Exclusive: Billionaire Tim Draper has a blunt response to Elon Musk’s new political party
Elon Musk’s surprise launch of the “America Party” sent fresh shockwaves through crypto markets. After declaring on X that the movement would "embrace Bitcoin” because “fiat is hopeless,” Bitcoin spiked to almost $110,000.
Venture capitalist Tim Draper says Elon Musk’s newly launched America Party could inject long-needed innovation into U.S. politics. “I love America because people can innovate in every way possible,” Draper told TheStreet Roundtable in a conversation with host Alp Gasimov and Roundtable CEO and founder James Heckman.
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Musk, he added, was “frustrated that he couldn’t get anything done within Washington” because lawmakers and regulators “throw up lawyers and judges and whatever in your face every time you try to do something good.”
“I think he’s showing that frustration, and I think it’s potentially very exciting,” Draper continued. “Hopefully this administration will be able to do some of the things that he’s hoping to do.”
Capitalism over socialism
Draper argued that the “pendulum is swinging back to capitalism, and that is a real positive for the world.” Socialism, he said, “doesn’t work, never has, in no place ever.” Citing Sweden as an example, he claimed the Nordic nation’s economy “goes flatline” whenever it leans socialist, only to recover once capitalist policies return.
“At least the world is moving back to capitalism,” Draper said. “I think Elon’s on a mission to shrink the federal government and try to get rid of that debt, and I wish he could.”
Pressed on how to reduce the ballooning federal deficit, Draper offered “a bunch of little ideas,” starting with linking government pay to economic output: “You tie their bonuses to GDP growth and to how efficiently they have run.”
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He also urged capping Congress to a fixed pool of money, saying lawmakers should “vote for shares of that budget rather than just unlimited spending,” and argued that a president should be able to shutter obsolete agencies at will: “you can actually eliminate the entire department as president, you don’t have to go through the courts.”
Draper conceded there is “not a quick solution” but insisted these steps would make “a huge impact on our government and our debt.”