Dear Elon,
I read that you are deeply disappointed with the pork filled Republican spending bill. I feel your pain. I was similarly disgusted with Ronald Reagan's first budget proposal back in 1981. I went from conservative Republican to Libertarian for the next quarter century as a result. Alas, the Libertarian Party is way too radical to win real elections.
I see also that you are contemplating a centrist political party. Alas, a purely centrist party is also doomed. The meaning of "centrist" is ambiguous and a mushy moderate will generally get squeezed out by both legacy parties. So, don't waste your money creating a centrist party.
Instead, create a new political party which fits your personal brand from the days before you supported Donald Trump! You will sell more Teslas that way, and you might just save the country from national bankruptcy.
To see why the Republican Party is wimping out when it comes to balancing the budget, let's play some 4D political chess. Since your computer does not yet have the 4D neural projection option yet, we'll have to settle for multiple 2D projections. We'll start with the projection which most affects political debates:
Once upon a time, the Democratic Party was the left wing working class party, with a penchant for bigger government. However, it did have a few southern smaller government holdouts like Jimmy Carter. Meanwhile, the Republican Party was the party of the well off, along with those who wanted to mix religious and government. While the Republican Party liked to brand itself as the small government party, it really wasn't. The Republican Party had its small government factions, but it also had bigger government factions. And that's why the Republican Party can deliver tax cuts for the rich, but cannot truly cut the size of government on its own. We need either a smaller government caucus within the Democratic Party or a new party which can compete with the Democrats in the deep Blue areas of this country.
Notice the gap in the upper left portion of the chart above. The two-party system was completely failing those who wanted their government smaller but also thought that wealth/power gap was excessive. I attempted to expand the Libertarian Party to fill that gap back in 2006 but the party's defenses against sanity were too powerful.
The market was crying out for a new political party to serve the Upper Left, but I lacked the money and charisma to personally launch such a party. So I wrote a book on how to start a new political party that could win elections and mostly retired from political activism. If you are serious about launching a new political party, I suggest you buy a copy of my book. It will save you tens of millions of dollars. I made the third party mistakes so you don't have to.
I am not the only person who noticed the Upper Left market opportunity. Donald Trump noticed. Instead of launching a new political party, however, The Donald did a hostile takeover of the Republican Party, dragging it kicking and screaming into the Upper Left quadrant -- partially. Should he succeed in enforcing the national picket line, he will raise wages for the working class. This will reduce the size of government, since fewer working age people will be on welfare or in prison.
But it's not enough. And neither are the DOGE cuts. We need revenue enhancements if we are to balance the budget, and the Republican Party is dominated by people who swore to Grover Norquist to never raise taxes. And The Donald has a poor record when it comes to fiscal sanity. He is a notorious user and abuser of debt. We need Upper Leftists who haven't taken that oath, and some charismatic leaders to explain why balancing the budget is so important. Hint: deficit spending is like a farm price support system that supports the income of investor class. Unfortunately, the biggest faction which understands this fact are conspiracy theorists. Not the best branding. You could do better.
The Green Dimension
The Republican Party has gone all in with global warming denial. This makes many environmentalists sad.
On the other hand, the Democrats have gone Brown in many other respects. Building windmills in the oceans is killing whales. Biofuels are destroying forests. Unleashing crime makes cities less bike friendly. Opening the borders makes ecotopia impossible. Meanwhile, the Republicans are greening up in other respects thanks to MAHA.
But the Republicans aren't green enough to win over the college indoctrinated. Your third party should definitely push a green angle, but not the watermelon green of the Green party. Use market incentives. Provide property tax breaks for those hosting endangered critters instead of taking away property rights to encourage Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up. Replace payroll taxes with a carbon tax and let the market figure out the best balance of conservation, alternative energy, or just paying the tax.
And note that balancing the federal budget is a critical component of sustainable economics. Without a balanced budget, we require an ever increasing population and/or economic activity per person. Keynesian Economics is bad for the planet.
And remember, launching a market friendly green party (Conservation Party?) will help you sell more Teslas. Much better brand coherence than hanging out with global warming deniers.
The Moral Dimension
The Democrats have become actively anti Christian and pro sexual deviance. You don't have to go full on Falwell to win the religious remnant in our Blue zones. Simple neutrality would suffice. You can even favor dialing down the Drug War to distance yourself from the Republicans. Just require that people handle their high. Drugged out bums on the sidewalks make cities less pedestrian friendly.
You could triangulate between the Democrats' Defund the Police disaster and the Republican penchant for horrifying prisons by calling for a more humane prison system. Reduce the size of prisons so prisoners don't feel compelled to join prison gangs. Reduce the number of prisoners per cell so they can feel safe at night. Give them the option to work for pay so they can have some job skills and capital when they get out.
And build some humane mental homes to get the insane off the streets. Once again, make the cities pedestrian friendly without guilt tripping the sensitive.
Deliver this Message
If any of you reading this open letter knows somebody who knows somebody who knows Elon Musk, please deliver this message. Thank you.
If you want to make your mark upon the world by commenting, JOIN!, (or just log in if you have already joined.)
