When President Joe Biden spoke at the White House last week about his plans to subsidize plug-in electric cars, he was joined by executives from General Motors and Ford. He also lined up an electric Chevy Bolt and GMC Hummer behind him.
But whenever a president turns the bully pulpit into an ad for certain U.S. corporations, it’s always worth digging a little bit deeper.
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For starters, it seems very relevant that one of General Motors’s lobbyists on electric cars is Jeff Ricchetti of Ricchetti Inc. Ricchetti’s brother, and the co-founder of the Ricchetti Inc. lobbying firm, happens to be Steve Ricchetti, the White House senior counselor.
Jeff Ricchetti is also a major Democratic donor, having given more than $14,000 to Democratic candidates in the first six months of this year. Ricchetti’s lobbying income exploded when Biden took office.
General Motors gave $500,000 to Biden’s inaugural committee, and Ford contributed $250,000.
Biden brought the big automakers to the White House to sign a pledge that the White House and the industry would work toward making half of their sales be electric cars. The electric Hummer will cost $79,995 (in the stripped-down version). Biden wants to subsidize the buyers of these cars along with subsidizing the manufacture of all-electric cars, according to his website.
