And yet I always hear Republicans saying how they are the party of small government and free enterprise.
From the state that brought you the nations first ban on climate science comes another legislative gem: a bill that would prohibit automakers from selling their cars in the state.
The proposal, which the Raleigh News & Observer reports was unanimously approved by the states Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday, would apply to all car manufacturers, but the intended target is clear. Its aimed at Tesla, the only U.S. automaker whose business model relies on selling cars directly to consumers, rather than through a network of third-party dealerships.
The bill is being pushed by the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group representing the states franchised dealerships. Its sponsor is state Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Republican from Henderson, who has said the goal is to prevent unfair competition between manufacturers and dealers. What makes it unfair competition as opposed to plain-old competitionsomething Republicans are typically inclined to favoris not entirely clear. After all, North Carolina doesnt seem to have a problem with Apple selling its computers online or via its own Apple Stores.
North Carolina Tesla ban? Bill would prevent "unfair competition" with car dealerships.
... Only when it benefits them.
You can thank conservative run dealers unions for that. They want to force the middleman into the equation and make it required by law to do so. They want a piece of that pie, or $$$ in their pocket too.
Did you know that vehicles could be $2,000-$4,000+ less if we didn't have to deal with dealer bullshit?
So it only adds 5% to the price of the car, much less than I pay in sales tax for a car.