Below is my column in The Hill on my call for a bill that would bar federal funding of any program and grant to censor, blacklist, or target individuals or sites based on their content. It is time to get the U.S. government out of the censorship business. The column discusses the proposal in my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” to block any further funding for the current system of corporate, academic, and government programs targeting opposing or dissenting views.
Here is the column:
It is time to get the United States out of the censorship business for good.
In the last three years, the House of Representatives has disclosed a massive censorship system run in part with federal funding and with coordination with federal officials. A federal court described this system as truly “Orwellian.”
The Biden Administration has made speech regulation a priority in targeting disinformation, misinformation or malinformation. President Joe Biden even said that companies refusing to censor citizens were “killing people.”
His administration has now created an anti-free speech record that is only rivaled by the Adams Administration, which used the Alien and Sedition Acts to arrest political opponents.
Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is an example of how speech controls and censorship have become mainstream. Her agency was created to work on our critical infrastructure, but Easterly declared that the mandate would now include policing “our cognitive infrastructure.” That includes combating “malinformation,” or information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”
I have testified for years about the censorship system. For much of that time, Democrats insisted that there was no proof of any coordination or funding from the government. Such evidence did indeed exist, but Democrats worked to block any investigation to confirm what we already knew about government officials targeting individuals and groups for throttling, bans, and blacklisting.
Then Elon Musk bought Twitter. The release of the Twitter Files destroyed any plausible deniability of the government’s role in this censorship system. Various agencies had employees working with social media companies to target those with opposing or disfavored views. At the same time, we learned of grants from the federal government supporting blacklisting and targeting operations.
That includes efforts to quietly choke off the revenue of disfavored sites by pressuring advertisers and donors.
While companies like Facebook have continued to fight to conceal their coordination with the government, the Twitter Files pulled back the curtain to expose the system. Indeed, Democrats largely abandoned their denials and turned to full-throated defenses of censorship, even calling free speech advocates “Putin-lovers” and “insurrectionist sympathizers.”
In 1800, Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the only election where free speech was a primary issue for voters. It should be again. Vice President Kamala Harris is known as a supporter for these censorship and blacklisting operations. She can now defend that record and convince Americans that they need to have less free speech.
This debate should ideally focus on one simple legislative proposal. In my new book, I suggest various measures that can regain the ground that we have lost on free speech. One such measure is a federal law that would ban any federal funding of any offices or programs (government, academic, or corporate) that rate, target, censor, throttle, or seek to take adverse action against individuals or groups based on their viewpoints in public forums or social media.
There can be easy exceptions to this ban for individuals or groups engaging in criminal conduct or unlawful foreign interference with elections. Threatening individuals or trafficking in child pornography constitute conduct, not speech. They are criminal acts under the federal code.
Nothing in this law would prevent the government from speaking in its own voice. If Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas wants to challenge claims made about him or his agency, he can do so on the agency website or make his case to the media. That is the essence of free speech. What he cannot do is create a Disinformation Governance Board to regulate the speech of citizens or groups.
In my prior testimony to Congress, I warned about the use of what I called “censorship by surrogate” through which agencies did indirectly what they are barred from doing directly under the First Amendment.
This new law will not put an end to the burgeoning anti-free speech movement. It will not end the new market for groups making millions in seeking to silence or strangle sites with opposing views. However, it will create a wall of separation of the government from censorship systems.
It would also offer a simple and clear line for the 2024 election. Candidates will have to take sides on free speech. If candidates like Harris want to continue to support the government in blacklisting or censoring citizens, they should own it. We spent years of politicians engaging in cynical denials of the government’s role in censorship. If these politicians are “all in” with censorship, then they should be honest about it and let voters make the same choice that was made in 1800.
With billions to play with and enabling allies in Congress to conceal federal operations, speech regulation is an irresistible temptation for the government. We have seen how this temptation quickly becomes an insatiable appetite for government officials seeking to silence rather than answer critics.
Let’s get our government out of the business of rating, throttling blacklisting, and censoring citizens. It is time to pass a free speech protection act.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).
This op-ed is part of The Hill’s “How to Fix America” series exploring solutions to some of the country’s most pressing problems.
Brilliant historian and thinker, David Starkey, speaks here of the importance of free speech and history and of the catastrophe now overtaking Britain, particularly under the current government. I was struck by how similar their current, awful elite rulers are to our own. Well worth watching.
https://youtu.be/HJf_hZO2NEw?si=AUr1glc5SqaK20jY
A couple of small things in passing, he noticed how the Brits were unarmed and, trivially how PM Starmer mentioned that his government would be ‘unburdened’. I wondered if Kamala got that notion from Starmer and added it to her word salads. It’s not as if her putative boss, Biden, hadn’t done the like before, stealing from Kinnock was it?
A law to get the federal government out of the business of regulating free speech is a good idea and a good start, assuming it has some teeth (accountability and consequences).
But I would like to see even more done. One big problem today is that activist groups have discovered they can threaten advertisers and effectively demonetized free speech they dislike. One obvious solution would be to separate the consumption of advertisements from the consumption of online content. Consortia of advertisers and content creators should create an open standard of credit exchange, where consumers earn credits by viewing advertisements, and then are free to spend those credits on any content they choose. Credits should also be available for purchase directly using cash, for those of us who dislike spending time viewing ads. Competition is critically important for this system to work effectively; monopolies would defeat the purpose. Advertising credits must be completely standardized across all advertiser platforms and content platforms.
“A law to get the federal government out of the business of regulating free speech is a good idea and a good start”
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”
[CAPS mine]
Sorry, if we need a law in addition to that prohibition in the founding document of this Republic, it is already a lost cause.
@ Ragnar
Yeah, that was my first thought too. Unfortunately it seems that a fair number of Obama/Biden judges have forgotten that the Constitution is law.
OT:
It is ironic that after impeaching Trump twice it was Biden that Pelosi finally managed to kick out the White House.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/biden-frustration-obama-pelosi-00173883
It’s easier to stab someone from the back than from the front.
If you want to understand where we are as a country, inform yourself and get involved:
https://republicfortheunitedstatesofamerica.org
ABOUT THE REPUBLIC
The Restored Republic interim government is the lawful mechanism for the American People to join together to occupy the vacated seats of our de jure government. The specific guidelines of the Restored Republic interim government allow for growth and education followed by a period of transition back to Constitutional Governance. This will entail reseating each de jure State utilizing the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
CURRENT STATUS OF AMERICA:
Unlawful elections were held in several States which infringe upon the rights of Citizens of other states. Irreconcilable harm has been caused to the American People by the unlawful acts of the States in question. Congress has failed to act to resolve this harm. The American People have lost confidence in the current government’s ability to govern lawfully and peacefully. It’s past time to Implement the Northwest Ordinance to RESET America.
HOW DO WE RESET AMERICA:
Our immediate goal is for a majority of states to have 30,000 people signed up to support their Restored Republic. Then lawful elections will be held to fill the vacancies left behind by the Corporation. Our goal: To rebuild our Republic in the image that our Founding Fathers first established.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Every American must comprehend that the pathway back to restoration of America is their involvement and support of their Republic interim government…
https://www.reinhabitedrepublic.com
“God’s Solution for America ~ and the Nations of the World is another unprecedented and inspiring work by David and Jean Hertler, authors of the compelling two-volume series entitled, Re-inhabited: Republic for the United States of America.
Since the American Republic was uniquely founded over two centuries ago, there has been a plan in place by a relatively small faction of nefarious reprobates that have gained control of every government on earth through its money system of bondage, secret societies, as well as bribery and murder. Their agenda has been to work covertly in destroying every government and religion while gaining domination toward their luciferian One-World Government.
The modus operandi of this luciferian brood has been to steal the birthright of the American People by slowly infiltrating, destroying from within, and hiding knowledge of our true national identity given to us by our Founding Fathers, a Biblical Christian Republic. Four generations have now passed that have not known the founding principles and insight with an accurate historical outlook on its founding and objective. Hence, the American People, especially the Church (ekklesia), do not know their National Purpose, Prophetic Destiny and duty to God and country.
Knowledge of our true history clearly depicts the patterns throughout history that are playing out before us once again. It’s like a tumbleweed through time rolling with a prophetic breeze across the continent that beckons this nation of people to stand to attention and to unite in the cause of Liberty, which is the cause of God, our duty and obligation as Americans and as Christians. The revelation knowledge brought forth in this book will bring an unmistakable call to action and fervor to reclaim our heritage and Virtue.
God’s solution for America brings forward our true history and the solution to restore our foundations. It will enable you, the reader, to comprehend the bigger picture of cause-to-effect that got America to where it is today. You will be empowered by reading this book. Empowered to do what you may ask? To have faith to take the necessary course of actions for reversing the curses placed on our nation by the nefarious luciferian reprobates exposed in this book. We must work together to restore our National Purpose and Prophetic Destiny which foreshadows the redemption of the nations of the world as they too heed and follow the Light that shines forth once again as “a city upon a hill.” This is truly a spiritual revolution!”
GET INVOLVED! SAVE AMERICA!
Jonathan: Now I have heard some bizarre claims from DJT. But the absolute topper is his claim he almost crashed in a helicopter with former SF Mayor Willlie Brown. If you believe DJT’s fantastical story this is what happened. As the helicopter was hurtling toward the ground Willlie Brown had the presence of mind to say to DJT: “Oh, by the way Donald, I dated Kamala for a while and I can tell you she is a very bad person. I only provide you with this info now in case it might prove useful to you in the future”.
Willie Brown says he was never in a helicopter with DJT: “I laughed. I just assumed that he was on a helicopter ride with somebody Black and he made a mistake and thought it was me”. Easy mistake to make, right? For DJT all Black people look the same. To be fair. DJT did take a helicopter ride with former LA city councilman Nate Holden to survey wild fire damage in California. Holden says he remembers the helicopter ride well. There was no emergency and Holden says he never told DJT bad things about Harris who he never dated and hardly knew.
Now many Republicans, including Nikki Haley and Kevin McCarthy, say DJT is facing disaster if he doesn’t change his messaging–stop making personal insults about Harris and Walz and focus on the issues. Any chance that will happen? Apparently, DJT didn’t get the memo because he is now saying this: “If Harris wins this election, you will quickly have a crash like 1929, We could end up in World War III. The suburbs will be overrun”. It’s all fear mongering.
P.S.: For the MAGA crowd on this blog I just got another reminder from the DJT campaign that they are still hawking the new T-shirt “Grazed, But not Fazed”. Get yours now so that if DJT losses again in November the T-shirt will be a collector’s item!
So we are getting your meaningless nonsense of the day.
Firs twhy are we to beleive Your claims about something Trump said – please provide an actual quote – preferable a full video in context.
You have been caught lying too many times.
The odds of Willie Brown and Trump not having been together at some time are very near zero.
If they traveled together any distance – it near certain was by Helicopter – Neither of them Travel like ordinary people if they do not have to.
Did Brown talk to Trump about Kamala ? I would be shocked if they did not.
But my guess is that what Brown is likely to have said is likely worse than the access Hollywood tape.
Brown was not only a political power in CA, but a well known playboy – much like Trump.
And at the time Kamala was his Arm Candy.
Maybe someone will remember the flight maybe there are records – though probably not.
Regardless, the story is plausible, and you have not disproved it.
Dennis – can we cut the racist garbage. Trump has had plenty of black, gay, hispanic, …. people in his life.
Trump went to Harlem (and Brooklynn) 2 months ago and there was no rioting.
Harris went to Harlem today and there was a riot. Clearly Harris is loved by minorities – they burn things for her.
Several of the Trump lawyers that you like to slander are women and minorities.
It is vile to call someone a racist just because they are a white male – and you are racist out the whazo.
Some people are criticizing Trump’s strategy – people criticised his strategy in 2016 too.
If you had asked me at anytime from the 2015 Escalator ride through election day I would have bet month that Trump would loose.
With all respect to them – Trump should not be taking political advice from Halley, Bolton, or MacCarthy.
Trump was being Hillary by nearly 8pts at this point. He was being Biden by over 8pts at this point.
Aside from the fact that Harris as a result of the coup is getting a late honeymoon and has had little vetting which has given Democrats a brief new lease on life – nothing consequential has changed. Biden is demented, Harris is crazy.
I am not sure that the claims that Harris is far to the left are true – thought at various times she has chosen to place herself there.
Mostly she is just fake. I have no problem beleiving Harris can run on whatever poll tested platoform she wants.
One of the differences between Trump and Harris (and Biden) is that Trump is authentic – he does what he says.
You can beleive him.
Few Democrats are authentic. Hillary is more authentic than Harris.
Ican only Guess at Trump’s actual strategy – but my guess is that Trump is focusing on Harris’s character between now and the end of the DNC convention. Because she hase very serious character problems – and because she is attacking Trump’s character – which is actually a mistake for her – voters already know Trump’s character. Your not going to change any votes attacking Trump.
There is nothing that Democrats or Harris can do to drive Trump down. People who are voting for Trump know who they are voting for.
Between now and november this election is about Harris. Right now – she is hiding. The only interview she has done in a month – was WAlz interviewing her – ROFL. The press is slowly getting irratated. – whether you like it or not – coronations and fluff peices do not sell.
No matter how much the MSM wants Harris – they also want jobs and ad revenue. They will get more pissed as she refuses to answer questions. As will voters. Absolutely there are alot of voters like you who do not care if Harris plans to get us into a nuclear war – you would still vote for anyone but Trump. But there are not even close to enough to win the election.
The polling still has Trump wining the EC.
The rioting in Harlem should scare the crap out of you – Democrats need a coronation in Chicago. They MUST NOT HAVE RIOTS.
I hjave no doubt that democrats will do everything possible to avoid riots – picking Walz was because Shapiro who was a much better choice would have resulted in riots and open displays of anti-semitism from the left.
But increasingly it looks like Democrats will have their hands full in Chicago.
Right now Rassmussen has Trump up by 4, Fox has him up by 1, and CNBC has him up by 2.
Only Rassmussen is polling Likely voters – Normally the polls change to likely voters in August. But all the polls that have Harris winning are registered voter polls.
Regardless, Harris is going to have to put forward positions on various policies.
She has done little of that and what she has, has been duds.
Proposing price controls is absolutely absurd -0 not only don”t they work – anywhere ever, but we all KNOW that GOVERNMENT caused inflation – not grocers.
Further Harris threatening to go after Grocers is stupid in so many ways – most people do NOT view their grocery store as some evil capitalists thugs.
Further announcing you are going after business is a great way to get the democratic business donors to dry up.
The other policy position she has taken is plagerizing Trump’s “no tax on Tips” – and she is getting backlash because SHE cast the deciding vote to sic the IRS on tip workers.
But it does not matter what Harris’s policies are – which is why she is trying NOT to announce them.
No matter what they are she either loses independents of those on the left.
If she veers to the center – the left may not vote. AND she will get lambasted as inauthentic and a flip flopper.
If she goes left – voters in the center will drop he.
My guess is Trump is attacking her character to Setup the LATER attacks on policy.
” DJT didn’t get the memo because he is now saying this: “If Harris wins this election, you will quickly have a crash like 1929, We could end up in World War III. The suburbs will be overrun”. ”
I know critical thinking is hard for you – but that is a POLICY attack not a personal attack. The 1929 crash was caused by Bad policies of the NY Fed. Though that crash would not have caused a recession but for the bad policies of First the Hoover and later Roosevelt administration.
PS the Tshirt will be a collectors item no matter what.
Kamalas’ latest rant is about price gouging. Walmart has lower prices than Walgreens. For convenience purposes I do shop at Walgreens sometimes if I’m there for another purpose. Kamala is simply saying that she will send the price police to a Walmart near you to lower the prices. Of course what must logically follow would be the shutting down of Walgreens because its prices are too high. California has the highest prices on Gasoline in the nation. Is she going to go after California because the price on Gasoline is too high? The price on oil is set by world demand. Will Kamala tell Saudi Arabia what it can sell its oil for? This is a promise that she knows that she can’t fulfill but she has to throw the red meat to her Socialist constituency. First she blames inflation on Trump and then she says things cost more because of price gouging. Of course it has nothing to do with the policies of the Biden Administration. Considering these matters do you think that she would hesitate for a minute to shut you up once given the power to do so? She is convinced that your just stupid enough to go along. Is she correct in her assumption.
Companies have been reporting record profits. Instead of lowering prices they chose to buy back shares to increase shareholder returns. Inflation had nothing to do with prices staying high. Inflation is at 2.9%.
Companies are keeping prices as high as they can get away with. It’s not giving consumers any relief and keeping them feeling like the economy is not improving. It’s basic greed.
Trump tries to blame Biden and Harris for inflation, but economists say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine and recovery from COVID are mostly to blame.
“inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomena” – Milton Freidman.
No the Russian invasion did not cause inflation – nor did the recovery from covid.
If Money supply is fixed relative to production there will be ZERO inflation.
Increases of prices for oil or food MUST result in decreases in prices elsewhere – because there is only so much money,
If you pay more for X you must pay less for Y or buy less of Y which also results in the price of Y dropping.
Infaltion is defined as too much money chasing too few goods.
The economy can not cause inflation.
Only governments can cause inflation.
In this case the Fed monetized US deficits from massive spending.
Technically the Fed is to blame, but the spending was done by Biden Harris.
Crazy lady, you don’t know what inflation is or the cause. A simple explanation: If we print money for the war in Ukraine, that will cause inflation. If you print money for Covid matters, that will cause inflation.
If you have $10 for cheese, $5 and crackers $5, then if you spend $6 on cheese, you will only have $4 for crackers. The way the government manages the problem is to print money and give you $1. That causes inflation.
“Companies have been reporting record profits.”
False – Growth has been falling since highs in 2021.
There will always be SOME companies with “record profits” – bu the rate of growth of GDP is the absolute measure of both the economy and corporate profits.
“Instead of lowering prices they chose to buy back shares to increase shareholder returns.”
While that is not happening on the scale that you claim – the SOLE job of a business is to maximize shareholder returns.
That is accomplished by giving consumers what the y want.
“Inflation had nothing to do with prices staying high. Inflation is at 2.9%.”
That is the most idiotic claim I have ever heard.
Inflation is litterally the rate of increase of prices. Prices are high and rising – that is inflation.
Inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods. In the current instance – massive government spending financed by the Fed printing money flooded the market with money without matching gains in goods produced and viola inflation.
BTW
“Inflation is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE a monetary phonomena”
Milton Friedman.
2.9% ionflation is less bad than 9.0% inflation – it is NOT GOOD.
1.4% inflation – the average under Trump is less bad than 2.9, it is not good either.
Zero percent is good, Mild deflation is best. But central banks can not manage mild deflation.
So long as we have central banks we will have some inflation.
“Companies are keeping prices as high as they can get away with.”
Companies do not set prices – the laws of supply and demand do.
Too much money chasing too few goods results in inflation.
Currently consumer confidence is dropping, consumer spending is dropping – this is large part of why inflation is declining – people are buying less – and the law of supply and demand is immutable.,
Of course dropping consumer confidence and spending are also signals that we hare headed into a recession – which is ALWAYS how inflation is brought under control.
“It’s not giving consumers any relief and keeping them feeling like the economy is not improving. It’s basic greed.”
Please learn something about economics – you are entirely clueless. There are some good condensed versions of Adam Smiths WON.
Henry Hazlet has a good short primer on economics. Thomas Sowell’s basic economics is excellent and easy – though very long.
There are even better resources – but those require much more basic understanding than you have.
Here is another thought…prosecute the theft rings who wipe out stores with impunity. Their brazen disregard for the law is maddening and we the consumer pay the price for the stolen goods. On the flip side of that coin, a lot of stolen property is sold on .com entities. If it is too good to be true, it is probably stolen.
Oh, I forgot. The Vice President champions causes that defund the police and give criminals a get out of jail free card.
We are digressing back to tribalism. Who better than a “community organizer” can “fix” the self inflicted problem (s).
If I didn’t know any better, you would think they are trying to deliberately destroy this nation, what is good in it and replace it with global domination run by the glitter rich bi-costal elites.
Elon Musk is on track to be historically known as a heroic American patriot.
Figures you’d celebrate a welfare recipient. Tesla has enjoyed nearly $2 billion in government grants and tax breaks.
How much did they pay in taxes?
“How much did they pay in taxes?”
Especially and including PAYROLL TAXES.
That is SOCIAL SECURITY for the libturd you were respnding to, who for some odd reason wants to admit he is too uneducated to know the difference between welfare and subsidy.
I love it when idiots like this person and Hillary claim Trump “didn’t pay no taxes”.
The man has paid more dollars in payroll taxes than Hillary has every sniffed in her entire thieving life.
Literally BILLIONS of dollars. You get that? B-B-B-BILLIONS
No, I got it before I wrote my comment. I remember Fauxchohontas calling Musk a deadbeat and Musk letting her know that he had paid more in taxes than any other American in history.
I live on the Space Coast. Just this morning, I watched one of this “deadbeat’s” Falcon 9 boosters land on LZ-1. It’s a fairly regular thing around here.
You don’t have to sell me on Musk. And you certainly don’t have to yell at me.
As I said, that was directed to the imbecile you responded to. sorry for the confusion
Got it Trumptard. Since Tesla paid taxes it’s okay that they exist cuz of money from the gub’ment.
End grants and subsidies – Telsa will have ZERO problems.
How about you – if your income was 100% taxed at the corporate rate – no deductions at all.
How would you do ?
The estimated payroll taxes paid by Elon Musk, for Tesla alone, is over $14 Billion.
Wow, those $2B in tax breaks and grants looks like welfare.
Get a clue.
Do realize how utterly Trumptarded that is. Cuz payroll taxes were such a big number, it justifies big gub’ment support. No wonder you can’t get out of the trailer park.
The richest man in New Jersey moved out a while back. This departure had a significant impact on New Jersey’s budget, leading to a reduction in funding for essential services. It’s a stark reminder that the belief that these wealthy individuals don’t pay their fair share of taxes is a myth. Their substantial tax contributions are so significant that when they leave, state budgets are forced to shrink, or debts increase. So much for anyone’s idea that these people are deadbeats.
Elon Musk, from his own pocket, has paid for the Social Security benefits of 33,000 americans, based on 20 years of payments to each.
How many have you paid for, Mr Welfare?
I’ve never taken a dime of gub’ment money, not even during the pandemic. Unlike you trailer park Trumptards. Gimme, gimme, gimme.
Did you take the standard deduction on your taxes ?
Or did you pay a flat 21% of ALL your income ?
If you did not – you are subsidized more than Tesla.
So why don’t you go start a business, pay some taxes, and stop sucking off mine and Elon’s teat?
You really are barking up the wrong tree.
All of my comments were directed at the idiot who thinks subsidies are welfare.
Youre replying to yourself is so ghey
Me replying to myself is DSM-5 Masturbation Addiction
I represent that remark
Party On
bug
Wait, in my first post I meant to spell it “your”, but my trailer park upbringing took over
bug
your trailer park upbringing also misspelled svelt.
If I misspoke, I apologize. Sometimes it’s hard to see who’s replying to whom when we’re all named Anonymous and I’m replying on phone.
But aren’t we supposed to scroll past
any and all Anonymous posts?
That’s what the ‘sane and normal’ people do.
You Trumptards really showed that guy. Brilliant. And you did it with Trumptard logic and without using any facts. High five!!
Subsidies ARE welfare. Jesus, the level of stupid here is below zero.
Not definting ATS – but we should end ALL subsidies and let people make their own choices.
“Tesla has enjoyed nearly $2 billion in government grants . . .”
That is false.
That money was a loan — which Musk paid back early, with interest.
Tesla has benefited from various forms of government funding, tax incentives, and subsidies throughout its history. These financial supports have played a significant role in the company’s development, growth, and market success. The exact amount of government funding and tax breaks Tesla has received is complex to calculate due to the variety of programs and levels of government involved (federal, state, and local), but here are some key details:
1. Federal Loans and Grants:
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM):
In 2010, Tesla received a $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy under the ATVM program to help finance the production of the Model S. Tesla repaid this loan in full, with interest, in 2013—nine years ahead of schedule.
2. Federal Tax Credits:
Electric Vehicle (EV) Tax Credit:
Until 2020, Tesla buyers were eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for purchasing a new electric vehicle. Tesla hit the 200,000 sales threshold in 2018, which began the phase-out process of the tax credit for Tesla vehicles.
It’s estimated that Tesla buyers benefitted from over $1 billion in tax credits during this period.
3. State and Local Incentives:
California ZEV Credits:
Tesla has earned substantial revenue by selling Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credits to other automakers that need to meet state emission standards. Over the years, Tesla has generated billions of dollars through the sale of these credits.
Gigafactory Incentives:
For example, Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada was supported by a package of state tax incentives and abatements valued at approximately $1.3 billion over 20 years, including property tax abatements, sales tax exemptions, and other incentives.
4. Renewable Energy Incentives:
SolarCity/Tesla Solar:
Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity brought with it the benefits of various federal and state subsidies related to solar energy, such as the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which covers 26% of the cost of solar energy systems installed in the U.S.
5. Subsidies and Incentives for R&D:
Tesla has also benefited from various R&D tax credits and subsidies aimed at encouraging innovation in clean energy and vehicle technology.
Estimated Total:
Billions in Combined Benefits:
While precise figures are difficult to pin down due to the complexity and variety of funding sources, estimates suggest Tesla has benefited from several billion dollars in government support, including loans, grants, tax breaks, and subsidies. This includes direct support to the company as well as tax incentives available to Tesla customers, which indirectly benefit the company.
Sources:
U.S. Department of Energy: Information on the ATVM loan program.
California Air Resources Board: Details on ZEV credits and their impact.
Tax Foundation: Information on EV tax credits and other incentives.
Tesla’s Financial Reports: Publicly available information about revenue from ZEV credits and other subsidies.
Sorry, wouldn’t want facts to spoil your Trumptarded day.
Grants are not loans.
Correct, grants are not loans. But these Trumptards are arguing grants are okay, as long as Trumptards get them. But when EnerDel gets a grant from the gub’ment (when Obama was president) the Trumptards whine its socialism.
Congress has the power to tax employing complex methodology and flexibility.
Congress has no power to tax for or issue “government grants,” whatever the —- variant of communism that is.
As of August 2024 Tesla has a market cap of $638.92 Billion
That means that 2B in grants and tax breaks is 0.3%
That is likely less than your personal standard deduction. YOU are far more subsidized than Musk.
Want More Freedom of Speech? Try Less Government.
– Professor Turley
_____________________
Hold on there, Baba Looey!!!
Did you say, “Try less government?”
That is precisely what the American Founders and Framers did – TRY LESS GOVERNMENT.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article 1, Section 8, provides Congress the power to tax for ONLY debt, defense, and “…general (i.e. all, the whole) Welfare…,” omitting and, thereby, excluding any power to tax for one, some, or a few, or individual Welfare, specific Welfare, particular Welfare, favor or charity.
The same article enumerates and provides Congress the power to regulate ONLY the Value of money, Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes, and land and naval Forces.
Additionally, the 5th Amendment right to private property was initially qualified by the Framers and is, therefore, absolute, allowing no further qualification, and allowing ONLY the owner the power to “claim and exercise” dominion over private property.
____________________________________________________________________
“[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”
– James Madison
____________________
The entire communistic American welfare state is unconstitutional including, but not limited to, admissions affirmative action, grade-inflation affirmative action, employment affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, minimum wage, rent control, social services, forced busing, public housing, utility subsidies, WIC, SNAP, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, “labor” laws, etc.
Government exists, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to provide maximal freedom to individuals while government is severely limited and restricted to merely facilitating that maximal freedom of individuals through the provision of security and infrastructure only.
The Communist Manifesto is not the Constitution. Communism and the principles of communism are invalid, illegitimate, illicit, and unconstitutional. Congress shall not confiscate and gift, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” or impose the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” which is one-man, one-vote “democracy” in the American severely restricted-vote republic of voters who are entitled by State legislatures to vote.
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution. Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto. The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.
‘
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
Jonathan,
Please enjoy the tale of my youth on Catalina Island, as narrated by Yosemite Sam.
Your best pal,
Dennis McIncrier
Jonathan
In honor of Dennis McIncrier, i give you the worlds second biggest Hippocrat Oaf.
Baby Huey!
Oops, sorry JT, Here is the correct one. This isnt easy to do with only my left hand free.
Jonathan:
Here is some entertainment news.
Your special friend,
Dennis
Jonathan: As a change of pace here is some entertainment news. The late legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz is being honored with a special 25 cent piece including her iconic image. Cruz is the 14th woman to be honored by the US Mint’s American Quarters Program.
Now Celia and I go way back. As a kid growing up in LA of the 1950s I listened to her singing on the radio. We were fortunate to have a local station dedicated to Latin music–and the “Queen of Salsa” was often played. Of course, there was also Xavier Cugat, Cal Tjader, Tito Puente and other Latin bands but I enjoyed Cruz the most.
For those old enough to remember the mid-1950s were a great time for all sorts of music–the revival of the “Big Band Sound” of Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Bros. and, of course, Glenn Miller. The movie “The Glenn Miller Story” came out in 1954 starring James Stewart and Jane Allyson. When it played near my home my buddies and I went to see it 3 times! In those days admission was only about 50 cents–and that included cartoons and the Movietone News!
As long as I’m going down memory lane I should mention that my parents always sent me to “summer camp” with my aunt on Catalina Island. I had a close friend on the island who came by my aunt’s house one morning when we were getting ready to go fishing. He said: “Look, the Benny Goodman band is playing tonight at the Casino. Let’s go”. I hesitated: “But Barney, you can’t get in unless you’re an adult”. Barney had an answer for everything: “No problem. I have a friend who is an usher and he says he will let us in through one of the side entrances after the performance starts”. Worked like magic. Only one problem. We got made by some security people and we got thrown out after being inside for only about 15 minutes. No matter. We sat outside the Casino next to a door that was slightly ajar and listened to the Goodman band play the old favorites–looking out at the Pacific and the stars above. Then along came a couple of girls. We took them for milk shakes at the arcade. It was a perfect evening! Ah, the summers on Catalina Island!
Ah, the summers on Catalina, shooting our Ar-15’s and ruining the meat
Love it when Dennis pretends he likes girls
Dennis, where were the indentured servants at that time? You know, the ones your late mother bequeathed you and told you to “never let them go”?
They had to go through a separate entrance and sit in the balcony.
Dennis makes up and/or embellishes most of his “memories.” However, I do not know if it is intentional or not.
They are completely made up. Some of them have peculiar similarities to Joe Biden’s.
*SENATOR KEELEY
Tied to the whipping post. They’ve broken your borders and murdered your children and Harris says, no taxes on tips. Monumental! What a plan!
Sure, professor, the government can’t use taxes to censor the taxed. Sure, why not.
Justice Brandeis in Whitney
1. Freedom of conscience is an unalienable right because people can only think for themselves;
2. Free speech makes representatives accountable to We the People;
3. Free speech is necessary for the discovery of truth and the rejection of falsehood;
4. Free speech allows the public discussion necessary for democratic self government.
5. Free speech allows extremists to f**k up 1, 2, 3, and 4.
^^^^^Extremist
I support Turley’s recommended strategy “try less government”. However, I suspect that I support that strategy far beyond what he envisions for partially removing Fedgov-sponsored restrictions on the free expression of ideas. I want to see that philosophy imposed in every corner, in very nook and cranny, of the oppressive instrument that our government has become, to forestall the completely totalitarian instrument that it aspires to be.
Now Kamala wants price controls on food. Stalin tried it in Russia. The farmers were better fed than the general populace so he used the farmers as a scapegoat. The result was three million farmers starved to death in Siberia. He tried to replace the farmers with city dwellers and the result was higher starvation. When the farmers went into the empty fields to pick up the small amount of grain left in the fields he raided their homes and confiscated their hand operated grain grinders and sent the farmer to the prisons. If food prices are set by Kamala the food companies will not be able to pay the farmers enough to make farming worthwhile. When a black market for food happens the Kamala food police will have no other choice but to arrest those who have offended the policy. Stalin looked for a scapegoat and Harris is using a scapegoat to blame for the higher price of food. This is a common socialist approach to policy failures and is the first step of a takeover of all industry by the United Socialist States of America recognized by the acronym USSA. Kamalas’ father was a professor of Marxist theory at Stanford University. Read paragraph eight. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a33598837/kamala-harris-father-donald-j-harris-facts/. Believe what she says.
Have you forgotten what Nixon announced on August 15, 1971? You are absolutely correct that price controls (and wage controls) are Marxist collectivism, unworkable, unsustainable, and evil. But it is not helpful to pretend that such proposing such collectivist claptrap is anything recent, or that it is the exclusive province on one political party. It is symptomatic of how nearly all politicians think: their simple motivation is to be elected, so that they can avail themselves of the unearned grift and graft that attend public office (or continue to do so). Expecting leadership from politicians is like expecting lessons in good table manners from the family dog.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/remembering-nixons-wage-price-controls#
Ragnar D,
I read an article on the Nixon announcement earlier today.
I think that was the down fall of the USD.
The article I read dismissed a gold backed currency for a Bitcoin one. Seems like trading one fiat currency for a even more fiat digital currency to me.
A few years ago, I was at a local gas station, buying a pint of ice cream when the credit card system went down. There were some six people in front of me. The cashier called out the system was down but they could take anyone who had cash. I skipped to the front of the line.
The pumps could not process cc transactions either.
TiT,
Well said.
Although I dont think Harris will be able to arrest those who deify her poorly thought out policy. Really bad optics of her DOJ/FBI arresting farmers or even people who grow their own food on a small scale.
Hey! The good news is like in Venezuela, we might be able to get under control our obesity epidemic! Call it the KH diet.
Harris’s father being a Marxist theorist is about as big a stretch as saying Donald Trump had sex with Ivanka.
Well at least you are fantacizing about Trump with a female for a change.
We already have price controls on food, lamebrain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_Price_Support_Program#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20the%20Dairy%20Price%20Support,It%20is%20one%20of%20many%20agricultural%20support%20programs.
Jesus, you Trumptards are such Trumptards.
LOL what a Spaz! price minimums are price controls!!! Bwahahahaha
Libturds are such libturds
Wikipedia at that. SMH
“Stalin tried it in Russia.”
So here’s what we have from KH —
First, this premise: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. (a premise she openly endorses)
And now: Capitalists are destructive and should be punished.
The Marxist apple doesn’t fall far from the Marxist tree.
“Freedom in the Land of the Free”
Congress has no power to control wages, prices, rent, private property, free enterprises, or the free markets of the private sector; any and all attempts must be struck down by the judicial branch.
Congress has the power to regulate ONLY (1) the value of money, (2) commerce among nations, States, and Indian tribes, and (3) land and naval Forces.
Americans in all States have the absolute right to sole dominion over private property.
I thought the news media was an arm of Biden and the Demos?
In 2016 leaked emails from Hillary were published to show what a dweeb she was.
In 2024 leaked emails from trump and his campaign show….
We don’t know because 3 news organizations will not publish the emails.
What’s up?
Oh yeah I forgot. Only talk about things that show the other side is bad, never ever ever show any weakness or show something that might prove your thesis wrong. Thus trumps inability to ever admit that his 30,000 plus lies are lies.
How about you JT, admit your thesis is wrong? I doubt it.
You were proved wrong about the DDOS attack (that did not happen) on the musk trump interview. Have you apologies for your incorrect statements? Never, just keep lying.
“You were proved wrong about the DDOS attack”
No he wasn’t. Did you “prove it”? Because no one else did.
Self proclaimed “experts” offering a guess is your version of “proof”
Bwahahahahahahaha
Just keep lying
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/14/experts-doubt-musk-cyberattack-claim/
How come the rest of X did not have an outage?
I’m sure you will find a reason to not believe facts. Believe what you will.
So the former POTUS who did everything in his power to conceal the extent of a pandemic and feared the truth about what it would do to his ratings, was just using his power of free speech? Because in that case we needed the experts in science and government to keep the public safe.
“did everything in his power to conceal the extent of a pandemic”
Bwahahahahahahahahaha
From “C-Span”, excerpted:
“Donald Trump has officially closed out his term as president at a time when the coronavirus death toll has surpassed 400,000 Americans dead – despite the president initially claiming the virus would “disappear”.
“It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear,” Mr Trump said on 27 February, 2020.
But America was still waiting on that “miracle”.
Mr Trump left office with 24,255,934 coronavirus cases and 402,269 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This death toll was nearly equal to how many American soldiers died during World War II, which stands at about 405,000, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The virus was surging in a majority of states across the country, impacting hospital systems who are battling to care for all individuals who come in.
The former president did not create the virus, but he has been long criticised for his lack of response to the global pandemic.
When Mr Trump entered his final year of his presidency, the country’s first coronavirus case was detected on 22 January.
“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine,” Mr Trump said at the time.
He went on to close off some flights to and from China, but many people were still able to fly from the hotspot country back to the US. At the same time, the virus was surging through Europe and yet flights to the US remained open.
Mr Trump did not grasp the potential detrimental impact of the novel virus until March, despite all the warnings he had from key advisers and health officials.
“This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency … This is going to be the roughest thing you face,” Mr Trump’s National Security Advisor told the then-president on 28 January.
But the rhetoric did not change from the White House following those meetings. Instead, Mr Trump informed Americans that the virus was “like a flu” and “the 15 [cases in the US] within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
Privately during this time, though, Mr Trump admitted to veteran journalist Bob Woodward that the virus was “deadly stuff” and more “strenuous” than the flu.
An estimated 34,200 Americans died during the 2018 to 2019 flu season, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Once the true extent of the virus was known, Mr Trump briefly closed down the economy during the month of April to stop the spread of the virus. But with the economy tanking, this influenced him to pull back on restrictions and recommendations – going as far as to encourage Americans to leave their homes and resume normal life.
He has since taken a backseat in responding to the virus, leaving it largely up to states to set restrictions, test individuals, and administer the vaccine. All of this while cases and deaths continued their steady increase into the winter months.
“We are rounding the turn [on the coronavirus],” Mr Trump repeated multiple times in August, September, and October as he ran for his second presidential term. But that corner never came. Coronavirus fatigue, a lack of federal government direction, and holiday travel further exacerbated the viral surge.
The US was now averaging more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths per day, making it the leading cause of death in the country.
One reason why Mr Trump’s response was so poor was his complete disregard for science and what health officials recommend in responding to the virus. He even admitted to not wanting to follow the science when telling voters why they should vote for him over President Joe Biden.”
I highly recommend reading Bob Woodward’s book “Rage”, in which he quotes from recorded conversations with Trump in which Trump admitted he deliberately “downplayed” the seriousness of COVID because it made him look bad. Woodward recalled FDR’s “fireside chat” radio programs in which FDR laid it on the line to the American people about WWII–that thousands of our boys were going to die, but that in the end beating back the Nazis and Japanese would be worth the sacrifice. That is what a president is supposed to do–tell the truth–make the hard decisions and be honest. Trump has no leadership skills whatsoever and since everything revolves around him and making him look good, he chose to ignore science and lie about how deadly COVID is–it is 10Xs more lethal than the flu. And, it’s not like plenty of qualified doctors weren’t telling him the truth, either. The more COVID spread, the more people got infected and Trump not only didn’t take steps to curb the spread, he acdtually encouraged people to leave their homes and travel. All the while the US was setting new daily records for deaths and new infections. It got so bad that in some cities, hospitals had to hire refrigerated trucks to hold the corpses and there were shortages of ventilators.
The handling of COVID is pathogonomic of Trump and his narcissism–it was all about him, making him look good, lying about bad news, pretending that the truth doesn’t exist. In the end, more Americans died than had to, COVID went on longer than it had to–and that IS Trump’s fault.
Gigi thinks the “it will disappear” is how you hide something.
Gigi thinks that 800,000 dead Americans since 2021 care about the 400,000 who died under Trump.
Gigi uses big words when she didn’t even know the meaning of spastic
Gigi doesnt know that Covid still exists
Gigi forgets that Fauci downplayed the efficacy of masks for his own reasons.
Gigi gets her opinions and “facts” from huffpost and Jimmy Fallon.
Gigi thinks that C-Span is a source.
Even Chat GPT admitted to me today that C-Span is not a source.
Gigi didnt read this
“You don’t need a mask”—Fauci the expert
“You need to wear a mask”—Fauci the expert
“Looking back, we had noi idea if you needed a mask”—Fauci the expert
“Social distancing…hmmmm…no to sure about that one either”—Fauci the expert
“Lets go with 6 feet, thats a nice round number”—Fauci the expert
“Two weeks to flatten the curve”—Fauci the expert
“The vaccine prevents infection”—Fauci the expert
“The vaccine prevents transmission”—Fauci the expert
“Wellllll, at least the vaccine improves outcomes for people with diabetes”—Fauci the expert
Gigi injected herself with bleach, is still suffering the cognitive effects of it, and is still mad at Trump.
“In the end, more Americans died than had to”
How many, exactly?
I read that it is estimated that about 300,000 Americans died unnecessarily because of Trump’s lack of leadership.
Stupid people say stupid things. I assume the deaths are supposedly attributed to Covid, where there was little we could do. If so, blame Biden for double the deaths despite vaccines and medications. Also, blame Biden for many deaths around the world and deaths due to his immigration policy, now and in the future.
Gigi called Trump a xenophobe the day he suspended flights from China.
Gigi blames the real estate tycoon and TV star for the lack of preparedness by the US for a global pandemic, rather than the expert who spent his entire life supposedly preparing for a global pandemic, yet was somehow COMPLETELY UNPREPARED and CLUELESS.
But she loves Kamala, who cant even spell pandemic.
Warp Speed?
Ventilators?
Gigenius was one of the people claiming Trump was usurping power to make those ventilators.
Javits Center COVID-19 hospital?
NUTCHACHACHA is terrified!
If actual Americans resume control of their nation and implement their Constitution, she/it/him/her/they will never partake of her “fair share” of wholly unconstitutional “free stuff” and “free status,” aka welfare, affirmative action, etc., oh, and baby killing; lest we forget, right?
“Because in that case we needed the experts in science and government to keep the public safe.”
Over 1 million people not feeling to safe, Willis. They be dead.
“You don’t need a mask”—Fauci the expert
“You need to wear a mask”—Fauci the expert
“Looking back, we had noi idea if you needed a mask”—Fauci the expert
“Social distancing…hmmmm…no to sure about that one either”—Fauci the expert
“Lets go with 6 feet, thats a nice round number”—Fauci the expert
“Two weeks to flatten the curve”—Fauci the expert
“The vaccine prevents infection”—Fauci the expert
“The vaccine prevents transmission”—Fauci the expert
“Wellllll, at least the vaccine improves outcomes for people with diabetes”—Fauci the expert
Fishy, you smell particularly bad today
Fishstick, he did not have to do anything to conceal anything. It became quite obvious the pandemic was not the Black Plague of the 21st century. The Great Barrington Declaration pointed that out. But the so-called experts like Fauci and his colleague Collins did what they could to discredit the authors of The Great Barrington Declaration. We have seen their emails in their attempts to silence them. A complicit MSM helped. As we all know, COVID had a 99.998% survival rate for those under 60. The actions taken by the government did more harm than COVID.
Two years of lock down was a scheme to destroy small business and just like prison lock downs keep people from escape. Let’s not forget the atrocities in Cuomo’s New York. Give me more! I love abuse! Abuse me they shout!
Trump sent a hospital ship the New York during Covid. Instead of using the ship to house the elderly with Covid the Governor of New York sent them back to the nursing homes to live among those who were most likely to die due to the contracting of Covid. The result was when he was found out that he would not run for reelection in deep blue New York. Because Trump sent the ship there was no way that they were going to use the ship even if it meant that more people would die. This is a testament to how much the Democrats don’t really give a damn about people. New Yorkers have a very short memory.
Its not a short memory. Their dead babies, sexual mutilation of minors, and drag queen story hour are just too precious to them to vote in their own best interests.
Less government is pretty much the solution to everything, and with Kamala’s first ‘policy’ announcement (read, non-compliant agenda) – this is more important than ever. The modern dems really do think you are stupid, and they really do think that thinking you are stupid is going to work. Do not prove them correct in November. This is a brilliant suggestion by the Professor and I do not expect a single modern dem to even acknowledge that he said it, unless it’s an attempt to disallow others from reading/hearing it. This is where we are.
That was supposed to read ‘communist agenda’, not ‘non-compliant’ 🤷🏽♂️
Combating “malinformation,” or information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate” is not something illiberal progressives would want. If it was to be done without prejudice and regardless of ideology and political party affiliations, it would put the Democratic Party, mainstream media and most of academia out of business. Afterall, taking things out of context and misleading and manipulating folks is their standard operating method. It is who they are and what they are.
+100
They are only good with it because they control most of the levers.