Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Musk Calls "Big Beautiful Bill" a "Disgusting Abomination"
Two big egos in an Oval Officewere ineviably going to clash. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are two of the biggest egos on the planet (for no good reason). A break up was inevitable, and it has happened. Mr. Trump appears to have fired Mr. Musk, and as he went out the door, Mr. Musk denounced the signature bill of the White House, the so-called “big, beautiful bill.” He said is was an abomination that would explode the deficit. A broken clock is right two times a day, and Mr. Musk is, on occasion, right. Now, the MAGA wing of the party and the billionaires are falling out. This will get uglier before it improves.
The New York Times reported
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Mr. Musk wrote on X. He called the domestic policy bill "massive, outrageous, pork-filled," adding that it would "massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit" and that "Congress is making America bankrupt."
He did not target any specific members of Congress, but hinted that he might support efforts to unseat those who backed the bill in the 2026 midterm elections. "In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people," he wrote.
This creates a problem for some members of the House, and possibly of the Senate. If they do not back the bill, they are flirting with MAGA anger and a Trump-backed primary challenge. If they do, Mr. Musk has just threatened to attack them by way of primary. There is no safe place for them, and politicians are a class of cowards. The controtions they will endure to avoid a primary will be amusing.
For the record, the US budget deficit is driven largely by the tax cuts Mr. Trump made in his first term and which this bill would extend. Fiscal responsibilty demands that these cuts be allowed to lapse and that Congress raise taxes on the fiunancial top 10%.
The Guardian says, "Projections from the Congressional Budget Office and independent analysts indicate that the bill would add between $2.3tn and $5tn to the deficit over the next 10 years. White House officials contend that the economic growth generated by tax cuts will offset the increased spending."
Russ Vought, director of the office of management and budget, told CNN, "This bill doesn't increase the deficit or hurt the debt. In fact, it lowers it by $1.4tn." Either Mr. Vought is a liar or a moron. The arithmetic results in a bigger shortfall.
This schism is amusing in that Mr. Musk is trying to distance himself from the White House and the whole budget mess. The truth is that his Department of Government Efficiency achieved almost nothing in the way of spending reductions over all. He managed to cripple some agencies and may have killed millions by withholding financial aid (PEPFAR for instance). But saving money did not happen on his watch. He is complicit in this regardless of his spin.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has said over the last few days he will not support the bill if it raises the debt ceiling. "The GOP [the Republican Party] will own the debt once they vote for this," he told CBS News over the weekend.
They do own the debt and every bit of the bill. Mr. Musk has realized that the bill contains a lot of stuff the American people do not want, and he is trying to claim he had nothing to do with it. It is too late. His name is carved in stone into the history of this administration. And he will continue his downward spiral just as the president continues his.
The authors of the future misery may not be getting along, but the story is already written. Tis will be remembered.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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