BillLawrenceOnline

Well, it’s official. Chris Christie has lost it.

No, not his weight. And not the widespread notion of his involvement in the Bridgegate scandal.

It’s much worse. He’s lost his mind.

In an act that defies comprehension, Christie veered off the road of common sense when his Motor Vehicle Commission barred auto manufacturers from selling directly to the public. Christie’s “fiat” mandating that all cars be sold through dealers has kept the special interests’ status quo alive and well, and amounts to a hit-and-run on that thing called the free market.

In hitching his trailer to New Jersey’s car dealer lobby, Christie
has shown his true colors as an elitist country club Republican firmly
in the backseat of big business — will of the people be damned.
Ironically, this is a U-turn in the perception of Christie, whose
brusque, tell-it-like-it-is style had earned him a rare “man of the
people” status.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but it is
hard to see any good intent in Christie’s latest dictate. Which leads
one to ask if Chris Christie really is who his critics claim him to be —
just another good ol’ boy who talks a great game but is no different
than the typical Jersey pol. How many times can you give Christie the benefit of the doubt? And on this one, there’s no he-said, she-said. The decision to jump in bed with the car dealers has Christie’s hood emblem all over it. And it’s really tough to stomach.

The center of the storm involves upstart electric carmaker
Tesla Motors, whose innovative business model cuts out the middleman, with the company selling directly to the public through storefront offices and the Internet. As a result of the rule change, Tesla’s two successful retail New Jersey locations, as well as two planned service centers, will close. Isn’t this the same Chris Christie who said he wanted to create jobs, not eliminate them?

Several points come to mind regarding this car-wreck policy:

1. Is this really the image the Republican Party wants or needs?
Being in bed with business plays right into the stereotype of who is
controlling the GOP. And being nakedly anti-competition rankles
conservatives to such an extent that even more will abandon the Party and bolt to the Libertarian ranks. Strong-arming such rule changes also alienates good-government types, many of whom are swing voters. Given that the Republicans have been looking at the Democrats’ taillights for quite awhile, this unpopular policy is the last thing with which the party’s leaders should be associated.

2. Tesla, which had been selling cars in New Jersey for over a year,
said the Christie administration went back on its word by unilaterally deciding on the matter. Previously, the arrangement had been to allow the Legislature to handle it in a fair, public manner. Given Christie’s track record of late, the benefit of the doubt has to go to Tesla.

The Legislature has every reason to be upset by Christie’s bypassing
that body, calling into question the governor’s respect for the
separation of powers. Enacting such a far-reaching rule change should be the domain of elected lawmakers, not bureaucrats in vehicle commissions.

3. The rule is a kick in the teeth to competition and fair play, not
to mention the innovation that Tesla has brought to the industry. Will
automakers selling directly to the public be a winning business
strategy? No one knows, but that’s what the free market is all about:
Coming up with bold ideas, takings risks and seeing if the public likes
what is offered. The Tesla business model should rise or fall on
people’s choices — not government intervention based on the deep pockets
of special interest groups.

The new rule, in addition to mandating new cars be sold by
franchisees, requires a dealer’s facility to have 1,000 square feet of
display area, with showroom space for at least two cars, and equipment
to service vehicles — none of which fits into Tesla’s business model.
Who is the government to tell a company how to market and sell its
products? Seems like the car dealer lobby just got a ticket on the
government gravy train, courtesy of hundreds of thousands in campaign
contributions to the governor.

4. New Jersey is not alone enacting these laws. Texas and Arizona —
both Republican-dominated states — have anti-Tesla regulations on the
books, and a number of other states controlled by both parties are
considering them. Why? No idea.

So perhaps someone smarter could decipher the words of Jim Appleton,
president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, when he
chided, “What is it about Tesla that makes them immune from the concerns
of zero price competition and a monopoly market, or not fully and
fairly administering safety and recall services?”

He lost me at immune.

If incoherent babblings about recalls,
service and price controls are the best arguments proponents have, this
will be an easy victory lap through the courts for Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
And make no mistake. This rule is clearly unconstitutional on a number
of fronts, such as the Interstate Commerce and Equal Protection Clauses.

There is much more at stake here than how cars are sold. It
is an issue that deals with the environment (electric cars generate no
carbon emissions), honest competition, government interference in the
marketplace, the need for term limits and the role of deep-pocketed
special interests in shaping policies for the benefit of a few, to the
detriment of many. Allowing such a rule to stand would send a message
that America is a nation where the rights of the individual are trumped
by big business and corrupt government. And at that point, we will have
lost our uniqueness.

As the race to the White House begins, the call is going out for
candidates to start their engines. For Chris Christie, this latest
head-on collision will ensure that he won’t be in the driver’s seat.