Hi, my name is Elon, and I have a great idea! We should tax Americans $42 billion/year indefinitely and pay much of that money to my company SpaceX. We'll build something on Mars, eventually, if possible.

Let's have the US Congress fund this because as we all know they, like me, have no conflicts of interest, make decisions based purely on the science, have a very low time preference, are good stewards and very wise spenders, and plan for the future. And if Congress funds it then Americans must be willing to pay for it because, ta da, democracy!

I'm pleased to announce that I have made a personal and very generous contribution of $10 million to increase public awareness about the need for this project.

You're welcome humanity.