In a successful attempt to scrap a year-end budget bill and replace it with more limited legislation to keep the government open, Elon Musk said declared victory last week on X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform he owns:
“Your actions have turned a bill that weighed pounds into a bill that weighed ounces!” he crowed. “They are the media now. VOX POPULI VOX DEI.”
The emergency funding measure will largely delay key spending decisions until after Donald Trump's inauguration, keep the government open through the holidays and, at least temporarily, delay the most unsustainable spending baked into the policy bill. But those who believe that unsustainable spending won't end up back in the budget are amiably optimistic.
The most interesting political takeaway from the drama is that the Republican Party now has two masters with different goals. Musk's stated mission was to impose fiscal restraint and greater efficiency on the government (though his unstated motives are a matter of speculation). Trump's goal was to avoid the hassle of a debate over raising the national debt ceiling early in his term and give him the freedom to accumulate more debt through spending and tax cuts.
Based on the political outcome alone, Musk won and Trump lost. Although the bill spends less than the previous version, it does not increase the debt ceiling.
Both goals can be represented. I think Musk is undeniably right about the need to cut spending. And while I don't want Trump to be able to pile up more debt, disputes over the borrowing limit are reckless because they call into question the full faith and credit of the United States. The challenge for Republican lawmakers is that they are caught between the agendas of two figures who are very popular on the right, and that those agendas — and perhaps others — are in conflict.
We have to wait and see how politics develops. In the meantime, I would also like to address the more philosophical problems with Musk's position.
First, it's not exactly logical to weigh the value or waste of a law literally by the ounce, as Musk suggests. The National Industrial Recovery Act — the foundational legislation of the New Deal — clocks in at a spare 18 pages, but that gives little sense of its massive impact on the economy.
Then there's the idea that Musk's small budget victory proves that his X followers are “now the media.” Huh?
The usual accusation from conservatives about traditional media is that it misleads the public in service of an ideological or self-serving agenda. But Musk gathered his virtual mob with a crowd INCORRECT Claims about the bill with the higher expenses. Now he points out that misleading the public in service of the intentions of the owner of a media platform is a glorious triumph. It is certainly a triumph for the hypocrisy that cannot be defeated.
Finally, Musk’s oft-repeated motto “The voice of the people, the voice of God“ – “The voice of the people is the voice of God” – is theological nonsense. Its use by the British Whigs to challenge monarchical power in the 18th century was politically justifiable, but no degree of divinity is required to understand that the expression, taken literally, implies that God is subject to the passions and vicissitudes of public opinion is. It is very difficult to find anything in the Old or New Testament that supports this idea.
If one poll had been enough to change God's mind, Sodom and Gomorrah would have been fine, Noah wouldn't have needed a boat, and Jesus wouldn't have had to ask God for forgiveness, “for they know not what they do.”
One of the earliest mentions of the Latin phrase is found in the writings of Someone from Yorkan advisor to Charlemagne. Alcuin urged the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to ignore such displays of public piety “since the excitement of the crowd is always very close to madness.”
Musk started using the phrase: “The voice of the people, the voice des” to confirm the results of his own Twitter polls. When users voted to restore Trump's account two years ago, Musk said explained that the result he clearly wanted amounted to a divine statement. We can only guess what this says about Musk's God complex and his compatibility with his role as Trump's Alcuin.
However, my main objection to Musk's claim is that it is a dangerous lie. The idea that the biggest mob has God on its side is even more harmful than the idea that laws should be measured in pounds.