Because the government is completely ran by corporations and Musk isn't in "the club" (yet). Gone are the days where the consumer is uneducated and the supplier doesn't have a way to easily and effectively communicate with customers everywhere from anywhere.
There's a pretty good doc on Netflix, "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream", which covers some of the financial backing of congress and how it affects things (although that's not the primary focus). I'm sure this plays out at a state level, too. I witnessed it first hand growing up in Eastern Kentucky and how the coal companies threw their money and weight around.
Special deals? Can you point some out? All that I am aware of are programs that were offered to many companies. SpaceX's relationship with NASA is not special, other companies are/have been in the COTS program. The tax benefits/rebates/carbon trading shit that Tesla benefits from is available to any car company that wishes to participate. My understanding is that Solar City is in more or less the same situation as Tesla, though they are not really "Elon's" company.
This article doesn't describe what actually ended up happening. They didn't get any money as part of the auto bailout. They did get a loan the next year under a separate program that funded high-efficiency vehicles under DOE, but unlike the auto bailout they had to demonstrate financial solvency to be eligible, and Musk (granted, not a neutral observer) has said they didn't need the money to keep the doors open; it just allowed them to accelerate production of the model S. For what it's worth, they've already paid it all back, ahead of schedule.
In any event, given that they were neither the only green company to get loans under this program, nor the only car company to get loans of any kind in light of the bailout, this hardly strikes me as a "special deal from the government." The grant program existed, they applied for it, they got an award.
"The company is requesting $400 million in low-interest federal loans as part of the $25 billion loan package for the auto industry passed by Congress last year."
"The tax benefits/rebates/carbon trading shit that Tesla benefits from is available to any car company that wishes to participate."
Yes, some of those dealerships (but not all) are probably organized as corporations, but most people (and clearly the OP with his reference to that documentary) mean it to refer to joint stock corporations.
A union of small businesses banding together and throwing their weight around to protect their interests honestly sounds pretty analogous to a "corporation" doing the same.
It's like an amoeba throwing itself around or a small multi-cell organism doing the same. The details might differ but the effect from the outside is pretty similar.
This reminds me of a movie about a car company who put seat belts in their cars and marketed them as safer. The name escapes me (and I can't see to find it via Googling). They had a hard time in court, but, I think, won. The establishment hates change.
I'm on his side in this issue, but Musk definitely isn't Joe Shirtsleeve. He knows exactly who to talk to for SpaceX contracts or Tesla loan guarantees.
There's a pretty good doc on Netflix, "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream", which covers some of the financial backing of congress and how it affects things (although that's not the primary focus). I'm sure this plays out at a state level, too. I witnessed it first hand growing up in Eastern Kentucky and how the coal companies threw their money and weight around.