Elon Musk Embraces GOP, Chesapeake Blue Crab News, Radio Tour
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good evening,
For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
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Here’s what I have for you today.
Not Just Elon Musk: More Americans Seeking Out GOP
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, recently made a stunning admission: he’ll be voting Republican for the first time ever.
"I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically – overwhelmingly. Like I'm not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear," the Tesla CEO told the All-In Podcast. "Now this election, I will."
In a follow-up tweet, Musk elaborated more on his decision.
“In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party,” tweeted the billionaire. “But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican. Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold …”
But he fell short of supporting or creating Republican-aligned super PACs:
“I have no plans to create a super PAC,” said Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, when asked if he plans to create his own campaign fund to oust Biden in the presidential contest. “No super PAC anything going on,” when asked if he plans to finance a super PAC in the upcoming elections. Tech executives such as Sam Bankman-Fried and Peter Thiel have given at least $35 million, combined, to super PACs so far in the 2022 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. Thiel and Musk are part of the so called “PayPal Mafia,” a group of executives who helped launch the financial technology company PayPal.
Elon Musk Would Receive a Warm Welcome in the GOP
Although he formerly voted for Democrats in the past, Musk would be warmly received in the Grand Old Party if he were to get involved.
An Update on Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
Per the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2022 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, blue crab numbers are down to 227 million individuals. It’s the lowest recorded number in 33 years. From May 19th, 2022:
Today the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Maryland Department of Natural Resources released the results of the 2022 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, an annual estimate of the population of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
This year’s survey estimated total crab abundance at 227 million, the lowest in the survey’s 33-year history. The adult female and male population both decreased, with males also at record lows and the number of juvenile crabs continuing a troubling three-year below average trend in recruitment.
The causes? CBF explains, “This year’s survey follows two consecutive years of declines in the coverage of underwater grasses, one of the most important habitats for blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. It is likely that the loss of grasses is contributing to the blue crab’s decline, along with water quality challenges and predation by invasive blue catfish.”
Very concerning!
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—Gabriella