On December 1, 2020 in Berlin, Germany, the [+] Axel Springer Award will be presented. The photo was taken by Britta Pedersen- Pool.
The images are from the same company.
A spat between the founder of Musk and the leaders of the Democratic party intensified in recent days, as Musk took aim at the Biden bill that congressional Democrats are struggling to get across the finish line before Christmas. The Democrats have soured on Mr. Musk over the course of this year, exemplified by President Joe Biden lauding General GM CEO Mary Barra for leading the world in electric vehicles.
It must have come as a surprise to Mr. Musk, whose own company has been leading the way on EV's in the United States for almost 20 years now.
Despite the fact that the bill contains hundreds of billions in new, expanded EV and renewable energy subsidies, Musk panned it at an event sponsored by the Wall Street Journal. Musk said that he would not pass the bill. That's my recommendation.
Musk said that rules and regulations are eternal. They don't die. The majority of rules and regulations live forever, so it's hard to remove them from the arteries of civilization.
He is correct about all of that. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) should kill the bill and not try to negotiate it down to a number they think is low enough to preserve their senate seats next time they are up for reelection.
America is already suffering with its worst inflation issue in 40 years, a problem that Federal Reserve Chairman Powell recently admitted can no longer be described as "transitory." The problem could get worse if Congress passes another $1.9 trillion in federal spending. The budget reconciliation bill was originally referred to as a budget reconciliation bill, but has now become a social welfare state for individuals and rent-seekers in the renewable energy space. The Green New Deal is named after the cornucopia.
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Musk said that his company has not received federal tax subsidies for the purchase of vehicles for the past two years. The federal tax subsidy of $7,500 per vehicle is only available to 200,000 cars per U.S. automaker. The generous EV subsidy programs in states like California, New York and Louisiana continue to benefit Musk's company.
The Democrats decided to fight with Musk andTesla because they wanted to apply a new $4,500 per EV federal subsidy only to unions. Though its workforce is not unionized, it is similar in many respects to its peers. This is a pretty transparent example of the Democrats trying to reward one of their most loyal traditional constituencies by favoring unionized companies like Ford and GM overTesla.
The clear discrimination against Musk and his company, and the fact that Musk is ranked as the world's 2nd-richest man, might make him support the whole effort. It is interesting to note that the initial version of the EV subsidy reform that Democrats proposed in early 2021, would have renewed the ability ofTesla to take advantage of the federal credit again.
Whatever Musk's motivation, his criticisms of the bill are valid, and he applies them to the provisions that relate to his industry and would in practice benefit his company. The bill contains billions in subsidies for the installation of new EV charging infrastructure, and Musk responded by saying it was unnecessary. Do we need to support gas stations? We don't. I'm telling you to get rid of all subsidies.
Alright then.
It is easier for Musk to say that his company has met its limit for federal subsidies. You won't see other U.S. automakers who are late to the EV game, like Ford and GM, following Musk's advice on the bill, and you have to wonder what Musk himself would be saying if congressional Democrats hadn't decided to pick this particular fight with him
The guy who has alternated between #1 and #2 on the Forbes 400 list of the world's wealthiest individuals is advocating for the killing of their bill.
After taking a Thanksgiving break, Musk is back to selling stock.
