That's right, ttech.
Texas is very business-friendly, it's just that Musk wanted to bypass Texas franchise laws and sell directly to the consumer. That's all well and good on the surface, but it's a law that - for the most part- protects the buyer.
The Texas franchise laws might seem unfair to a free market advocate, but look at how Texas does liquor sales. For example, Ridge and I could go partners in a liquor store here in town (prob. a bad idea from the git-go). However, Texas law forces one partner - who'd have to be the majority one - to live in the county where the store is located. That way, if I, or any employee, sold liquor to a minor, sold after hours or broke any other of the numerous laws regulating liquor sales, someone would be easily found and prosecuted. Not so with a chain store selling booze, one with headquarters out-of-state; it would be much harder to find someone to be responsible for the law-breaking. It's the same principle with why Texas has turned down Tesla sales within the state.
Sure, there are special interests (car dealerships) that are against the sales of Teslas in Texas, but if I buy a Ford (or Chevy or Toyota) here in town, I know I can easily take it to the local dealer for warranty work/repairs and can sue them in a local court if they sell me a lemon. To be fair, there are consumer laws that will apply to Tesla purchases, but tell me this: after Tesla drops off your pretty, fast, yet overgrown and overpriced golf cart, where are you going to go for service here in Texas? As far as I know, their only service centers are in Dallas, Austin and Houston. Fine for folks in those cities, but what is someone going to do who lives in the Panhandle or hundreds of miles away from one?
Texas isn't the only state with concerns about Musk's business model; there is anti-Tesla legislation pending in other states, too. Musk dropped a bunch of cash in order to make sure the bills were DOA in N. Carolina, NY and Mass., but apparently he didn't spend enough here in Texas, huh? I think a lot of the pushback against Musk wasn't so much from the dealer lobbyists, but rather that Musk tried to bribe the Texas Leg. with vague promises of siting his proposed spaceport here in Texas if they'd only allow him to do as he wanted. If he wants to sell cars in Texas, he needs to abide by the franchise laws or try harder/spend more to get them changed. (and before you or anyone else whines about that, that's SOP in other states, too, more so on the Fed. level. Lobbyists are a fact of life in American politics; I don't like it, but to restrict them would be a freedom of speech issue.)
Personally, it doesn't matter to me where or how he sells his rich boy toys, he can sell 'em at Wal Mart for all I care. They can be just like the big screen TVs they carry, sell them cheap, make folks carry it out to their vehicle, get it home and set it up and after that, if the customer needs service, they can fend for themselves. Your "jump through hoops" comment was strange, unless it took you two days to remember how to navigate back to this site after your original, inflammatory first post. Just go to the Tesla website and do it; it's supposed to be as easy as buying something from Amazon. They'll ship it to you and if there's something wrong, you can ship it back to them, simple as that!
All that said, I understand the majority of Texans want this particular franchise law to be overturned or amended. That's fine by me, but don't expect me OR the majority of Texans to ever approve of state subsidies for the car. (funny 'bout that; the "bluer" the state, the more subsidies they offer. Texas is already doing more for the wind power scams than needs to be done) Tesla didn't make their profits from selling cars, but by selling emissions "credits". (there's a great Forbes article: "If Tesla Would Stop Selling Cars, We'd All Save Some Money" that explains more about that and the "greenmail" other electric car companies have to pay Tesla) The leftists are always complaining about "Republican crony capitalism" but when the shoe is on the other foot, nothing but crickets chirping. Guess it's OK when it's THEIR crony capitalists, huh? Just like the Koch Bros. are devils, but Soros is a saint. Gimme a break.
Lord help me, I so hate partisan hacks such as the OP. He's a prime example of one of those low information voters we always hear about.