The Big Bad Blowup

Dateline:   SluggingItOutVille, June 9, 2025

The growing brawl between President Trump and Elon Musk is reported daily on most news outlets.

Musk blasts Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill as a disgusting abomination that increases the debt to crushing levels.

Trump and most of the GOP see the bill as the savior of the American economy, defense capability and border security among other things. Trump predicts the Bill will result in a debt reduction over the next several years.

Dems are trying to use Musk’s criticisms to garner support in their attempt to kill the bill. Thus far, Musk has resisted entreaties to jump into their camp. This, of course, could change.

Many of the Republicans in Congress take a paternalistic attitude toward Musk’s rebellion. They tsk tsk a lot and point out that he is not well-versed in the political process. Sausage making is, after all, ugly.

However, Musk’s view is that the political process is the problem. It runs on pork barrel spending which has exploded the debt particularly in the Biden years.

Despite all his bloviating, what really seems to irk Musk is not the pork. It’s the fact that the Bill cuts the wrong pork. It eliminates the tax credits for EV purchasers thus negatively impacting EV sales. Biden’s mandate on dramatically increasing the percentage of EV sales has also gone the way of the dodo bird.

If Musk’s bottom line was not negatively impacted, what would he say about the Bill? Rhetorical questions are rhetorical for a reason.

One other thing that irritates Musk is Trump’s recent refusal to name one of his pals to run NASA. A cozy relationship between NASA and Elon’s SpaceX will have to wait.

There is one thing Musk is right about. The political process is ugly.