Jersey Shore Drama: Chris Christie Aides Caught Up In Traffic Jam Scandal

[RKenshin]

This argument seems silly.

Even if you try to say that 'elected officials should at least pay for it in corruption-related charges/investigations'... What major elected officials haven't been accused of corruption in some way, at one point or another? Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan, etc, all had various potential corruption charges/investigations during their presidencies; and that's without looking into their Congressional/other public careers.

As much as people may like to think of most higher public officials as moneybag-millionaires, not all of them are, and essentially requiring that they're able to put up the cash to defend themselves in whatever inevitable charges come their way (whether within reason or not), only further contributes to the problem of having to be rich to win and hold a public office.

If you're found guilty, that's another case all together; of course the state should be able to (and maybe even be expected to) seek reimbursement, in most cases.

[archibaldcrane]

Christie is doubling-down on being wrong about transportation, just got the NJ motor vehicle commission to rule that cars cannot be sold directly by the manufacturer in the state, banning future Tesla sales. (Teslas are ordered online and delivered straight from the factory, there are no dealerships)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101481668

[Day]

I dont understand this bullshit, they did that in NC too right? Makes no fucking sense... at all. Someone tell me how it makes sense to prevent sales direct from manufacturer? Shit should be illegal as fuck. GOD DAMNED LARGE GUMMINT

[Jaybar]

Does the State not receive any tax income from sales outside their borders? Probably pushing for dealerships to build up in the state and then collect.

[Esvedium]

Something something free market... Oh wait... That only applies when we want it to, right?

[Pirian]

I dont understand this bullshit, they did that in NC too right? Makes no fucking sense... at all. Someone tell me how it makes sense to prevent sales direct from manufacturer? Shit should be illegal as fuck. GOD DAMNED LARGE GUMMINT

I thought that tesla won in NC, did they not? I've actually seen a few around

[archibaldcrane]

Tesla won in NC. And for those looking to make sense of this, auto dealers donate hundreds of thousands each year to state politicians.

Any other questions?

[archibaldcrane]

Does the State not receive any tax income from sales outside their borders? Probably pushing for dealerships to build up in the state and then collect.

You pay sales tax on a new car when you register it in the state. So yeah, no sales tax revenue from Tesla sales starting April 1st.

Tesla is supply constrained, so this doesn't exactly hurt them yet, they still can't make cars fast enough to keep up with demand, but it's pretty fucking ridiculous to see lawmakers so clearly bought and paid for on both sides of the aisle.

[Day]

word i knew a similar thing was being proposed but never followed up on results

[archibaldcrane]

Basically they'll just do what they do for Arizona residents who want a Tesla - register it in CA before delivery, then deliver the "used" vehicle to Arizona and re-register it.

Yes it is incredibly stupid.

[Meresgi]

Tesla won in NC. And for those looking to make sense of this, auto dealers donate hundreds of thousands each year to state politicians.

Any other questions?

http://replygif.net/i/101.gif


Seriously, money in politics....never gunna change...fucking stupid as shit.

[Melena]

I was reading this on CNN. The justification is that a manufacturer can't handle recalls without a dealership to service the car.

[Salodin]

I mean, isn't that the manufacturer's problem to deal with? You'd think if that were to happen then they'd just contract the work out to licensed repair workers.

[Cantih]

That's essentially what the local dealers are, the focus points.
Think on those Toyota recalls, it was millions of vehicles.
Think about the nitty gritty logistics of it for a moment.

[archibaldcrane]

It's stupid, because you don't need a dealership to have a service or repair shop (of which Tesla has dozens) - and this isn't about "are there dealerships" - it's about "are they independent of the manufacturer". Manufacterer-owned dealerships are not allowed in these states either.

If anyone is curious about the ridiculous hoops Tesla has to jump through to sell in Texas, check this out.

http://www.teslamotors.com/advocacy_texas

[Callisto]

A good listen if anyone is curious about the various government protections for dealerships/reasons for those protections existing: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/...ar-is-so-awful

[Mazmaz]

Was the 9/11 thing posted?

[hey]

A good listen if anyone is curious about the various government protections for dealerships/reasons for those protections existing: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/...ar-is-so-awful

text version please

[Priran]

the way it was put on the NPR show I listened to is that in cases where a manufacturer sells products directly to the consumer, they have a fairly weak interest in good customer service because your option is to either deal with it or not buy another one of their products (example given: the 1,001 reasons Apple will refuse to replace your iPhone) whereas for a franchised dealership, they want to keep you as a customer at their specific dealership, and so will argue with the manufacturer with more leverage than an individual consumer would have.

counterpoint being that Teslas have about 15,000 fewer moving parts than other cars and Tesla's customer service is excellent anyway


as for why this has anything to do with Christie, Tesla claims Christie promised to handle the problem (which he could've, since his cronies are a majority on the MVC board)