I'm all for abolishing corporate welfare, but if you haven't noticed, government "investing" (giving away our money) in companies and playing Warren Buffett with our tax dollars is all the rage now.
There are tax credits and other favorable tax treatments as well as subsidies for a lot of things: mortagage interest, having children, running a church business or other non-profit, etc. Are you guys complaining about all of them? Also, I wonder what people think of the whole dealership system in general,mnot just applied to Tesla. Seems some of you just hate Tesla because you hate stuff that the Obama administration supports, which is fine. However, should consumers be forced to buy any car, a GM, Toyota or Ford, through a local dealership rather than directly from the manufacturer?
Are you intentionally obtuse? That is no cost to Texas, and almost every manufacturer benefitted from similar credits.
What about the other ridiculous blue laws in Texas that prohibit alcohol sales on Sunday and ban the sale of alcohol in grocery stores/convenience stores?
I remember when i was 17 on a trip and walked into a CVS/Walgreens in New Mexico and saw a full blown liquor store. I'm thinking.....huh?
Agree. The tax credits are a red herring because it's a wholly different conversation. We decided in our legislative process that we wanted to incent the purchase of electric vehicles with credits. People disagree with that, but that's a whole other conversation. Subsidy or not, is it still beneficial for Texas to protect a dealership industry by forbidding manufacturers from doing business in that space? I'm not sure why it is Tesla doesn't think it can operate through the dealership system. But, I do think that this artificial protection is not in the best interest of the Texas consumer. It adds a layer of cost, stymies innovation in retailing, and raises the barrier to entry on new participants. If anyone can find a legitimate argument for why we shouldn't let manufacturers sell directly, I'd be interested to hear it. Absent that, I have to assume it's corruption -- politicians don't want to betray important donors.
I'm rooting hard for Tesla. I want to see the entire automotive industry and oil industry given a swift kick in the pants. Looking forward to that sub $30,000 car with 200 miles of range. I'll be in the market. I don't care what side of the political aisle you're on. If you can't appreciate a 7-seater luxury sedan that's faster than a Dodge Viper and can be remotely repaired using an Internet connection, something's wrong with you.
St. Louis had liquor in the grocery store and I was pretty blown away. It was all so much cheaper than it is in GA, where on liquor stores carry it. I knew some Wal-Marts carried liquor based on my training video, but never did I expect that. Even more blown away that they carried liquor in gas stations! Thanks for ripping me off blue laws.
One of the nice things about living in CA - being able to walk over to Safeway or the corner store at any hour and buy beer/liquor. Has paid huge dividends when leaving the bar at 2AM and wanting to keep the party going.
Yes, although a deduction is preferable to a subsidy or credit (i.e. cash transfer). The tens of thousands of pages carrot-and-stick tax code is abominable, a way to curry favors, collect campaign contributions, punish enemies, and manipulate our behavior. And it empowers thousands of IRS agents to comb through our lives and target us if they want to. The time has come for a Fair/Flat tax. No. The law is wrong, but I have little sympathy for the crony capitalism poster boy complaining about disparate legal treatment.
A tesla is an awesome looking car that will get you 90miles to the gallon. Imagine only putting 10 gallons in your tank and not having to go to the gas station for well over a month. With the amount of people that live in texas metropolitan cities you wou dthink they'd gett the approval. But you can thank the bobmarley's of the world when the future is all ****ed up. Thank you bobmarley. ****ing oil companies, excise tax, government, and american car companies.
You ever seen this documentary?: The assertion was back in the late 90's/early 2000's that special interests had a lot to do with limiting the electric car's introduction to the market after previous state mandates. Saturn's EV1 was crushed in favor of the Hummer H2. But I agree, the Tesla looks really nice. We should have more on the roads.
... and so...? I don't know enough about car retail to know why that's a problem. I would think boutique manufacturer like Tesla would have more cost effective distribution using a 3rd party system that can aggregate volume than they would having their own stand-alone stores where they can't share any of the costs of rent, labor etc with other, high-volume products.
You're ignoring the exorbitant sticker price (hence the need for a credit) and cost to charge the vehicle.
It's a fully electric car. Unless there is a previous model that used gasoline that I'm not aware of?
