By Tim Redmond
AUGUST 19, 2014 – Our friend the Gavster has apparently come to share an obsession with the Republican National Committee: Uber.
Remember how the Lite Guv put out a mailer talking about the importance of the “sharing economy” and its transportation services?
He noted that
It’s also a lesson for government leaders at all levels. Because sometimes, we simply aren’t keeping up. Rather than supporting these new and innovative technologies, too often we just get in the way.
The world is changing, and the government can play an important role. Protecting citizens from fraud and abuse. Holding businesses accountable for the way they treat customers and keep them safe. Maintaining the integrity of the systems we all depend on. This is where government needs to step up.
But if it gets in the way of progress, growth and new development – we’ve failed.
Well, it appears he and the RNC are using the same talking points. The Hill reports that the GOP group is fundraising by urging its supporters to “stop liberal bureaucrats from putting up roadblocks to innovation and free enterprise.”
“Government officials are trying to block Uber from providing services simply because it’s cutting into the taxi unions’ profits,” Walsh wrote. “Enough is enough. We don’t need the intrusive government implementing any more strangling regulations, limiting consumer choices or interfering in the free market.”
More:
“Government has a role to play, but that role isn’t to protect the status quo. It should be consumers, not government bureaucrats or legislators, that decide what companies get our business,” [RNC Chair Reince Preibus] added.
First: I don’t know what “taxi unions” they’re talking about. In San Francisco, like most cities, drivers are independent contractors who are, for the most part, not union members. There’s a small taxi-drivers’ union in the city, but it hardly makes big “profits.”
But beyond that, it’s remarkable that our Democratic lieutenant governor is promoting himself with the same language that the RNC is using to promote itself: Government has a role to play, but it shouldn’t “interfere” with or “get in the way of” new economic models.
Of course, those new models – certainly the transportation companies – happen to be operating in regulated industries. There are good reasons why cities – “government” – sets rules for individuals and companies that operate common-carrier vehicles. Public safety is the biggest one.
But Newsom and the GOP seem more than willing to sacrifice that in the name of innovation – and their own fundraising. What a pair.
