“California used to be the land of opportunity. However it’s turned into the land of taxes, overregulation and litigation and this is not a good situation.”
– Elon Musk
With the aforementioned words, Elon Musk the world richest man and CEO of Tesla blasted California as a ‘one-party’ state that is hostile to business and innovation. Musk was speaking to an audience during a virtual appearance at the All-In Conference that took place in Miami. He may have started most of his big companies in California but he is no more enamored of the sunshine state as he told the audience that the sunshine is gone in California.
He highlighted that business formation, growth and development is encumbered in California by heavy load of taxation, overregulation and litigation that is beyond the power of the governor to redirect, tame or control. His words, “If you had a gun to [California Governor Gavin Newsom’s] head and said ‘we need to start building this factory right now,’ he couldn’t do it,” Musk said. “There are so many regulatory agencies and so many litigators in California that want to stop you from doing anything that even if you’re the governor of the state, you cannot get it done.”
Musk continued and critiqued the political situation of the state: “It’s a one-party state,” Musk complained, noting that Democrats hold a super-majority in the state legislature and all of the statewide elected offices. The state’s elected officials “will never be responsive except to the people that funded them.”
“Ultimately the people of California have to get fed up and demand change, there’s got to be an above 0% chance of the Republicans winning in California.,” he concluded
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