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Tesla Fight in Jersey Gets Anthony Weiner Comment

Despite his misfortune of being a fellow named “Weiner” who got caught up in a scandal of his own making for sending pics of his Johnson to someone, the former U.S. Representative from New...
Tesla Fight in Jersey Gets Anthony Weiner Comment
Written by Mike Tuttle
  • Despite his misfortune of being a fellow named “Weiner” who got caught up in a scandal of his own making for sending pics of his Johnson to someone, the former U.S. Representative from New York is still amazingly relevant.

    Anthony Weiner isn’t going away. His latest public move was to write an op-ed piece for Business Insider that came as a shock to many. Weiner, a well-known Democrat who championed the notion of the public option during the early days of the Obamacare fight, actually came out in defense of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s recent decision regarding Tesla Motors.

    Christie had come under fire by some for denying Tesla the right to sell their vehicles in New Jersey through a direct sales process, rather than the more traditional car dealership model that has been in place for as long as anyone ca remember.

    Tesla stores are not like typical car dealerships. These stores are typically in malls. You can see a car, learn about the engineering process, and schedule a test drive. But you can not buy the car there. A Tesla purchase is made online, straight from the company.

    Car dealerships don’t like this sales model. And when Chris Christie struck it down in New Jersey, he removed a piece of what many see as healthy competition with the good ol’ boys car selling club.

    But Weiner made several salient points that have made some sit up and take notice.

    “Why would you want to have laws that require a car be purchased through a local dealer? Perhaps to protect a purchaser’s rights to easily enforce the warranty. To ensure the state’s ability to enforce the reams of unique state legal requirements that govern automobile sales, service and even disposal maybe. Or, it might just be a run-of-the-mill instinct for local rather than federal regulations to govern what, for many Americans, is the biggest purchase of their lives. You may not agree with these conclusions, but these are longstanding laws and there was a robust back-and-forth about them well before Tesla drove onto the scene.”

    Governor Christie, meanwhile, says that the ban on Tesla’s sales in New Jersey is because the New Jersey legislature – specifically the Motor Vehicle Commission – has set the rules for how cars can be sold in New Jersey.

    Image via Tesla Motors

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