US President Biden’s $2 trillion Build Back Better plan includes subsidies for electric cars. Surprisingly, Tesla boss Elon Musk — the man who has benefited from billions in government subsidies over the years — is strongly against it. He says he is concerned about the US government’s budget deficit. But probably Musk is just angry that Tesla can’t take advantage of the new subsidies.
Elon Musk is an incredible jerk, we wrote a few weeks ago. Why? Because the man is behaving quite hypocritically. As the richest man in the world, he doesn’t like the fact that he has to pay taxes. While over the years he has benefited from billions in taxpayer money, including in the form of subsidies for electric cars.
Build Back Better plan with subsidy for electric cars
That’s why it’s surprising that Musk is so against President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. The plan is worth $2 trillion and Democrats want to tackle the climate crisis. Money will be made available for installing 500,000 charging stations, electrifying the government vehicle fleet and subsidizing electric cars.
Tesla boss Elon Musk would scrap the new legislation
Musk doesn’t like it at all. He told the Wall Street Journal he would scrap the legislation if he was in power. He cited concerns about the US budget deficit as the reason. Nonsense, we say. If Musk is really that concerned about that, then he should just pay decent taxes. And he’d rather not.
Only subsidy for cars from a factory with a union
Moreover, the real reason for Musk’s anger is probably in a completely different area. The Build Back Better plan states that Americans can receive up to $12,500 in subsidies if they buy an electric car. But that only applies to cars made in a factory with a union. And Tesla has been doing everything possible for years to ensure that its employees do not form a union.
Musk is annoyed that Teslas are not eligible
Teslas are therefore not eligible for the new subsidies (and neither are BMWs, Toyotas and Volkswagens). And that stings Musk. “Elon Musk is annoyed that Tesla isn’t getting as many electric subsidies as Ford and General Motors (which do allow unions),” a CNN analyst tweeted. “So he is now whining that nobody should get subsidies. That’s what this is about. That’s all.”