Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are sparring over where the wealthy tech entrepreneur’s big bucks are better spent — on space travel or balancing income inequality here on Earth.
"We are in a moment in American history where two guys — Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos — own more wealth than the bottom 40% of people in this country," Sanders tweeted Thursday.
Musk has shot up the wealth ladder to land alongside Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos; Musk's net worth climbed to $188 billion in January, edging ahead of Bezos, who had been wealthiest since 2017, Business Insider reported.
Progressives like Sanders have called for higher taxes on billionaires, tweeting Wednesday, "We are in a moment in American history where two guys — Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos — own more wealth than the bottom 40% of people in this country. That level of greed and inequality is not only immoral. It is unsustainable."
The same day, at a Senate budget committee hearing Wednesday, Sanders noted both tech titans "now own more wealth than the bottom 40%. Meanwhile, we're looking at more hunger in America than at any time in decades" BI reported at the time.
In a commentary Saturday on the website Clean Technica, writer Zachary Shahan refuted Sanders’ twitter critique.
"I think Bernie Sanders’ dedication to fighting this and many of his preferred policies to address it are completely sensible — and it’s just sad that the United States is so far behind most European countries in creating a more human society and a higher quality of life," Zachary Shahan wrote. "That said, this is a shockingly idiotic tweet."
Musk, who also runs SpaceX, said last year he wanted to send a million people to Mars by 2050, creating "a lot of jobs" on the Red Planet, BI reported — and that he was "highly confident" the first SpaceX Starship may land on Mars in 2026.
"I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars," Musk wrote Sunday in defense of his wealth and lofty space dreams.
Sanders responded that "Space travel is an exciting idea, but right now we need to focus on Earth and create a progressive tax system so that children don't go hungry, people are not homeless and all Americans have healthcare."
"The level of inequality in America is obscene and a threat to our democracy," he asserted.
According to a White House economic aide, President Joe Biden’s tax plan will feature higher levies on corporations and wealthy Americans, with relief eyed for middle-class households, including those in the $110,000-a-year income range.
"The key here is that the president believes strongly that the biggest corporations and those folks who have done extremely well over the last several decades should pay a bit more," Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council, said last Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television.