The central claim is that Elon Musk’s political spending has coincided with enormous financial gains from the federal government under Donald Trump. The piece calculates that Musk spent $736 million supporting Trump and Republicans and then received $16.3 billion in federal contracts - a claimed 2,200 percent return. It argues that this arrangement runs against the purpose of a 1940 law barring federal contractors from making campaign contributions to prevent bribery, but that loopholes allow corporate leaders and shareholders to donate and super PACs to fund unlimited independent spending. A report by Democracy Defenders Action, cited in the piece, says Musk’s companies secured at least $10 billion in contracts after he left government, on top of $6.3 billion received while he led DOGE and $38 billion in earlier awards.
The piece also argues that the gains extend beyond contracts to favorable regulatory and enforcement decisions. It points to SpaceX’s large, fast-tracked Golden Dome missile-defense awards, and alleges that DOGE’s firing of nearly all federal space-traffic-control staff helped create an opening for SpaceX to receive privileged access and potentially take over the function. Other examples include xAI’s gas turbines operating without federal clean-air permits and the SEC settling a case over Musk’s delayed Twitter-share disclosures for $1.5 million rather than its proposed $150 million fine. Although some Trump policies hurt Tesla, the piece says they also weakened competitors, helping Tesla gain market share. It presents the midterms as a chance for voters to judge this relationship.
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A year after Typhoon Halong damaged 90% of Kipnuk’s homes, hundreds of residents remain displaced while crews make repairs in the remote Alaska village. FEMA funds may make many homes livable by Thanksgiving, but severe damage, the closed school, trauma and rising storm risks complicate the return. (text.npr.org)
A former Meta researcher testified that he torrented the pirated Books3 book dataset while working at the company and later deleted his copy because of ongoing litigation. Authors say Meta had multiple copies, while the company disputes his account and faces lawsuits over using books to train its Llama models. (torrentfreak.com)
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