This week at Bidenomics: Musk’s loss and Bezos

Finally, Elon Musk got out politically. He used to vote for Democrats, but From now on only Republicans can vote.

Tesla CEO and President Biden should be natural allies. Biden has an ambitious green energy agenda, including electrification of cars. Musk leads the world’s leading electric vehicle company. They row in the same direction and should be in the same boat.

Instead, they spray each other like 12-year-olds. Biden annoyed Musk by highlighting competitors like General Motors and Ford for their work on electric cars, even though both are miles behind Tesla. Biden plays Michigan automakers because they are union stores. Tesla is not. Biden sees labor unions as a key constituency, and Tesla’s distraction is self-evident to them.

Musk takes it personally. In January, Musk described Biden on Twitter as “wet sock doll. ” at May 16 podcast“It’s hard to know what Biden is doing,” Musk said, “to be perfectly honest. This administration, they don’t seem to have accomplished much.”

Biden himself did not respond to Musk, but a White House spokesperson called Musk an “anti-worker billionaire,” referring to the massive infrastructure bill Biden signed last November, which included several billion dollars for electric vehicle charging networks.

This ridiculous row remains a missed opportunity for Biden, who wants hundreds of billions of dollars in additional spending on green energy. It was in “building back better” legislation that failed last year and doesn’t look like it will come back. An alliance with Musk would not automatically improve prospects for this proposal, and Musk criticized some of the proposed subsidies that would benefit other companies more than Tesla. But Biden and Musk still share a common cause, and Biden could gain more from allying with Musk than by angering him. Musk is an entrepreneur and countercultural champion with 94 million followers on Twitter. Why doesn’t Biden invite him to the White House to chat about their common goals?

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US President Joe Biden poses after driving a Hummer EV during a tour of General Motors’ electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, US, November 17, 2021. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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Indeed, why not invite Jeff Bezos and bury the hatchet with two anti-labor billionaires simultaneously? This may settle another dispute. Amazon chief picked a fight with Biden after May 13 Tweet Biden posted, saying the way to bring down inflation is to raise corporate taxes. This dressed-up statement will now be forgotten, except that Bezos weighed it in, calling it a “misinformationThen he blamed the high rate of inflation Democratic spending plans.

This gave White House press departments something controversial to discuss with the new White House press secretary, Karen-Jean-Pierre, other than the boring war in Ukraine and the stock market that can’t be seen here. Jean Pierre Male everyone That Bezos is “one of the richest individuals on earth” and said he “opposes the economic agenda of the middle class”, etc. etc.

Economists have studied whether Bezos is right. Answer: few. But there are much more reasons for inflation than government spending. CNN rightly described mass dust.Dumbest fight ever. “

Unlike President Trump before him, Biden rarely gets into personal fights with his critics. His aides are responding on his behalf, but the sweet Biden is a soothing presence on Twitter, and he doesn’t turn into a truly passive attitude unless asked. Trump, of course, came out swaying at the slightest offense, and Wyden, with some justification, clearly considers himself a pacifier and anti-Trump of an angry nation.

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Why doesn’t Biden, a diplomat, communicate with Bezos and Musk? How about an olive branch? After all, Biden is supposed to be friends with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is an outspoken opponent of Biden’s presidential agenda and works every day to stop it. In terms of the agenda, Biden has more in common with Musk and Bezos than with McConnell.

As the person who built Amazon, Bezos is a logistics and supply chain genius who can advise Biden on efforts to fix the sloppy distribution systems that contribute to inflation. Musk has important knowledge of the rare elements required to produce EV batteries, and it is one of the supply issues that must be resolved to produce EVs on a large scale. Pick their minds and show a little respect. Acknowledge the things you don’t agree with — taxes, unions, whatever — and then indicate areas of agreement.

Of course, both Bezos and Musk are loser billionaires, so the liberal Democrats’ enemies Biden has spent his presidency trying to placate. Biden ran as a centrist and capitalist, but his administration is now sending the message that wealth is inherently bad. Bernie Sanders and the AOC were howling if Biden indulged Musk or Bezos, so the cold shoulder will likely get even colder. Who needs their votes anyway?

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including “Rebounders: How winners pivot from setback to success.Follow him on Twitter: @Regignyuan.

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