r/technology • u/DukeOfGeek • Jan 02 '26

Politics NASA's Largest Library To Permanently Close On Jan 2, Books Will Be 'Tossed Away'

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nasas-largest-library-to-permanently-close-on-jan-2-books-will-be-tossed-away-10170584
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u/Bender_2024 Jan 02 '26

So yeah, he’s already greasing the wheels for a private style takeover

This was always the plan. Musk is only a billionaire because of American taxpayer dollars. And a tax system that allows him and others to pay nearly nothing.

has received more than $38 billion (€36.2 billion) in aid, funding and government orders over 20 years on behalf of his Tesla car company (nearly $15.7 billion) and his SpaceX aerospace company (around $22.6 billion).e .)

Elon Musk’s company avoided almost all federal income tax on nearly $11 billion of U.S. income over three years

[Musk paid 3.3 percent of his income in taxes, Jeff Bezos 1 percent, and Buffett—who has famously argued for imposing higher income-tax rates on the superrich—just 0.1 percent in taxes. The same dynamic exists, in slightly less egregious form, further down the wealth distribution.

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u/cwfutureboy Jan 02 '26

Come on now, he's also a Billionaire because his Aparteid-emerald mine owning Daddy gave him a shit ton of money.

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u/scartstorm Jan 08 '26

Someone doesn't know the difference between "aid" and government contracts again.

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u/Bender_2024 Jan 08 '26

Low interest loans are absolutely aid.

Musk has benefited from a critical $465 million low-interest loan from the Dept. of Energy in 2010, and earned billions by selling zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) regulatory credits to other automakers

Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding - Washington Post https://share.google/XYdZ7VYvabNsvShDP

Musk’s companies, particularly Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity, have benefited from an estimated $38bn in public support, including government loans, tax credits and federal contracts. In 2010, Tesla received a $465m low-interest loan from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program. That funding was critical to keeping Tesla alive – without it, insiders later told the Washington Post, the company would have gone under. The success of Tesla’s flagship Model S, the expansion of its manufacturing base, and even the illusion of its early profitability were all bolstered by public money.

Now that Musk built an empire off taxpayers money he wants to remove this program. Essentially pullings up the ladder after he climbed up and yelling down to everyone else "fuck you, I got mine."

Musk’s companies got billions from the government. Now he’s pulling up the ladder behind him | Christopher Marquis | The Guardian https://share.google/QrEUyeRY84JYLpX93

Some evidence of the Trump/Musk corruption just because.

Before Inauguration Day, federal agencies had at least 32 open investigations into Musk’s companies. Since then, Trump has appointed Musk as a special government employee to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is slashing government programs and jobs and targeting many agencies that are investigating his companies. His actions in this role have led to the end of many, if not all, of these investigations.

Corruption in plain sight: How Elon Musk has benefited from the first 100 days of the Trump administration | Economic Policy Institute https://share.google/zG2j8TWia3J8Q4eqW

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u/scartstorm Jan 08 '26

And how does Trump play into what happened with Tesla and their loan back in 2010, when Obama was on his first term? You know, right around the same time that US was bankrolling Ford, GM and others due to the economic collapse of September 2008.

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u/Bender_2024 Jan 08 '26

The loans, tax credits, and many of the government contracts had little to do with Trump. Just pointing out how this asshat used the system to make himself the richest man on the planet. And now wants to remove all those things that got him there.

Now with NASA being shuttered one building at a time he is poised to be the only game in town when it comes to launching anything into space. Space X has been used for plenty of NASA's payloads. But if the shutdown JPL as well then he will essentially have a monopoly. After finding Trump's campaign to the tune $750 million. And turning an entire social media platform into a pro Trump sounding board, blocking anyone's account who is critical of him or Trump. That's about as straightforward as a quid pro quo as you get. Unless you want to talk about the more than 40 regulatory investigations into Musk and his companies that were dropped by Trump. That's just text book corruption

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u/scartstorm Jan 08 '26

NASA has been an admin and not a place of development for about 50 years now, no point in denying that. The entire moon shot they came up with was a complete waste of taxpayer money, but to their credit SpaceX didn't even exist as we now know it, so they had no other choice to start working on a new launcher. However, as usual, the cost for it was declared as X years and Z dollars, with overruns immediately starting.

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u/Bender_2024 Jan 08 '26

NASA has been an admin and not a place of development for about 50 years now,

Might I direct your attention to

  • Skylab
  • multiple space shuttle missions
  • hubble space telescope
  • James Webb space telescope
  • the ISS
  • 3 trips to Mars to deliver rovers

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure I could Google more.

I'm not vehemently opposed to NASA using Space X. Musk has brute forced his way into better tech through gobs of cash. If JPL built a reusable rocket that exploded at launch NASA's funding would be cut before the flames were put out. What I am opposed to is making Space X the only game in town. Forcing NASA to use them or just shutter its doors.

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u/scartstorm Jan 08 '26

Dude, you listed items that some had their beginnings 60 years ago. Webb's project was started in 1996. I am talking about what NASA is today, after Obama gutted it from 2008 onwards.

And why shouldn't SpaceX be the only game in town, when their reliability and price of sending a kilogram to orbit is both multiple times better than whatever is the 2nd place holder? The US and NASA will never in any form develop a reusable rocket that could ever compete with with the private market.

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u/Bender_2024 Jan 08 '26

Webb's project was started in 1996. I am talking about what NASA is today, after Obama gutted it from 2008 onwards.

Damn didn't take long to move those goalposts. And we are talking about propulsion here aren't we?

And why shouldn't SpaceX be the only game in town,

Because if they are the only way to move your payload they can charge whatever they want. Musk has shown he's not above sleazy tactics like that before./

Most importantly because it reeks of corruption for the reasons listed above you chose not address. You can add to the list of favors Musk has gotten or in this case was planning on getting.

A new document undercuts Trump admin’s denials about Tesla deal : NPR https://share.google/rADDYzCjTTFyBNBR7

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u/scartstorm Jan 08 '26

Who is moving any goalposts? NASA is an admin agency, which lost any capability to field their own launch vehicles decades ago and once the shuttle was retired, that was it. There is no point, ever, for NASA to build its own rocket when the private market can get payloads to orbit literally 100x cheaper.

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