This seems like a bit of unfair muck-raking. I take his point about federal loans/investment, but as far as I know Musk still thinks tax credits to promote alternative energy are a good idea. When he stops receiving those and then claims they were a bad idea, maybe I'll believe you more. Until then, as far as I can tell he is just ingeniously taking advantage of the numerous government programs to promote good commercial behavior to enable these technologies that might never come about otherwise. that's not rent-seeking, it's smart, and it only lowers the risk of a still very risky enterprise (or three of them).

The bottom line is that what Musk is doing has the potential for massive benefits, and we will all be the beneficiaries of this. as long as how he gets there is within the spirit of the rules, i'll give him a pass.