Breitbart, other conservative outlets escalate anti-SpaceX campaign

[Elderberry]

ars TECHNICA by Eric Berger 11/1/2017

In Washington DC, politics sometimes matter more than a rocket's power or price.

The articles began appearing in late August, mostly in conservative publications such as Town Hall, Breitbart, and the Daily Caller and have since continued to trickle out through October. All of the dozen or so Web commentaries, variously styled as op-eds or contributions, have made the same essential point—that Elon Musk is benefiting from crony capitalism and must be stopped.

This is not a particularly new line of attack against Musk, especially among some conservatives who decry the public money his companies have received to build solar power facilities, electric cars, and low-cost rockets. Yet most of these articles have been quite specific in their attacks, pinpointing a single section in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act as particularly troublesome to the Republic.

The articles, several of which are written by former US Rep. Ron Paul or his associates, have the same general theme: Musk has given lavishly to politicians, especially Arizona Senator John McCain (R). In return, McCain added Section 1615 to this year's defense authorization bill, which includes language to restrict the military from investing in new launch systems. With this language, the articles assert, Musk seeks a monopoly on the US national security launch market. In addition to saying this allows Musk to fleece taxpayers, some of the more overdone authors assert that it could kill Americans.

More: https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/breitbart-other-conservative-outlets-escalate-anti-spacex-campaign/

[DiogenesLamp]

SpaceX is doing awesome work.  There is nobody even currently in their class.   I dislike Musk getting government money,  but SpaceX is currently producing more bang for the buck than any other system out there,  and better than any other system that ever was before. 


I don't think Musk is actually driving SpaceX.  I think the company is mostly running on it's own.  He may have stimulated it with government grants,  but it is now earning it's pay the honest way.  It's doing more and better space launches than anyone else out there. 

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

@DiogenesLamp

I read the article and don't know anywhere near enough to venture an opinion on the subject, but I also read this one at the same site and had a laugh attack.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/fda-blasts-marijuana-companies-for-fraud-that-preys-on-cancer-patients/

If being a pot head cured cancer I'd think we'd have heard about it before now. And for once, Once, I think the FDA actually did the right thing though it was probably because none of the pot supporters have people on the inside at FDA rather than it being based on any actual un-bought and paid for, ginned up phony research the products makers submitted.

[kevindavis007]

Well here are the facts:


1. Before Spacex, it was only ULA.  Now it is ULA vs Spacex and pretty soon it will be Blue Origin vs SpaceX vs ULA. With more to come.
2. Ron Paul started it. You have to realize that The Ron Paul Peace org has been funded by the Russians. I believe that ULA uses Russian Rockets. SpaceX
    is using rockets built in America.