Christie’s Opposition to Tesla Spurs Cries of Hypocrisy When Philip Blackwood of Lincroft, New Jersey, bought his Tesla Model S electric sedan from Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) about a year ago, a big selling point was how he did it: online and direct from the California company. No worrying about whether the buyer before him got a better deal. No salesman to make mysterious trips to a back office to “see what my boss can do.” All that may come to an end after a panel of Governor Chris Christie’s cabinet members and appointees voted March 11 to block Tesla from direct sales. While auto dealers said the move would protect consumers, Blackwood said it looked to him like the dealers’ business interests were being protected. “This was some sort of back-room politics,” said Blackwood, 60, an enterprise architect for AT&T Inc. Christie, a 51-year-old Republican who may seek the presidency in 2016, came to office four years ago promising to revive the private sector and rein in benefits for public workers. His approval ratings have plunged on accusations he punished mayors who didn’t support his re-election by withholding aid for hurricane recovery and that aides caused huge traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge for the same [...] newsintx/christies-opposition-to-tesla-spurs-cries-of-hypocrisy/
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 02:40:19 +0000