Rep. James Talarico (D-TX) is taking aim at Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's new trillion-dollar pay package, which investors approved at last month's shareholder meeting. And he's not pulling punches.

One Person Versus Entire Professions

In a post on X this Sunday, Talarico framed the issue as a fundamental question about American priorities. "The reason poverty exists in the wealthiest country on earth isn't because we can't feed the poor — it's because we can't satisfy the rich," he wrote, calling for taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

In an attached video, Talarico posed a direct question: "Do we really believe one man is worth more than every elementary school teacher?" He went on to highlight medical bills that bankrupt patients and homelessness among military veterans.

"I'm all for success," Talarico clarified, but he questioned whether Musk's wealth represents success or simply "hoarding." His conclusion? The government needs to "tax trillionaires out of existence."

Bernie Sanders Makes Similar Arguments

Talarico's criticism follows Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently taking Musk to task over the same pay package. Sanders shared that Musk's compensation exceeded the combined pay of elementary school teachers, farm workers, bartenders, cashiers and restaurant cooks across the entire country.

Sanders also raised concerns about artificial intelligence, arguing that governments need to ensure billionaires like Musk don't use the technology to undermine democracy.

And Sanders isn't alone among Democratic leaders. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) slammed the Tesla CEO, saying that any school teacher had "more work ethic in their pinky finger" than Musk.

Michael Burry Questions Tesla's Valuation

'The Big Short' investor Michael Burry recently added his voice to the conversation, calling Tesla "ridiculously overvalued." It's a fair point to raise considering Tesla's market capitalization exceeds the combined value of all its competitors.

Tesla scores well on momentum metrics while offering satisfactory quality and growth characteristics, but poor value. The stock also shows a favorable price trend across short, medium and long-term timeframes.

Price Action: TSLA jumped 0.11% to $455.00 at market close on Friday, but declined 0.07% to $454.66 during after-hours trading, according to data.