Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#1

Post by avtolik » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 9:07 AM UTC

Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC
theverge.com

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#2

Post by verdverm » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 5:12 PM UTC

That a single person can put so much money into the election is a problem imho

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#3

Post by tristanb » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 5:23 PM UTC

It's such a shame he doesn't want to use his platform for good. Seems to me like greed wins.

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#4

Post by Ekaros » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 5:25 PM UTC

tristanb wrote: post #3

It's such a shame he doesn't want to use his platform for good. Seems to me like greed wins.

Could get rid of the bad guys on the platform... But the left does produce enormous amount of engagement so can't do that...

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#5

Post by Ekaros » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 5:26 PM UTC

verdverm wrote: post #2

That a single person can put so much money into the election is a problem imho

Maybe problem is that there is any money involved in first place... But that one is very hard to solve. How do you stop things like rallies or traveling by candidates...

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#6

Post by verdverm » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 7:44 PM UTC

Ekaros wrote: post #5

verdverm wrote: post #2

That a single person can put so much money into the election is a problem imho

Maybe problem is that there is any money involved in first place... But that one is very hard to solve. How do you stop things like rallies or traveling by candidates...

The vast majority of the money goes to ads

One appealing idea I heard is that every American gets a voucher they can allocate as they see fit, from a pool of tax money allocated to the elections. Candidate should probably get a fixed pool as well

Citizens United ruling is what opened the door to PACs and the ability for individuals to spend above the individual limits

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#7

Post by demondemidi » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 10:40 PM UTC

verdverm wrote: post #2

That a single person can put so much money into the election is a problem imho

Citizens united isn’t even 20 years old. If you want to really feel depressed check out The Fairness Doctrine that Bush I abolished.

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#8

Post by demondemidi » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 11:00 PM UTC

1% of his documented wealth is $3,000 million. Kinda wish I could watch America fall like it was a tv show but unfortunately it’ll take me down with it.

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#9

Post by BurningFrog » Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 11:00 PM UTC

verdverm wrote: post #2

That a single person can put so much money into the election is a problem imho

Empirically, once a campaign has enough money to get their message to the voters, additional money does very little to affect the result.

So this probably doesn't have much impact at all.

Re: Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC

#10

Post by efnx » Wed, Jul 17, 2024, 11:49 PM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #9

verdverm wrote: post #2

That a single person can put so much money into the election is a problem imho

Empirically, once a campaign has enough money to get their message to the voters, additional money does very little to affect the result. So this probably doesn't have much impact at all.

Wouldn't the extra money allow their message to get better "saturation"? If they can get their message out and cover more ground, be repeated more often, etc. Doesn't that give them an advantage?