest Ookla speed tests, Starlink median download performance in the United States was 64.54 Mbps in the third quarter of 2023, which the research firm said was a slight decline quarter-on-quarter but up 22% on the 53 Mbps recorded for the period in 2022.

Median upload performance has been rising, Ookla added, hitting 9.72 Mbps over the three months to the end of September. ..."

[Starlink challenged the test used and other procedures and claimed they were targeted.]

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BTW, Republicans in the House (Jim Comer) investigated the denial of the Starlink contract last fall, after Musk made (what turned out to be mostly false) claims about denial of Starlink in WNC causing people to die in Hurricane Helene and its aftermath. That investigation apparently went nowhere after some splashy headlines.

 

Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding​

Government infusions at key moments helped Tesla and SpaceX flourish, boosting Musk’s wealth

GIFT LINK --> https://wapo.st/41uIOJ4
 

Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding​

Government infusions at key moments helped Tesla and SpaceX flourish, boosting Musk’s wealth

GIFT LINK --> https://wapo.st/41uIOJ4

"...Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person.

The payments stretch back more than 20 years. Shortly after becoming CEO of a cash-strapped Tesla in 2008, Musk fought hard to secure a low-interest loan from the Energy Department, according to two people directly involved with the process, holding daily briefings with company executives about the paperwork and spending hours with a government loan officer.

When Tesla soon after realized it was missing a crucial Environmental Protection Agency certification it needed to qualify for the loan days before Christmas, Musk went straight to the top, urging then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to intervene, according to one of the people. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. ..."

musk.jpeg
 
nycfan said:

Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding​

Government infusions at key moments helped Tesla and SpaceX flourish, boosting Musk’s wealth

GIFT LINK --> https://wapo.st/41uIOJ4

"...Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person.

The payments stretch back more than 20 years. Shortly after becoming CEO of a cash-strapped Tesla in 2008, Musk fought hard to secure a low-interest loan from the Energy Department, according to two people directly involved with the process, holding daily briefings with company executives about the paperwork and spending hours with a government loan officer.

When Tesla soon after realized it was missing a crucial Environmental Protection Agency certification it needed to qualify for the loan days before Christmas, Musk went straight to the top, urging then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to intervene, according to one of the people. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. ..."

musk.jpeg
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"...The total amount is probably larger: This analysis includes only publicly available contracts, omitting classified defense and intelligence work for the federal government. SpaceX has been developing spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office, the Pentagon’s spy satellite division, according to the Reuters news agency. The Wall Street Journal reported that contract was worth $1.8 billion, citing company documents.

The Post found nearly a dozen other local grants, reimbursements and tax credits where the specific amount of money is not public.

An additional 52 ongoing contracts with seven government agencies — including NASA, the Defense Department and the General Services Administration — are on track to potentially pay Musk’s companies an additional $11.8 billion over the next few years, according to The Post’s analysis.

Government contracts to SpaceX from NASA and the Defense Department make up the majority of funds. Tesla has earned $11.4 billion in regulatory credits from federal and state programs aimed at boosting the electric-car industry, and experts say its sales have been bolstered by a federal $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit for consumers. Musk has called for an end to that consumer credit, arguing his competitors need the incentive more than Tesla.

DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, has sought to cut staff, slash budgets or cut contracts at all seven of the agencies where Musk’s companies have ongoing contracts. That includes the General Services Administration, Defense Department and Transportation Department.

Musk’s relationships with government agencies have at times been mutually beneficial: His ventures have pioneered new markets that have advanced U.S. government goals, including space exploration and the expansion of electric vehicles. And while many of the government programs Musk has benefited from are open to others in the electric-vehicle industry, no other company has gone on to achieve Tesla’s market dominance. ..."
 
superrific said:
Democracy and the rule of law are the inventions humans created to resolve disputes without violence.

When a person tries to end democracy and the rule of law -- or at least put himself above them -- then he cannot complain if someone acts violently. He is literally asking for it. This is the way it has been throughout human history. Tyrants get killed. And it's the threat of being killed that holds them in line; when they feel unthreatened, they trammel on everyone else.

This is why people (not me, btw) were celebrating Luigi as a hero. The response to unbridled tyranny always has been to kill the tyrants. It's as old as civilization. It gives me no pleasure to type this, as I have long admired non-violent resistance and consider that to be the optimal approach to tyranny. But it takes a long time, and we don't have the luxury of time.

I fear the end game is Trump = Romanovs. Elon being Rasputin, of course.
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the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
 
If you guys want to start advocating for violence against government officials or violent overthrow of the government, please do so on another site. I know it seems to be a bit of sport to tip toe up to the line of endorsing or encouraging such behavior, but I ask again that this site not be used as a platform for violence — including the “there’s no other alternative now” stuff that could easily encourage some one unstable to take violent action.
 
StrangePackage said:
These people are being targeted for being LGBTQ, rather than any substantive violation of law or policy.
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Or simply that Gabbard needs to fire some people in order to bring in the moles her people. And the "fire people without justification" strategy isn't working too well, politically.
 
nycfan said:
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And then, having reduced the force, they will hire for those emptied positions from the Project 2025 employment service.

Take notes, Dems. This will be how we purify the judiciary when we again get control. Use an act of Congress to eliminate the 5th circuit, and whatever Supreme Court seats are held by Kav and Gorsuch. The a subsequent act re-establishes the 5th and those two seats, nice and empty.
 
superrific said:
Wait, when did that happen? I guess this is why they flood the zone. They can sneak things past even those of us who pay attention.

Shame on Rubio for fucking his ancestral home.
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January


“…The President acted on his first day in office to keep Cuba on the SST list, where it belongs. The Cuban regime has long supported acts of international terrorism. We call for the regime to end its support for terrorism, and to stop providing food, housing, and medical care to foreign murderers, bombmakers, and hijackers, while Cubans go hungry and lack access to basic medicine.

In a January 29 letter to the appropriate Congressional committees, I withdrew the prior administration’s letter regarding the LIBERTAD Act. The Trump Administration is committed to U.S. persons having the ability to bring private rights of action involving trafficked property confiscated by the Cuban regime.

On January 31, I approved the re-creation of the Cuba Restricted List, which prohibits certain transactions with companies under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of, the repressive Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel. The State Department is re-issuing the Cuba Restricted List to deny resources to the very branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and surveil the Cuban people while controlling large swaths of the country’s economy. In addition to restoring the entities that were on the list until the final week of the previous administration, we are adding Orbit, S.A., a remittance-processing company operating for or on behalf of the Cuban military. …”
 
nycfan said:
If you guys want to start advocating for violence against government officials or violent overthrow of the government, please do so on another site. I know it seems to be a bit of sport to tip toe up to the line of endorsing or encouraging such behavior, but I ask again that this site not be used as a platform for violence — including the “there’s no other alternative now” stuff that could easily encourage some one unstable to take violent action.
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Out of curiosity, why do you care if an unstable person were to "take violent action" based on what is written here? From a liability standpoint, CDA section 230 applies. Any person sufficiently unstable has been unstable for a while, and has surely dropped nuggets on other sites or other places. None of us are so radicalizing that our posts will suddenly galvanize that sort of "resistance." Anyone who might act on the basis of the bland anodyne statements here was going to do it regardless.

And meanwhile, you're essentially banning books here. The blood of tyrants quote literally comes from a Founding Father. To me, this seems like, "let's not read Mark Twain because he uses the n word." And this is a losing battle, because you will never be able to define a line between what you deem acceptable and not.

People aren't engaging in sport. The political environment invites and even demands this type of thinking. As I've said, the rule of law is humanity's way of solving disputes through violence. If the rule of law is broken, then violence is again the reigning political principle. Which is why all authoritarian states are violent. And it's why Trump is increasingly violent, and that will continue. And that's why probably half the board would answer the following question in the affirmative: "would you like to see someone kill Elon Musk?" That's not sport. That's genuine frustration, terror, fear, rage -- all sorts of emotions. Asking everyone to bottle that up is not only infeasible, it arguably does more to promote violence than letting people vent.
 
superrific said:
Out of curiosity, why do you care if an unstable person were to "take violent action" based on what is written here? From a liability standpoint, CDA section 230 applies. Any person sufficiently unstable has been unstable for a while, and has surely dropped nuggets on other sites or other places. None of us are so radicalizing that our posts will suddenly galvanize that sort of "resistance." Anyone who might act on the basis of the bland anodyne statements here was going to do it regardless.

And meanwhile, you're essentially banning books here. The blood of tyrants quote literally comes from a Founding Father. To me, this seems like, "let's not read Mark Twain because he uses the n word." And this is a losing battle, because you will never be able to define a line between what you deem acceptable and not.

People aren't engaging in sport. The political environment invites and even demands this type of thinking. As I've said, the rule of law is humanity's way of solving disputes through violence. If the rule of law is broken, then violence is again the reigning political principle. Which is why all authoritarian states are violent. And it's why Trump is increasingly violent, and that will continue. And that's why probably half the board would answer the following question in the affirmative: "would you like to see someone kill Elon Musk?" That's not sport. That's genuine frustration, terror, fear, rage -- all sorts of emotions. Asking everyone to bottle that up is not only infeasible, it arguably does more to promote violence than letting people vent.
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Cmon Super. NYCfan has been clear on this issue for months now. It is not the site she wants. It is a completely fair rule on her part. There are plenty of other sites where that talk is tolerated and promoted, if that is what you want.
 
RaiGuy said:
I will preface this to say that I, and nearly all the pro-Palestine people that I know, ended up voting for Harris. We all knew that Trump would be worse (even though the Dems were not great either).

However, blaming other pro-Palestinian voters for Trump winning is just a way to find someone to blame other than the dems themselves. Even if they all voted Harris, it might have won Michigan for her, but it would not have been enough to flip the election. There were much bigger issues that caused that.
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Mostly agreed, I don't think those voters are on my top 10 "blame list", if such a thing were to exist.

However, I certainly found that line of thought both foolish and extremely frustrating, as this sort of BS was entirely predictable in any trump presidency scenario.

You are right though, it's a comment borne out of a more general frustration with our country's citizens. The FO stage is really going to suck
 
nycfan said:
If you guys want to start advocating for violence against government officials or violent overthrow of the government, please do so on another site. I know it seems to be a bit of sport to tip toe up to the line of endorsing or encouraging such behavior, but I ask again that this site not be used as a platform for violence — including the “there’s no other alternative now” stuff that could easily encourage some one unstable to take violent action.
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We are getting so very close to no alternative. You are really smart, I know you see it. This is an excellent site to mobilize like-minded individuals. You know how I feel. It's well past time to destroy rednecks. Make them fucking suffer. I don't give a fuck if it is a spineless red government official, Callatoroy's face, or some dumb rubes in trailers in nowhere Georgia related to Ramrouser. FUCK THEM UP, if you want any chance of a normal, decent life.

If nothing is done substantially by the end of this year, we are all going to enjoy being led by stupid fucking rubes and billionaires for 50 years. I would bet Heelyeah's small dick on this.
 
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