"Trouble in Missouri"

[Liz G]

McDermott was one of those I emailed last night. Glad to see they included the "follow-the-money" angle.

Thanks as well.

 

[efusco]

Just FYI, I've been using the hash tag #missouritesla on my posts (at least on twitter). Others might want to follow suit to build the trend.

 

[bluefuego]

Just FYI, I've been using the hash tag #missouritesla on my posts (at least on twitter). Others might want to follow suit to build the trend.

I have been using #SaveMoTeslas when retweeting all news articles I come across as well as on FB. I will add #missouritesla as well.

 

[Liz G]

Looking at all the articles out there now, I'm wondering if they really thought that they could sneak this through.

Hopefully, we can get this voted down by the MO House and it will just turn out to be more free publicity for Tesla.

 

[evme]

It seems that Glen Kolkmeyer has cleaned up his facebook page of Tesla comments.


https://www.facebook.com/RepresentativeGlenKolkmeyer

 

[dsm363]

Yeah. Thought about posting but it would be deleted right away I'm sure. None of the posts were inappropriate but it's his FB page I guess.

 

[bluefuego]

Yeah. Thought about posting but it would be deleted right away I'm sure. None of the posts were inappropriate but it's his FB page I guess.

ARRRRGHGHGHGHG!!!!!! Thanks for that heads up - I just reposted on his FB.

 

[AlMc]

ARRRRGHGHGHGHG!!!!!! Thanks for that heads up - I just reposted on his FB.

Just posted to his facebook page. Surely will get deleted.

 

[GSP]

I just Kolkmeyer an email urging him to stop the ban. Hopefully if he gets enough if these he will have second thoughts.

His email address took a while to find. Here it is:

[email protected]

GSP

 

[MrPinrel]

I am technically a Kansas resident but I went ahead and contacted two major TV stations in the KC area to see if they have an interest in running the story. Let me know what time the get together in Jeff City is in case I can make it!

 

[brianman]

Looking at all the articles out there now, I'm wondering if they really thought that they could sneak this through.

Really? Aren't the majority of the "interesting" laws and regulations "snuck" through? Almost nothing gets the proper light of day in the political and legal realms. Perhaps I'm just jaded.

 

[Canuck]

Really? Aren't the majority of the "interesting" laws and regulations "snuck" through? Almost nothing gets the proper light of day in the political and legal realms. Perhaps I'm just jaded.

You're not jaded. You're realistic. That's exactly what happens.

Tesla knows it too, which is why they said:

"This debate should be held in the full light of day with all sides being given an opportunity to make their case. Instead, the dealers are again trying to ram through a provision under the cover of darkness and without public debate. The people of Missouri deserve better from their elected officials."

A good example of something not seeing the "full light of day" is a tiny provision in the Modernization Act of 1999 – also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which has permitted commercial banks to delve into any activity that is "complementary to a financial activity and does not pose a substantial risk to the safety or soundness of depository institutions or the financial system generally." Most lawmakers who voted for this bill had no idea this provision was even in there, and many have said they would never have voted for it, if they knew about it. Now, it's too late to turn back the clock and it reeking havoc on the world's economy:

The Vampire Squid Strikes Again: The Mega Banks' Most Devious Scam Yet | Politics News | Rolling Stone


Luckily, Tesla is shining the light before it gets passed in Missouri. Hopefully, it will prevent it from being passed. But as Brianman says, this is par for the course in today's politics. Sad really.

 

[efusco]

Updated News-Leader article. Some interesting quotes from the author of the substitution:
Complaints flare at bill that would affect Tesla sales

"Bill sponsor Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer, R-Odessa, spoke with the News-Leader, explaining some of his rationale for the new provisions.

"You can't have two sets of rules for the same type of business or industry," Kolkmeyer said.

The lawmaker said everyone in the same business — selling cars — needs to play by the same rules. He noted those rules have existed a long time.

"Our forefathers decided any car sold in the state of Missouri would be sold through a dealer," Kolkmeyer said. "This new company is skating around these rules.""

 

[ggies07]

Updated News-Leader article. Some interesting quotes from the author of the substitution:
Complaints flare at bill that would affect Tesla sales

forefathers!?! hahaha. I didn't know they had cars back then.....They must have been hiding them, those tricky bastards.

 

[dsm363]

Updated News-Leader article. Some interesting quotes from the author of the substitution:
Complaints flare at bill that would affect Tesla sales

Great job and a good article too.

 

[evme]

Updated News-Leader article. Some interesting quotes from the author of the substitution:
Complaints flare at bill that would affect Tesla sales

That part was always there from the beginning. Hence why I said we got confirmation Glen Kolkmeyer is in on it too up top.



My favorite part was these two:

Contrary to Wasson's statement, Mollenkamp in the letter did not express any concern with the current law nor ask lawmakers to change it. Nor are foreign manufacturers mentioned. In addition, the sole focus of Kehoe's letter is Tesla, a U.S. business. No references are made to foreign manufacturers in that letter either....Kehoe told the News-Leader the department did later work with lawmakers on changing the law.

That entire statement by Kehoe goes against the point of the negative clause of the constitution. It also shows they were targeting Tesla even though they claimed they were not.

But my favorite one is this:

"Our question as dealers and people I know in the business: how in the world when we've worked so hard to get franchise legislation, how in the world could that be possible?" Kehoe said.

Kehoe dismissed concerns that his past as an auto dealer presented a conflict of interest. He said the founding fathers wanted lawmakers to be "citizen-legislators."

I just have no words to describe how hilarious this statement is.

Though I have to give credit to News-Leader, that is more than most publications end up going into detail on.

 

[AlMc]

Updated News-Leader article. Some interesting quotes from the author of the substitution:
Complaints flare at bill that would affect Tesla sales

Nicely done. I suggest that everyone add to the 'comment' section of the article.

 

[evme]

Nicely done. I suggest that everyone add to the 'comment' section of the article.

Yes, and also send this article to other publications!

 

[FlasherZ]

Kolkmeyer's page went private - they removed the ability to comment and removed the ability to post to his page... There were great reasoned comments there, links to the FTC paper, etc. Looks like he's feeling the wrath, but responding like a stereotypical politician -- catering to the hand that feeds him but ignoring 90% of the voters that put him in office.

- - - Updated - - -

Looks like the political pressure is heating up - the Post-Dispatch (St. Louis paper) pulled its article, presumably it has something to do with the dealership ads that litter its front pages.

 

[evme]

Kolkmeyer's page went private - they removed the ability to comment and removed the ability to post to his page... There were great reasoned comments there, links to the FTC paper, etc. Looks like he's feeling the wrath, but responding like a stereotypical politician -- catering to the hand that feeds him but ignoring 90% of the voters that put him in office.

- - - Updated - - -

Looks like the political pressure is heating up - the Post-Dispatch (St. Louis paper) pulled its article, presumably it has something to do with the dealership ads that litter its front pages.

hmm...can we get a statement from the Post-Dispatch why they took it down? Peessure should exist from our side as well.

A paper taking down articles because it conflicts with their sponsors does not bode well for the credibility of a newspaper



Edit:

Evan, I see you got some TV time on the issue:

Bill May Soon Ban Tesla's Direct Car Sales Model in Missouri - OzarksFirst.com