Bode Lang – Conservatives have enjoyed Elon Musk’s behavior in recent weeks, blasting Elizabeth Warren, opposing lockdowns, and insulting CNN, but the giddiness spewing from conservatives about Musk is foolish.
To those embracing Elon Musk’s political conversion, remember that Musk has been one of the most prominent advocates of the continuous scam known as climate change. Like Bill Gates and Al Gore, Musk is an extremely wealthy man who fattens his own pockets through propagating climate change. And like those other rich guys, Musk doesn’t refrain from using private jets to fly around the world to save it.
In 2018, Elon Musk reportedly donated $6 Million to the Sierra Club while writing, “Thank you for fighting climate change. This affects every living creature on earth.” Once merely an environmental advocacy group, the Sierra Club has since evolved to promote other left-wing issues from pushing for mass immigration and abortion.
Musk also has no reservations about whispering sweet-nothings to communists by praising China as “more responsible” than the U.S. and said that Chinese government officials could “possibly” be “more responsible” for their citizen’s happiness than America is.
In May, Musk tweeted a call for a Carbon Tax and spoke with the Biden administration about implementing it. Musk demanding the government to take money from taxpayers should come as no surprise because Musk’s companies received at least $4.9 billion in government subsidies – as of 2015! Therein lies perhaps Musk’s most incredible skill: enriching himself with the government’s help.
While government subsidies are not exclusive to one industry, what sets Elon Musk apart is not only his ability to exploit taxpayers but to use government guns to extort his competitors through “regulatory credits.” The state and federal governments give regulatory credits for contributing zero pollution to the environment.
In the name of fighting climate change, Musk successfully got the state of California and nine other states to set emission standards that only Tesla could meet. Suppose other automakers cannot produce zero-emissions vehicles. In that case, they will either pay hefty fines, have their business licenses revoked, or buy imaginary credits from automakers who do produce zero emissions, like Tesla.
It’s important to understand these credits are not real – they are a made-up tax imposed by the government on automakers to reinforce the leftist religion of environmentalism. These credits are free cash with a 100% margin and no overhead. Musk essentially colluded with the government to extort other automakers and pay him off under the guise of fighting climate change. And the returns are enormous.
In 2020, Tesla reported a regulatory credit revenue of $1.58 billion. Tesla’s regulatory credits revenue project to be $2.2 billion in 2021, $3.1 billion in 2022, and $4.34 billion in 2023. By 2024, the government will have successfully extorted over $13 billion from automakers like Ford and GMC to fund Tesla. Without the help of this government-sponsored extortion, fiscal 2Q 2021 would have been the first quarter Tesla would have ever turned a profit.
But Tesla isn’t the only Musk business that leverages the government to do his bidding. SolarCity received a $750 million investment from New York State for its plans to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo, just a tiny part of the $2.5 billion in government subsidies Uncle Sam has given SolarCity. Despite all the free cash, Tesla purchased SolarCity for $2.6 billion in Tesla stock because SolarCity
“has floundered despite significant taxpayer support through a bevy of state and federal tax credits and subsidies. Nevertheless, the solar energy company’s stock has been in long-term decline as the company struggles to develop a profitable market not reliant on generous helpings of taxpayer support.”
Another Musk business, SpaceX, has received $5.5 billion in government contracts from NASA and the Air Force. Of course, NASA and the Air Force get their funding from American taxpayers, which flows into Musk’s pocket. A California hedge fund manager told the LA Times: “Government support is a theme of all three of these companies, and without it, none of them would be around.”
Another Musk business venture, the Boring Company, constructs underground tunnels as a means of public transportation. Yes, we already have Subway systems, but Musk promises these are faster and only cost $10 million per mile to dig – paid for by taxpayers. The good news for Musk is that he hedged his bets through The Boring Company, so if electric cars flop, then he can still own the mass transit market.
The common thread running through Musk’s business ventures is that the government is always his biggest client, and he knows how to sell them. Being the cunning salesman that he is, when Musk needs cash, he opens new locations or moves the business – receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds to do so. When his businesses flounder, he shifts the conversation to one of his other ventures. To his credit, Musk might be the greatest salesman of a generation. How else can someone fund an empire through government coercion and taxpayer money while retaining universal respect and adoration?
Elon Musk is a climate change radical who partners with the government at every turn to enrich himself. Conservatives like Texas governor Greg Abbot shouldn’t celebrate the arrival of Tesla and Musk to Texas because he will be coming for the pocketbooks of Texans in no time.
My suggestion is to refrain from gushing over Musk’s recent political conversion. Musk is opportunist, and opportunism is a hallmark of the left. He seized the opportunity to make a fortune off climate change, and he’s successfully done that. When the COVID insanity ends, climate change is on deck as the weapon of choice that the government will leverage to hijack your freedom. When that happens, Elon Musk will not be on your side.
It is more likely that Musk’s political shift stems from his recognition that a red wave is coming, and the devious salesman inside him is searching for more fertile ground to exploit after exhausting the resources of Democrats. Every con artist needs new investors to keep the scheme going.
Conservatives beware.
SF Source American Thinker Dec 2021