Via Politico:
Elon Musk is taking Washington by storm, but in statehouses controlled by Democrats on both coasts, his lobbyists are facing a frigid welcome.
Tesla’s ability to sell electric vehicles directly to consumers remains restricted in several states where the deeply entrenched franchise dealership model prevails. Musk’s company has lobbied to be allowed to set up its own sales locations in those states over the last few years — with only limited success.
In the past, blue state Democrats and environmental groups pushed for allowing Tesla and other electric vehicle makers to set up shop rather than requiring customers to buy online. They saw it as a no-cost measure to support higher EV sales and slash transportation emissions.
But Musk’s growing political clout and alignment with Republican President Donald Trump is making that a harder sell.
“You could not pay me to carry that bill now,” said New York state Sen. Pat Fahy, a Democrat from the Albany area who for several years sponsored legislation to allow direct sales. “I’m thoroughly disgusted with Elon Musk and everything he stands for.”
Franchise laws exist because they allegedly help communities and to increase competition, but I would need to see some data to provide some evidence to that assertion. Regardless, I don’t think I need to tell you which way the owners of most car dealerships lean politically, but if you were to guess, you would probably be pretty safe to state they were not exactly hanging Harris/Waltz banners in the car lot. In fact, you would be pretty accurate if you said that they were overwhelmingly Republican.
Having Elon Mush tell the addled Trump to move to end franchise laws to own the libs could be really, really fucking funny. And it might actually break the chain of bad behavior by so many dealerships. BTW- a couple million people are employed in that sector of the economy.
War for Ukraine Day 1,099: The Drone Swarms Continue
John S.
A few hundred thousand here, a couple million there. The sociopathic CEO cares not about such things.
Just ask Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg.
Wapiti
I saw the DOGESHIT tag and thought that might be a good name for Mr. Musk’s social media site. And individual messages on the site could be called “squirts”.
Bupalos
My girls 16 and 10 just came in delighted because for whatever algorhythmic reason they just discovered the anti-project 2025 schoolhouse rock thing that was made – for the election – and were super disappointed when I said “yeah we had that election and we lost.”
which mostly just got me thinking about schoolhouse rock. Like… who paid for that? Leon fucking Redbone singing “I’m just a bill?” Getting shoved in front of all our faces for years?
made me very sad because in today’s world I literally cannot figure out how that happened.l
no one will invest in these kids. That’s what we have to do. Long game.
John S.
@Bupalos:
The series was the idea of David McCall, an advertising executive. He created it to help his son learn math, hence the classic Three Is a Magic Number. It was pitched to Michael Eisner at ABC, who picked it up and produced the show. The rest is history.
VFX Lurker
I did not have “Space Idiot runs roughshod over Republican voters” on my 2025 Bingo card. Holy smokes.
In other news, my California refund came in today, and my much smaller IRS refund comes in tomorrow. My CPA e-filed my tax return either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning last week. The California “where’s my refund” site updated to “refund sent” Friday evening, but the IRS equivalent has lagged behind. It still shows “refund approved” even though my credit union shows the IRS deposit will hit tomorrow.
I wasn’t worried about California, but I do not trust Space Idiot with our IRS.
trollhattan
Honestly, Musk getting into the octagon with the typical car dealer association is a time for us to not just root for the comet, place giant arrows pointing at the location.
Living among the planet’s most Tesla-centric auto fleet, I ponder what happens as those two- and three-year leases expire and drivers consider its replacement. I’m guessing they bail in yuge amounts. He’s “fired” California about ten times by now, perhaps my fellow citizens can take the hint as well.
John Cole
@VFX Lurker: My state refund came last week. Usually my federal shows up a week before the state one. This year it is still on hold a week after.
Bupalos
@John S.: where did the money/energy come from? Just a studio executive saying “yeah go ahead?”
My kids were like OMFG and I was like “yeah that played between cartoons constantly”
they recognized that it was trying to make the world better. They see nothing like that.
Parfigliano
What’s a refund?
laura
@VFX Lurker: The California Francise Tax Board does not fuck around at all. Viva public sector workers!
If I had throw around money for a new car, I’d buy a Kia Ionic 5 faster than a fart and then I do a lawn job with it on a Tesla lot.
BellyCat
Prisoner’s dilemma: Root for car dealers or (F)Elon’s direct sales efforts.
The meteor cannot come soon enough…
Gretchen
@trollhattan: A lot of those cars are leased? I assumed they were purchased.
Jay
@trollhattan:
Some Tesla owners are spending thousands of dollars at body shops to rebadge their Tesla’s as Toyota’s, Mazda’s, Kia’s, and not just swapping out hood emblems, saw one where the owner had an entire Mazda rear end, grafted onto their Tesla.
Pennsylvanian
Whether it’s funny “ha-ha” or funny Nelson Munz or funny “sad trombone”, there is a growing feeling to me that even I feel a little bit of…… ha ha ha, I meant Fuck Their Feelings! Car dealerships? Get in line fuckers.
I’d rather be an American than a Trump supporter.
Some days are better than others and today is not better, so I’ll leave this with you, and Cranky Pennsylvanian signing off for the night!
Jay
@Gretchen:
Almost 30% of new cars in the US are leased, not purchased. 2, 3 and 5 year leases. Median car prices in the US are $45,000, that’s a big chunk to swing for a lot of people, where a lease is monthly, and dealerships are rather fond of “fudging” the numbers for a Auto Company Financed Lease.
HinTN
I did not take your advice, @John Cole:, and I filed for my refund on Wednesday. We shall see how the DOGESHIT goes down.
HinTN
@Jay: We bought our 2022 Hybrid RAV4 but the next go round will probably be a lease.
Lily
Petition in Canada:
# signatures by province, so far: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5353
Jay
@HinTN:
We bought our 2000 RAV4 for $3600 cash in 2021. 120K on the clock.
I have never owned a new car.
jonas
Auto dealers are terrified of the transition to EVs not because they can’t sell them — quite the opposite — but because they can’t service them. No oil changes. No transmission service. No lube jobs. Most dealers don’t make a ton of profit selling cars. The real money is in the service dept. And then there’s the highly-protected dealership racket thing itself. So they’ve been lobbying Republicans like mad over the past decade to deep-six EVs and protect them from Tesla-esque direct-to-customer sales, which all car companies, not just Tesla, would *luuuuuuv* to roll out because of the whole cut-out-the-middleman thing.
We’ll see if putting all their lobbying and donation eggs in the MAGA basket works out for them.
Jay
@Lily:
Unfortunately, Felon Musk’s citizenship at this time, cannot be revoked,
but every signature makes us Canadians feel good,
along with all the social media shit Gretzky is going through.
jonas
@Jay: Smart. They say the greenest car you can buy is actually not a new EV but anything used.
Jay
@jonas:
They have eggs? Are they hoarding them?
jonas
@Jay: Lol! Yeh, I expect dealers one of these days to start offering folks a carton of eggs if they stop in for a test drive!
Ohio Mom
@jonas: I only take the car to the dealer for recalls.
Otherwise it’s my neighborhood mechanic. He’s conveniently located, friendly, and trustworthy.
I went to him the first time because he always takes out ads in every school program —choir concerts, plays, talent shows. And then I saw he was a gem.
Why anyone would go to the dealer, which somehow is always miles and miles away, and you are treated like you are on an assembly line, is a mystery to me.
Bupalos
Holy crap y’all I just got served (probably thanks to my takes on how we can’t just straight up exterminate Trumpers) an online thing for “generators” that are a worse version of batteries. The add starts by saying this company that wants to sell you the “generators” was robbed by black people (ok whoever… but they mean black people) , which they spend the whole first half of the commercial talking about the robbery that never actually happened. They just show an empty tractor truck back end with a dude standing in it that’s like “but where are the “generators”
so the way this plays in the ad is YOU BETTER ACT FAST BECAUSE THE BLACK PEOPLE STOLE MOST OF THEM but maybe there is still one wildly overpriced under-specked battery just for you if you ACT NOW!!!!
wild shit.
THE BLACK PEOPLE ARE STEALING THE BATTERIES NO NO I MEAN THE PATRIOT GENERATORS YO!!!!
HinTN
@Jay: I’ve bought used Toyotas (and the Lexus IS 250 C that I traded for the Hybrid RAV4) for years. 100 (+) K miles doesn’t scare me with those vehicles. At our age, we wanted a new hybrid (not comfortable with the availability of charging stations across the SE USA for non-Tesla vehicles) with really good seats.
Jay
@jonas:
Previous car was a 1996, “Arizona” loaded 4Runner, 98k on the clock, $6500 CDN. Saw the listing, same day it went up, struck a deal on line and was driving 5 hours to North Vancouver with cash to make the deal, that night. It was a $26K vehicle, but kid inherited it, needed money for school. I offered him more, but he stuck to the deal.
Flavio, (co worker at the Orange at the time), got his Dad’s 1984 4Runner, to sell. Under 100K, one spot of rust, 2.4 engine, bone stock with the removeable hard top. Listed it initially for $1,500. Pointed out it was seriously underpriced, that anybody building a rock crawler or bush truck would kill to have it, (most were either already modded, or toasted). So he relisted it for $12.5K, Bidding war ensued between a custom shop and two Toyota Dealerships on Vancouver Island, it sold for $36K with the dealership taking care of all the transport costs.
Jay
@HinTN:
Started with a cheap FIAT, then had Fords, Dodges, Chevy’s, then a Datsun 510, (loved that car), then a Volkswagen convertible, bought the ex Honda Civic*, (exrental) then a Toyota truck. Since then, 30 years, used Toyotas.
If it ever comes time, will switch to a used hybrid or EV, but right now, put less than 2500 km on the clock, get a $300 rebate on insurance for basically, not driving it, and get 49mpg.
Plus, it’s all paid for. It’s also a “chick” car. Trendy, Cute and worth $3200 more than what we paid for it.
*despite the overstroke, high rpm of the engine, the VW killed it because of torque, so it was “her car”, until in the divorce she took “my” dog, and after leaving Surgar alone in the car at the mall for hours, Sugar ate the interior.
Steve in the ATL
@Ohio Mom:
We use our convenient and fairly priced neighborhood repair shop the vast majority of the time, except when we need a repair they can’t do, such as the leaking panorama roof which only the Mercedes dealer could handle (and which should have been a recall!).
The primary benefit to using the dealer, though, is that they give you a free loaner car. Which is less important in the age of remote work.
That’s my €0.02 (preparing for the dollar to be replaced as the world’s reserve currency).
NotMax
@Jay
Very first car I owned (a 1971 model) and the current (more than likely the very last) vehicle I own (a 2022 model) both bought brand spanking new.
Martin
California Coastal Commission has so far refused to allow for additional Starlink launches out of Vandenberg. Musk sent the Air Force to make their case and the Coastal Commission was like ‘why the fuck are you here – Starlink is a private sector company – send the dipshit’.
TBone
My Dad’s first new car experience: he was on cop night shift and had to stay home while the rest of us (entire extended family) met at our NJ shore rental. Dad planned to meet us there a few days late, after picking up his new car for the trip. I can’t remember the make/model, because Dad showed up later than expected in a pretty nice used car. He was TBoned while pulling out of the dealership in his new car! Thank goodness he wasn’t hurt too much (whiplash and some minor cuts & soft tissue injuries that healed).
Ohio Mom
@Steve in the ATL: I never need a loaner car but I can see where someone could.
I also expect to see the dollar lose its place as the worlds reserve currency. Oh well.
TBone
@Martin: bwahahaha!
My brother works for Verizon.
narya
Okay, a little good-ish news on the personal front: NONE of my brother’s lymph nodes showed signs of cancer. It looks like the tumor was juuuust maybe breaching the colon wall (I’ve been thinking of it as a zit that’s about to pop), so unknown if they’ll want some chemo, but the clear lymph nodes sounds good to me. (I was also glad he asked ME what it meant; I’ve been trying to give him space but also reaching out in anodyne ways like sending “morning run sunrise” pics.) And clear margins on the surgery.
im waiting to see if my socsec first check shows up in April…
Jay
@NotMax:
Until my divorce, never had the money for a “new car”.
So traded in my 1987 Toyota truck for a 1992 4Runner, (2.4 diesel, rare). Spent the difference between an entry level Taco and the truck on gears, bigger tires, 2″ lift, winches front and rear, lockers, bumpers, racks, lights, Marlin Crawler, loaded flywheel, biodiesel conversion, deep wading, body protection, sound system, turbo, intercooler, alarms and antitheft.
T always said it was a “boy magnet”. I would go in to pay for fuel and every “guy” who stopped would spend minutes walking around the truck asking her questions he had no clue to what the answers were.
At the time, we spent a lot of the time in the bush, camping.
TBone
@Pennsylvanian: where you been all my life, fellow kid?
Jeffro
There are so many distortions in the (blessed) free market due to these rich clowns and their wealth and pet projects and psycho views of the world…so many distortions that hurt so many people and their household budgets and options and our environment…it’ll be nice to get to a place where no one has more than a couple million bucks max and understands that we’re all in this together.
Understands that, or else.
Jay
@narya:
Wow, that is good news. Colon cancer if it’s not through the wall is a simple surgery. If it’s through the wall, it requires a resection. Worst case, well,…………..
T’s still in recovery, but doing well. Resection. No chemo.
narya
@Jay: oh, they took a foot out, but it still sounds like good news to me.
eclare
@narya:
Oh happy day!
Ohio Mom
@narya: Yes, that all sounds good. Woot! Woot!
Jay
@narya:
No closomectomy, win.
T lost 9cm.
Jay
@narya:.
K, a close friend lost 2 feet.
T’s Specialist says, 0 dairy, ever.
So pizza is a project. I have learned more about vegan “cheese” than I ever wanted to know.
narya
@Jay: also a colostomy, but they plan to reverse it.
hitchhiker
Every so often my desire to see these people suffer overwhelms me. Not just the thug, but especially him. Please universe, a great big stroke, preferably on live tv.
That doesn’t seem like a lot to ask, and I know this doesn’t make me a bad person.
Jay
@narya:
That tough, but it’s a temp solution until the colon heals. Had to take a course on sex and colostomy bags, just in case.
T went through menopause during Covid, no estrogen therapy, no sex, so no big deal. I don’t love her for the sex, even though we used to be wild.
Pennsylvanian
@TBone: I’ve been here for all of the things, I just don’t chip in with comments very often. Or, haven’t much in the past. I’m passing through outrage fatigue and not sure what is next. I don’t have a place to put my anger right now, so I’m going to have a think on it. I am always grateful for the BJ forum.
Thanks to all and for the shoutout, TBone!
Wallflowers, it can happen! Step up if you have something to say. That’s my thanks and my lousy pep talk. Take care.
Jay
@hitchhiker:
Sadly, the asteroid has been down graded.
narya
@Jay: I am NOT having that conversation with my brother. (Grin emoji) The doc was being very conservative I think, but I’m still looking at these results as positive.
Jay
@narya:
Good call. It’s not nice. There isn’t even a PornHub category.
TBone
@Pennsylvanian: you are intriguing! Anger and outrage can be channeled in productive ways. I should know, I’m formerly a longterm DelCo native heathen.
Kelly
@narya: My good news. Mrs. Kelly has a suspicious lump her mammogram found a week ago. Our local hospital recently upgraded their mammogram machine which now outputs a computer reading of the scan a few hours after the appointment. Waited an anxious week for the follow up with a doc. He did another mammogram, ultrasound and enough poking and squeezing to leave her rather tender. It’s a benign cyst, no worries.
Jay
@Kelly: Yay
Ohio Mom
@Kelly: I wish I remembered the specific percentage — most breast lumps are benign. Knowing that doesn’t make the days between the bad mammogram and ultimate diagnosis any easier though. It’s still beyond frightening. Big sigh of relief.
Darkrose
@trollhattan: WTF is it about Sacramento? On one hand it’s great for me having so many places to charge. OTOH, it’s Tesla’s everywhere. I try to be charitable, but when I see a new Tesla, I always think, “You knew he was an asshole.”
I’m just happy VW’s paying for scamming CA by putting up non-Tesla charging stations.
ArchTeryx
@Jay: Tried it, without the training. The results were… well let’s just say Not Good. Thank heavens my fiancee is such a sweetheart and understanding of my disabilities.
Sister Golden Bear
My anti-Elon bumper sticker yesterday (yes I own a Tesla 3): “Bought it before we knew he was a fascist weirdo.” Got my first compliment about it this morning.
ArchTeryx
@Sister Golden Bear: A lot of people are in that boat. Melon Husk may yet live to regret throwing away his entire customer base in exchange for a bunch of cultists that want giant pickup trucks, not glued together DeLoreans.
Kristine
@narya:
That’s when my first one is supposed to show up too. 🤞🤞
(yea for the good news about your brother)
smike
@narya: @Kristine:
Yay! for both of you. Hope it holds up (for me and thee).
ETD: Ditto on your brother.
ColoradoGuy
That surely must be the daily dose of ketamine that is slowly degrading Melon Husk’s brain. To throw away the entire worldwide customer base of Tesla just so he can publicly jack off in front of his newfound X-buddies.
Surely he must know his “wealth” is based on wildly inflated Tesla stock prices … which he has now irreparably destroyed. The Tesla customers will never come back, unless the company is sold off to … who? The Chinese? Toyota? General Motors? I can’t think of any other buyers … the Saudis have no interest in the car industry, and Tatra of India seems like a stretch.
That leaves SpaceX as the only profitable company in his portfolio. The AI sector is collapsing, so no growth potential there. Maybe he thinks he can monetize DOGE by holding up the US Government to ransom (as in ransomware).
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Thanks to Elmo aka Hugo Drax Junior*, my better half is now wondering if she’s part of the 50% of SSA that’s about to be tossed out into the streets.
*Maybe not personally, but the slash-and-burn, move-fast-break-things tactics feel like they’re right out of his playbook. And he basically bought his way into the White House, so yeah, I’m blaming him, along with every elected and appointed Republican.
And yeah, we’ve seen this before, in places like Germany in the 30s and Greece in the late 60s. They didn’t last very long in historical terms, but that’d be cold comfort at best to the people hurt and killed along the way.
JaySinWA
Measles have arrived again here in Washington
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/king-county-confirms-measles-case-public-warned-of-possible-exposure/
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/02/27/infant-in-king-county-identified-as-first-washington-measles-case-of-the-year/
cain
@jonas:
They are fucked. Elon has the ear of all TBD Republican pols. He is going to fuck them.
I a.m sure he has not forgotten what these dealerships have done to him.
But the true delight is that these dealerships have a cozy relationship with their Republican politicians that Musk is going to fuck over.
JaySinWA
Meanwhile, RFK Jr seems to have cancelled flu season. We’re going to have to mask up.
sab
We had decided o be a one car family. Tried it last year. Cost me thousands in contractor work. Husband had ghs plans. I had mine.
We had been planning to give my Honda fit to my s/epdaughter. She wants to trademir it in. I love that car. It feels like dumping your eldsrly cat
sab
@sab: One car family as a bad choice. Few savings on insurance cost thousands of work I couldnt get to because of family car choices.
My stepdaughter wants to trade my beloved Honda FIT in for a new car.
She has a history of making bad choices. This will be another. I think I will give her the cash and save my car.
Phylllis
@sab: I just paid off my fit 10 days ago. The plan was to trade for an HRV mostly due to these old bones needing a vehicle I can more easily get into/out of. That is on hold for now due to the world. I’m not sad about it & understand how you feel.
Citizen Alan
@ColoradoGuy: I assume his game plan is to force the US Government to buy his entire product line of Teslas and Cybertrucks at a huge markup.
Ramalama
@Jay: 406,000 miles (not kilometers) on my last Toyota Corolla. Could’ve gone longer, mechanic told me to shell out the money for new brakes, but I really needed AWD driving through the mountains (NH, VT, laurentides) for my weekly commute.
I opted for a Subaru. What a PIA car. But what a fun drive.
Next car hoping for Toyota something.
Matt McIrvin
@JaySinWA: If we can mask up. Some states already have mask bans– they may try to make it federal.
Matt McIrvin
@ColoradoGuy: Musk could lose 99.99% of his wealth and still be way richer than me, and I’m kind of rich. It’s all about the ego trip at this point, like Charles Foster Kane losing so much money on his paper that he might have to shut down in 60 years.
Booger
@narya: So now they walk with a limp?
Bill Arnold
@Matt McIrvin:
Earlier this week, Musk is said to have lost $7B on paper. That’s about 81 thousand dollars per second, over 24 hours.
Tarragon
Ooooh, tell me more about vegan cheese on pizza. I’ve been cooking backyard pizzas for a while and I’ve been trying to add a vegan option but so far I haven’t found anything that’s any good.
Kayla Rudbek
@sab: good idea to keep your Honda Fit. I am happy with mine and upset that I wound up getting a scrape on the right side door this week thanks to a crowded parking garage at work. My own fault for trying to fit in the space between a wall with signs on the right and a pickup truck on the left. Mr. Rudbek reassured me that it was all right because the Fit is 14 years old, so he was less upset than I was.
Kayla Rudbek
@Tarragon:
@Jay:
Daiya cheese melts well and has the most calcium content. Miyoko’s and Violife taste better than Daiya (a bit more bite/umami) but don’t add calcium (although they do add vitamin B12 which most vegans tend to run low on). I would probably do a mix of Daiya and Violife/Miyoko’s if I wanted to optimize taste, calcium, and melting ability. I think that there’s other vegan cheese brands out there, but those are the big three that should be available at a large grocery store.