http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk#Political_positions
Political positions[edit]
Politically, Musk has described himself as "half-Democrat, half-Republican". In his own words "I'm somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative."[92]
In an interview with the Washington Post, Musk stated he was a "significant (though not top-tier) donor to Democrats, but that he also gives heavily to Republicans". Musk further stated, “in order to have your voice be heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution.”[93][94]
A recent report from the Sunlight Foundation (a nonpartisan group that tracks government spending), found that "SpaceX has spent $4 million on lobbying Congress since it was established in 2002 and doled out more than $800,000 in political contributions" to Democrats and Republicans. The same report noted that “SpaceX’s campaign to win political support has been systematic and sophisticated,” adding that "Musk himself has donated roughly $725,000 to various campaigns since 2002. In 2004, he contributed $2,000 to President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign, maxing out to Obama’s reelection campaign and donated $5,000 to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, a state critical to the space industry." "All told, Musk and SpaceX gave out roughly $250,000 in the 2012 election cycle.[93][95]
Musk had been a supporter of the U.S. political action committee FWD.us, which was started by fellow high-profile entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg and advocates for immigration reform. However, in May 2013, Musk publicly withdrew his support in protest of advertisements the PAC was running that supported causes like the Keystone Pipeline. Musk and other members, including David Sacks, pulled out, criticizing the strategy as "cynical."[96]
Musk has stated that he no longer believes that the U.S. government should provide subsidies to environmentally friendly companies, as was done with Tesla Motors, but the government should instead use a carbon tax to discourage "bad behaviour". Musk argues that the free market would achieve the "best solution", and that producing environmentally unfriendly vehicles should come with its own consequences. Author and Stanford Professor Fred Turner responded by noting that "if you're an entrepreneur like Elon Musk, you will take the money where you can get it, but at the same time believe as a matter of faith that it's entrepreneurship and technology that are the sources of social change, not the state. It is not quite self-delusion, but there is a habit of thinking of oneself as a free-standing, independent agent, and of not acknowledging the subsidies that one received. And this goes on all the time in [Silicon] Valley."[97]
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