New Space People and Politics

[spacy600]

<p>This is all public info, but I thought it would be interesting to see where the high tech guys </p><p>stand in the political theater.</p><p>First one I thought of was Elon Musk</p><p>http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/elon-musk.asp?cycle=08</p><p>That kinda surprised me.&nbsp;</p>

 

[spacy600]

<p>http://www.campaignmoney.com/finance.asp?type=in&cycle=08&criteria=Diamandis</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[qso1]

What was it in particular that you found surprising? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[spacy600]

<p>http://www.campaignmoney.com/advanced.asp?searchtype=contributors&cycle1=08&lname=&fname=&work=ROCKETPLANE&occup=&zipcodes=&fdate=&tdate=&state=&cycle2=08&cmtetype=&cmtename=&cmteorg=&igc=&cmteparty=&cycle3=08&cndoffice=&cndtype=&cndlname=&cndfname=&cndstate=&cndparty=&orderby=</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[spacy600]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>What was it in particular that you found surprising? <br /> Posted by qso1</DIV></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Considering some of the attitudes on here and in some other space blogs</p><p>http://www.transterrestrial.com/</p><p>I find it very cool that Elon Musk of SpaceX (the one company EVERYONE says will make the big difference)</p><p>is not only a big democrat, but gave money to Obama, and Boxer. You can not get more&nbsp; liberal than that.</p><p>It was not what I expected, so I am glad I checked.</p><p>Do you have any big aerospace names you would like to volunteer?</p>

 

[spacelifejunkie]

<p>Did anyone notice the $25,000 donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee?&nbsp; Did I read that right?&nbsp; If so, that makes his contributions almost 50/50 for both parties.&nbsp; Hmmm.&nbsp; I think he might be padding the campaigns of those who are favorable to his three companies.</p><p>SLJ<br /></p>

 

[docm]

<p>He gave 25x as much to the Republican campaign committee as he did the Dem committeek, which IMO speaks volumes</p><p>Other than Boxer the Dem&nbsp;reps are largely fiscal and/or foreign policy conservatives - of which there a many in the Dem caucus.&nbsp; We call them "Reagan Democrats".&nbsp; They're often as likely to vote with the Republicans on those issues as with their own party, some even more so.</p><p>REYES is a PAC with mostly real estate, development and tech types.&nbsp;Pro business obviously.</p><p>Obama is another issue.&nbsp; I'd wait and see if there is a balancing donation to McCain before forming a real opinion, but a plus is that he also donated to Bill&nbsp;Richardson while he was in.&nbsp; Richardson (gov. New Mexico) is a fiscally conservative, pro-space Dem who also served as Secretary of Energy and UN Ambassador.&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[qso1]

<p><font color="#800080">Considering some of the attitudes on here and in some other space blogshttp://www.transterrestrial.com/I find it very cool that Elon Musk of SpaceX (the one company EVERYONE says will make the big difference)is not only a big democrat, but gave money to Obama, and Boxer. You can not get more&nbsp; liberal than that.It was not what I expected, so I am glad I checked.Do you have any big aerospace names you would like to volunteer? Posted by spacy600</font></p><p>Just because Elon Musk donated to dems does not mean he won't still make a difference in the state of human spaceflight. He's probably looking at the spaceflight issue the way one might expect after years of frustration with both parties where human spaceflight is concerned.</p><p>He probably simply decided that he can effect change in human spaceflight and like some of us here, sees the eventual end to taxpayer supported human spaceflight which has been trapped in low orbit since Apollo ended.&nbsp;</p><p>I don't have any names to volunteer but thanks anyway.&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>