Elon Musk says he'll form the 'America Party' if 'insane' spending bill passes
42 points by MilnerRoute 3 days ago | 35 comments- clipsy 3 days ago> Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?
Where "the 80% in the middle" are assumed to agree with whatever Musk's political opinions happen to be today.
- pinewurst 3 days agoWhile I think there is a need for a center party, Musk is the last person I’d trust with its parentage.
- techpineapple 3 days agoDo center parties work? I guess the problem is center what, I think it would be hard for people to agree on what Center means, I'm probably relatively center compared to some set of ideals, but certainly to left socially for a lot of people. . Center also somewhat implies a balance of two sides, but there aren't just two sides. Is FP center? Center as in halfway between the Democratic Party and Republican party? Center as in halfway between the women's studies department at Reed College and Alex Jones? In which case sometimes I think modern centrists are nuttier than either of the two sides.
- rsynnott 3 days ago_Actual_ centre parties can work, in multi-party democracies, and are kinda seen as the _default_ in some countries. Both the CDU and SPD in Germany are fairly centre-y, say (normally categorised as centre-right and centre-left respectively), and one or the other (or sometimes both) have ~always lead the ruling coalition.
Two problems:
- The US is not a multiparty democracy and has no realistic route to becoming one, given the near-impossibility of fixing its voting system.
- It is implausible that anything run by _Elon Musk_, who is a far-right lunatic, would remotely fall under the definition. This feels more like an attempt at splintering the Republican Party. Again, this often happens in multi-party democracies, where parties fracture on a wedge issue; typically the splinter withers away, but there are exceptions. Again, it's hard to see it happening in the US as the electoral system just doesn't really support a multi-party system.
- pinewurst 3 days agoI’d like to think of it as the fusion of the evershrinking rational parts of the existing parties who want to get mutually advantageous things done in a productive, constructive way. We can happily ditch the extreme Left and fascist, religious and libertarian Rights.
- clipsy 3 days agoI can't help but notice a distinct lack of actual policy coming from the people who advocate for a "center" party.
- clipsy 3 days ago
- rsynnott 3 days ago
- ggm 3 days agoMusk is anti union. Do you think an anti union position can be described as centrist?
- Finnucane 3 days agoMusk is a centrist in the way that Albert Speer was a centrist.
- const_cast 3 days agoWe already have a center party, it's the democratic party. It's 90% moderate neo-liberal politicians who favor the status-quo like their life depends on it.
- techpineapple 3 days ago
- quantified 3 days agoThis will split MAGA and Republicans apart. Go for it! Let oceans of money flow.
- GeekyBear 3 days agoI think Americans (on the left, right, and center, regardless of race) are ready to support a populist party that prioritizes policies that are favorable towards members of the working class.
- clipsy 3 days ago> policies that are favorable towards members of the working class
Such as?
What positions will this party take on other (eg "culture war") issues?
- jauntywundrkind 3 days agoTaxing the rich. A strong FTC making big anti-trust moves. Improving affordability of (pharma) drugs & improving the pipeline for generics. Keeping banks from screwing over customers with outrageous fees & other excellent CFPB pursuits.
- clipsy 3 days agoI personally agree, but you’re just describing moderate Democrats, and they aren’t exactly doing gangbusters lately.
- msgodel 3 days agoTaxing "the rich" always seems to end up taxing the middle/working class instead.
I think most of us would prefer the spending just get killed at this point, whatever that takes.
- boroboro4 3 days agoPlease start a party, I’ll vote for you all day every day. IMO all of the current US issues stem from wealth inequality getting over politics, fixing this (with taxes and antitrust) and all of a sudden rest will get better to.
This being said party built on “tax the rich” wouldn’t be perceived as centrist, taxes-are-for-socialists is too ingrained in people’s minds.
- clipsy 3 days ago
- jauntywundrkind 3 days ago
- clipsy 3 days ago
- techpineapple 3 days agoIt would be funny if this is what ended citizens united.
- tim333 3 days agoWhile I can see the appeal of a more sane political party, Musk's time at DOGE didn't give me great hopes of him doing a good job there.
- ggm 3 days agoPolitical parties suck money, time and energy. It's one of those "harder than it looks" things. It's not like running a PAC or a company.
- MentatOnMelange 3 days agoThe thing is that nobody actually wants a centrist party. There are 2 problems I see:
1. The leaders now pushing for a centrist party are the same people who got us to this point of polarization. Whether by actively exploiting it (Musk) or by failing to recognize people wanted change (centrist democrats, small government republicans etc).
2. Voting is a hassle, having to wait in line or go to the drop off box, or deal with paperwork with mail-in ballots. Plenty of people may have very strong opinions when they get riled up, they may hate or fear the opposition, or talk abou how much they care about civic duty, but that doesn't always translate into actual votes.
The second problem is why highly motivated supporters are more important than walking on eggshells around people outside the base. Best example I can think of is Mamdani (and I think this applies to Trump's 2016 campaign too). He has a lot of poralizing ideas, and there are vanishingly few people who agree with everything he says.
So you'd think maybe Cuomo would be the obvious victor, since people knew him and he wasn't really doing anything on the campaign trail, staying quiet with a cery curated message. But not only did Mamdani beat him, but more people voted for Mamdani in a 5 way primary than voted republican in the last general mayoral election.
- k310 3 days agoTrump was always anti-tech. He just promised big tech all kinds of de-regulation and so on, but his budget bill takes a ton away from big tech.
Trump got his (allegedly) hacked election and entry to the wild west world of crypto, from which he has made billions. And goodbye, back to his maga anti-intellectual base.
Posted yesterday. (my goodness, the OP was flagged!) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44409844
3 points by k310 1 day ago | parent | context | prev | next [–] | on: Elon Musk says Senate bill would destroy jobs and ...
You bought it; you own it.
Tech bro's were used, then abused.
Let's ask Michael Moritz.
Musk vs Trump is a cautionary tale for Silicon Valley [0]
Story by Michael Moritz
The writer is a longtime Silicon Valley investor, former board member of PayPal and an investor in SpaceX
> While Musk has left Washington with his reputation tarnished and his businesses impaired, the president’s family has inked deals for new hotels and golf courses around the world. Membership fees at Mar-a-Lago, his Floridian sanctuary, ballooned last year. And he is milking the enthusiasm of his supporters with his own controversial memecoin, launched days before his inauguration.
> One word of advice for those in Silicon Valley who followed Musk’s lead and sided with Trump. Leave. Don’t delude yourself that you are working to make crypto a part of global finance, minimising artificial intelligence regulation, helping start-up companies or protecting the interests of Silicon Valley. You have no sway. You are just cannon fodder.
[0] https://www.ft.com/content/c779b3b6-e989-4277-91fd-d72468291...
- tonetheman 3 days ago[dead]
- lofaszvanitt 3 days agoWatch next starship as it goes up in flames...