Elon Musk calls Sen. Elizabeth Warren "Senator Karen" for calling out his not paying taxes

[Beaverhausen]

56. Elon Musk got millions in tax breaks to put a plant in Austin.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/07/elon-musk-got-millions-tax-breaks-put-plant-austin-heres-why-laws-dont-stop-these-secret-deals/

August 7, 2020

During a July earnings call, Elon Musk announced his intention to build a Tesla manufacturing facility outside Austin. There, Travis County offered the automobile company 10 years of tax abatements worth almost $14 million. The local school district is offering tax breaks worth $50 million, and the state will most likely add enough incentives to top $100 million in total. Although Tesla was rumored to be considering the Austin area, the deal was kept secret until this announcement through nondisclosure agreements, exceptions to public records laws, and code names.

Secret deals to try to attract businesses are common — and rouse a lot of political disagreement. Some people believe that higher transparency requirements — enforced openness about deals underway — might make officials more accountable to taxpayers. However, our research suggests that existing transparency requirements aren’t changing the behavior of public officials very much. Indeed, many officials may be simply ignoring them.