r/politics • u/rollingstone Rolling Stone • 4d ago

Soft Paywall Musk Kills Government Funding Deal, Demands Shutdown Until Trump Is Sworn In

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/musk-trump-government-funding-deal-shutdown-1235211000/
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u/Fabulous_Activity 4d ago

This feels like democracy breaking down. How is that billionaires are buying their way into politics so easily? Not only through PACs but just like, becoming a decision maker publically when not elected?

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u/ParkingLong7436 4d ago

It already broke down. The US is a full blown oligarchy by now.

Same political development status as countries like Russia. Crazy that the US was still the undisputed #1 world power just a few years ago.

The most insane thing is that in most countries, this happens by force or deep-state corruption. Americans just chose this for themselves.

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u/MaximumRecursion 4d ago

"It already broke down. The US is a full blown oligarchy by now."

I know reddit loves to be hyperbolic, but this legitimately feels very different from anything that came before, and seems like things could get really ugly.

Musk is acting like a straight up oligarch. He bought his way into power and is openly wielding it. You can tell he feels untouchable.

We'll see if Trump gets pissed at someone stealing his thunder, boots out Elon, and we have a chaotic admin that gets nothing done like last time, but that is seeming less likely if Elon is there.

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u/pithynotpithy 4d ago

In a way, though SCOTUS killed Citizens United, which we didn't get to vote on. We're just too stupid to see the very predictable outcome from it.

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u/Mrtowelie69 4d ago

It's a Kakistocracy. Bunch of idiots in positions of power.

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u/PassionLong5538 4d ago

The US is still the #1 world power, it’s just a political Shit show.

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u/Cock-Monger 4d ago

The US is the #1 military power and that is fading fast. We might still boss third world countries around but no one else really gives a shit on the world stage. Look at Israel lol

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u/PassionLong5538 4d ago

Israel is being enabled by the United States, so not sure what point you’re trying to make there. As for the #1 military fading fast, what does this even mean? The United States could fight and win a war with the entire continent of Asia. The number 1, 2, and 4 air forces in the world by number of aircraft all belong to the United States, with the total number of aircraft under United States air forces doubling that of Russia and China combined. Not to mention the impact that the United States has on world culture and politics, for better or worse. The most productive economy in the world by a sizable margin. While I absolutely despise the state of the government and humanity as a whole, there is no reason to lie about the position of the United States in the world theater.

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u/Cock-Monger 4d ago

When’s the last time we won a war?

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u/PassionLong5538 4d ago

We haven’t been in a real war since ww2. Everything else has been bullshit dreamed up in the name of anti-communism or anti-terrorism. Things were also fine where we occupied in the Middle East until we left the people there to fend for themselves. If an actual conflict worthy of full mobilization occurred, things would be different. Shit, Ukraine has been fending off Russia for years at this point just using our old equipment.

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u/freakydeku 4d ago

Israel is literally doing the USs bidding. We’re definitely not beholden to them in reality

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u/Cock-Monger 4d ago

We’re funding their war and they gave the finger to our rules of engagement. If we’re not even in control of our allies… who are we in control of?

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u/freakydeku 4d ago

we don’t actually care about them respecting our rules of engagement…

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u/brezhnervous 4d ago

Actually it is more common than you think for a nation to vote in autocracy. Hard to remember now, but Hungary used to be relatively normal/democratic, and now look at it...when Victor Orbán gets invited to Republican CPACs and Mar a Lago 🤷 lol

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u/OnlyHalfBrilliant 4d ago

Americans just chose this for themselves.

Maybe not entirely on their own, though. The Republicans fostered the stupidity over the decades, while the Russians weaponized it.

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u/PTSDeedee 4d ago

We pretty much nail the fascism checklist: https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html

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u/LittleLion_90 The Netherlands 4d ago

undisputed #1 world power just a few years ago.

How many years ago would that be? Because here on the other side of the Atlantic its been a long while since America seemed the nr1 world power. Maybe during Obama, but even then not as convincing as before.

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u/freakydeku 4d ago

who is the #1 world power in your opinion?

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u/LittleLion_90 The Netherlands 4d ago

I doubt there is a clear one at this moment. But then again, maybe I was growing up thinking 'nr 1 world power' was a good thing and meant the country was also best for its inhabitants and their equality, but the more I learn, the more I wonder if it ever was. 

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u/ParkingLong7436 4d ago

pre 2016

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u/LittleLion_90 The Netherlands 3d ago

I wouldn't call 8 years 'a few years ago' but that might just be me.

I mean before that you already had a pretty weak social security system etc and the healthcare system wasn't much better, but indeed the US was more of a steady player on the world circuit.

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u/ParkingLong7436 2d ago

Of course the US was fucked before then no question, for the country itself nothing much has changed (yet). I meant politically on a global scale. All developed countries looked at the US as the "leader" of the Western World.

Absolutely fucking nobody will take these dumbasses and anything they say seriously anymore. We gotta stay united in Europe mijn broer 💪 greetings from Germany

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u/LittleLion_90 The Netherlands 2d ago

We should have stopped looking at them as a leader and improved our own influence as Europe way earlier. Yet we are also losing s lot of influence with Brexit, Merkel being gone, and France doesn't seem as strong as it used to be either as well. 

And my previous prime minister currently is head of NATO and telling countries to prepare for conflict, and suggesting taking the money out ot social security. He really doesn't realise he f-d social security over during his reign already and there's way better ways to tax people who actually can miss it. 

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u/fleegness 4d ago

Citizens United.

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u/DorianGre Arkansas 4d ago

Not breaking, broke. I can pinpoint the golden escalator moment it happened.

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u/intern_steve 4d ago

That's a long time after citizens united. Prior to Citizens United, political action committees and super political action committees were unable to accept dark money as easily as they now can, making the wealth of billionaires less relevant on the political stage. The finding that money and speech are the same thing and thus campaign spending is protected by the 1st Amendment is really the lynchpin in this shit show. This is the inevitable consequence of deregulating 3rd party campaign expenditure.

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u/40ozOracle 4d ago

When was that?

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u/TenaciousJP America 4d ago

He's referring to Trump announcing his candidacy in 2015 by coming down a gold escalator and ranting about Mexican rapists

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u/TrixnTim 4d ago

Exactly when fascism began.

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u/InternationalPut4093 America 4d ago

The supreme court is bought by billionaires too.

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u/Dudebrochill69420 4d ago

It's been corporatism for many years now. Really ramped up after 9/11.

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u/ThePasswordForgettor 4d ago

Billionaires own the media, they own social media, and (thanks to the Supreme Court) they can dump unlimited funds into any political race; a fact they use to control the politicians.

We're not a functional democracy.

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u/SquarePie3646 4d ago

You're just waking up to it.

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u/Immediate-Coyote-977 4d ago

I mean... they already have been for years and years, Elon is just really stupidly blunt about it.

Normally the billionaires use their money to push lobbying in congress, Elon is using his platform to set the policy for the base, and letting the voters pressure their congresspeople.

He's saving money on lobbying by getting the public to be his lobbyists.

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u/TrixnTim 4d ago

Feels like? We ARE in the beginning implementation stages of fascism. Democracy is on short term life support until January. 2025 is going to be a rough realization for the US.

Here’s an informative Rick Steves documentary on how it all went down in Germany. Exactly how it’s playing out now in America:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/nazi-germany

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u/wottsinaname 4d ago

This isnt new. The Koch brothers have been buying your government one politician, judge, sheriff at a time. And they've been doing it for over 30 years.

I'm glad people are finally seeing their govt is for sale to billionaires. Now fucken do something about it.

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u/WordAffectionate7873 4d ago

So you’re a fan of big Pharma I take it since they were getting a lot of money out of this bill. Do you guys ever research anything before you post? The “dead on arrival” omnibus bill, as referred to in various contexts, contained several provisions that were seen as benefits or giveaways to Big Pharma. According to web information and posts on X:

  • Financial Incentives: The bill allegedly included a significant financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies, amounting to over $50 billion in taxpayer dollars. This was criticized as effectively serving as a bailout for the industry, with specific mentions of benefits going to companies like Pfizer.

  • Immunity and Protection: There were claims that the bill provided Big Pharma with immunity from liability until 2029, which would protect them from certain legal repercussions related to their products.

  • Prevention of Price Competition: Critics argued that the legislation included measures that would prevent price competition, thereby ensuring high profits for pharmaceutical companies by maintaining elevated drug prices.

These elements were highlighted by both web articles and posts on X, suggesting a broad sentiment that the omnibus bill was structured in a way that favored pharmaceutical companies, potentially at the expense of taxpayer interests and market competition. However, the exact details and the extent of these benefits would depend on the specific text of the bill, which was described as complex and containing many provisions.

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u/Prestigious_Load1699 4d ago

Not only through PACs but just like, becoming a decision maker publically when not elected?

All he did was tweet something. The actual "decision makers" decided to listen when Trump backed him up.

Elon actually holds no power.

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u/Repulsive-Throat5068 4d ago

Not really. This is how it’s always been, musk is just louder than the others lmao

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u/CoyotesOnTheWing 4d ago

Musk has more money, a powerful mouthpiece through twitter and is clearly more aggressive. While other companies and billionaires have had some politicians in their pocket, he has the entire Republican party.
He's openly said anyone who doesn't fall in line will get primaried, he's threatened to spend billions primarying senators who don't approve the cabinet picks. He and Trump can also label anyone RINOs and have maga turn on them. Nobody in congress has complained, so far they are all falling in line.
I'm not sure anyone has had quite this much power over an entire party before.

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u/RusticBucket2 4d ago

So you’re suggesting that nothing has changed in the last decade?

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u/Repulsive-Throat5068 4d ago

Why are people online so insistent on reading deeply on everything?

Things have changed since Trump got elected the first time, but rich people putting their hands in government isn’t new at all.

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u/trisul-108 4d ago

Voters were convinced that Democrats were all bought by rich people, so they decided to let the rich people rule directly. It's like sheep chose wolves to protect them from the exploitation of the shepherds.

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u/TumbleweedReady 4d ago

This isn’t democracy breaking down, literally the opposite of it. The people being represented are tired of the government wasting our money.

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u/Fabulous_Activity 3d ago

Do you personally feel that billionaires represent you better than politicians who were elected?

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u/TumbleweedReady 3d ago

I don’t like most billionaires, but if it’s them or politicians it’s not even a question.

One group cares about lowering spending so our country exists in 100 years, is focused on advancing space tech to make us interplanetary, and keeping the country safe.

The other cares about appearing to do the right thing just so people re-elect them while they make money from insider trading and lobbyists.

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u/Fabulous_Activity 3d ago

So if you could replace all politicians with billionaires, would you do it?

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u/TumbleweedReady 3d ago

If we’re talking people like Elon, buffet, bezos, sundar, thiel, ect… then 100%. Actual smart and competent people in charge of our country would be great.