Un-Warren-’d attack
Where did this come from?
RAIL LINE. Airline. Now, for the first time in human history, the phrase “space line” has begun to make the papers. This was only imaginable in books and movies until recently. SpaceX has created an operational space line. If you have the means, you can travel on it. And like most things in the history of human commerce, the longer this goes on, the cheaper it’ll get, and eventually even what newspapers call “real” people will be able to afford it.
Henry Ford. Allan Lockheed. And following in their footsteps seems to be one
Elon Musk. What a country!
Elon Musk also has a more terrestrial concern, as well. He’s also CEO of Tesla.
Oh, and somebody said he was one of the early brains behind the company that would eventually become PayPal.
Say what you will about his several controversies—and we wouldn’t take covid-19 advice from him, or any other celebrity without a medical degree— but the man is a helluva businessman. You don’t get to be a the richest person on the planet without being a helluva businessman. And risk-taker. And visionary. And part showman, part prophet. NASA has decided SpaceX will land the next Americans on the moon. Time magazine named Elon Musk Person of the Year for 2021.
But as the calendar turns, Elon Musk is making the news for a different reason. Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts, has decided he’d make a good target. She has been using Twitter (of course) to attack Mr. Musk and his tax attorneys, which he probably employs by the gross:
“Let’s change the rigged tax code so The Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else,” the senator posted. Which lit a fire in the Twitterverse, including responses from Mr. Musk himself. This backand-forth has become a thing. Which Sen. Warren probably knew it would. She’s using it for fund-raising purposes. (Agree with her? Give $10!)
Before we go much further, let’s get this on the record: Elon Musk says he’ll pay the most taxes that anybody has ever paid this year: An unprecedented $11 billion in taxes after a sale of stock. If that amount is anywhere close to the mark, then . . . wow. Can the IRS take that in a paper check?
But that’s just his taxes. Tesla employs more than 70,000 people worldwide. Nearly 30,000 in the United States. And they all not only pay taxes, but mortgages. And go to the movies and buy their own cars and doubtless contribute to charities.
SpaceX has about 9,000 employees, according to Web searches. And that company has saved the nation, the U.S. military and even its customers billions of dollars through that reusable Falcon 9 rocket. That’s how SpaceX makes its money: It developed a reusuable rocket that it can land, instead of sending all the expensive gear into the ocean, as NASA used to do. Innovation works. It fairly pays.
In short, this is an impressive résumé. Elizabeth Warren also has an impressive résumé, being an educator. But of all the professorships and lecturing jobs and commission seats she’s held, we don’t see where she’s run a business that employs anybody. That is, if you don’t count all the people in the book publishing business. We imagine she keeps them busy. And they keep her wealthy. But she’s not in charge of any kind of direct employment concerns.
But apparently $11 billion in taxes isn’t enough for her. Elon Musk should pay more. How much more isn’t mentioned. Fundraising efforts don’t have to be detailed.
Elon Musk might not be your favorite billionaire. But he does sign a lot of checks. To employees. To rocket contractors. To car battery analysts.
To tax collectors.
We can all make our own lists about who contributes more to the nation, those from the political class or the industrial class. Or some combination of both. But freeloading isn’t an adjective we’d use when describing the industrial class. It might be better used elsewhere.