Elon Musk says the US should ‘get rid of all’ government subsidies

The Verge ^ | 12/6/21 | Sean O’kane

[hardspunned]

Elon Musk said Monday at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO summit that he doesn’t think the United States needs the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill — or any government subsidies, for that matter. “Just delete them all,” he said.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said during the interview that he’s concerned about the federal deficit. “We’ve spent so much money.. the federal budget deficit is insane,” he said.

“I would say... can the whole bill. Don’t pass it, that’s my recommendation,” Musk said.

Musk pointed out that Tesla has been selling its electric cars for more than a year in the US without the $7,500 federal tax credit, without taking a demand hit. Most other automakers, save for General Motors, are still eligible for the credit.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: notabadidea

[hardspunned]

- October 21, 2024: Trump said, "Tesla is a big company and it makes great cars. Elon Musk never once said could you ease up the electric thing. He never asked for any favor."

- November 27, 2024: Trump reiterated, "Tesla is a big company and it makes great cars. Elon Musk never once said could you ease up the electric thing. He never asked for any favor."

This damned memory of mine makes it really hard to jump on whatever the latest narrative being sold might be.

[Resolute Conservative]

Can’t say that isn’t a bad idea. Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers.

[Reily]

Agree with Tesla but he’s made a lot of money from subsidies.

[Qwapisking]

And everybody says....”THAT’S A GREAT IDEA! except MY subsidies.I still want MY subsidies. But get rid of everybody else’s”. We all know it’s true.

[hardspunned]

Agreed. Remember, at this time Musk was the darling of the left and most everyone else. If Musk was in this for Tesla profits he would have cheerleader number one for Build Back Better.

[Sacajaweau]

Every dime spent is a subsidy in some form.

I just love it when the government funds ball Parks and/or the arts...like the Kennedy Center.

[FreedomNotSafety]

He doesn’t get the 7500 credit but he is getting 400mill from other auto makers forced to buy green credits from him. He can spin it all he wants but that’s a subsidy.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Ah padowan. The ji jit system advances.

[ConservativeMind]

I agree. Eliminate them.

[Sacajaweau]

I think Musk has been trying to get out of the Tesla CAR business for a long time.

And as for his present hissy fit....He may be the richest man in the world, but he isn't smarter than 77 million people.

[Tell It Right]

For what it's worth, the Inflation Raising Act changed the rules for the EV tax credit. With the prior rule, to get the EV tax credit you had to purchase an EV from a car maker that hadn't already sold over X number of EV's (200K I believe). Tesla and GM had already exceeded that amount, thus the EV tax credit didn't apply to those EV's until Biden's IRA. I believe Ford was also expected to expire (pre-orders for Ford EV's for year 2023 were expected to not qualify for the EV credit until the IRA was passed).

I believe the IRA added other rules too, like to get the EV tax credit it has to be made in the U.S., perhaps the battery also made in the U.S., etc. I don't know if Tesla EV's qualify (are their batteries made in the U.S., and is that required for the new EV tax credit?).

And as soon as the IRA was passed, the prices for those EV's shot up (the made in U.S. rule didn't apply in the first year). No shock to us conservatives. We've all been aware that any time the govt "helps" us it always results in higher prices. So the tax credit doesn't help consumers anyway. It helps the crony businesses. Just like govt "help" in colleges raises tuition, and govt "help" in healthcare raises hospital bills.

As an owner of an EV (not a Tesla) I tried to explain this on an EV blog that I sometimes read and contribute to for swapping tips on charging, extending battery life, doing it in a way that doesn't add as much to the power bill, etc. But the EV owners couldn't process it in their indoctrinated minds. All they could post was disgust at Ford and Tesla raising their prices.

Nor can they understand that their roadside charging problems often begin with the fact that their favorite charging network (Electrify America) was set up to give them free charging for a year or two because the govt forced them to (EPA punishing Volkswagen for dieselgate). Anything done for "free" is designed not to please the end users, but the bureaucrats. To get a good charging experience you have to use chargers that you pay for. But most EV owners can't understand that either. Their mouths were already wet with the belief that they could drive from Maine to California for free as quickly as you can with a gas car. I told them that the reason I recently made a one-way trip of 1,740 miles in my EV with 10-15 minute charging stops (which includes restroom breaks, since I use the restroom while the EV is charging) and the trip took me only 32.5 hours (not counting the hotel stay) is because I focused on chargers that I'd have to pay for charging. I trust the free market over govt "help" and certainly over govt coercion. I take the gas pickup on trips that are either with only "free" charging options or in winter up north.

[Macho MAGA Man]

Farmers I know won’t like his idea.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

The solar/wind technologies that Elon says are the future would not have even gotten this far without government subsidies.

Likewise for Tesla.

And we're not even 2 years past Starlink applying for 0.9 billion dollars worth of subsidies for rural connectivity purposes.

Elon just sounds like someone crashing out...which he does have a history of. (The Thailand cave diver, anyone?)

[z3n]

Agree with Tesla but he’s made a lot of money from subsidies.

~~~

That may make him a hypocrite, but it almost makes him a credible critic.
I could see myself taking advantage of available subsidies whilst criticizing their existence too.

[dforest]

At the same time, Trump did say many times at rallies and speeches when Elon was there that he was supportive of people who wanted electric cars but Elon understood that we needed to have both.

I believe Musk took that very literally. The subsidies were in the BBB for oil and gas, but none for EV. Aspergers is not an excuse but it does explain how Elon behaves and his lack of emotional control.

And can we stop naming these bills with these silly upbeat names please? How about BOMB? Big Old Monstrous Bill. 😏

[hardspunned]

Where does he say that? Certainly not in 2021 when he could received anything he wanted from the Biden Build Back Better. Don’t quote narrative to me. Show me the quotes or the quoted allegations from Trump or anyone in his administration who would have surely known. It all boils down to when the lies actually began, eight months ago or yesterday?

[hardspunned]

Was Trump lying eight months ago (reread the quotes) or yesterday?

[Lurker]

I’m perfectly okay with this. There’s no Constitutional authority for it.

None.

L

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

The Boards of Directors of Elon’s companies should vote and put him on mandatory leave for drug testing and a full psych exam and report back to the BODs.

He probably needs a 6 month rehab/and sabbatical away from the civilized world and VERY limited access, especially the internet.

[volare737]

Subsidies play a very important role in our country—vote buying and social engineering…/s