Not politics, mince pies

We used to have these every year at Christmas growing up. At one point I had my grandmother's recipe, but I don't know for sure what has become of it. So I had to root around and find a recipe that sounded about like the ingredients that I used to have to shove through the meat grinder every fall. Every year I say I am going to make them, this year I did.

Well, that backfired

I received a flyer in the mail the other day from Uber, asking me to call my representative to complain about AB2293.  Well I went to the state's website and read the text of the bill.  I suggest you follow the link and read it for yourself, it is not very long.  But this is what I got from it. 

It you summon a ride on your Uber app, the car arrives and you get in, you will know that the driver is insured the way any other person offering transportation for hire is insured.  And if Uber has not done their job, and the driver done not in fact have appropriate insurance, then Uber's insurance will cover you.  Sounds pretty pro-consumer to me.

The business model of companies like Uber, and Postmates, whom I have written about earlier, is to classify the people who actually earn the money for them as independent contractors, putting all the risk on them.

I work as an independent contractor myself, and I choose to do that.  But what I charge is a negotiated fee, it is not set by fiat of my client.  I am required by my client to carry certain types of insurance, and have to produce certificates of insurance to demonstrate that I have them.  And my client never tells me “Say this, not that” because they are pretending to be a different business that they are.

So I called my representative and I said, “If Uber is trashing you, then you must be doing something right.”

I like to go to Reno for a weekend every now and then.  I have considered putting an add on Craigslist to see if I anyone around me would like to share gas in exchange for a ride.  That is ride sharing.  What Uber (and Lyft) are doing is running a taxi company.  They have been calling it something else to avoid the responsibility (and corresponding expense) that comes with running a taxi company.

No, they don't have meters.  But I have ridden in taxis that had no meters too.  Years ago, I had occasion to take a cab in Washington DC, and they looked up their rates on a printed sheet.  There was no meter, just a flat rate that you knew as soon as you got into the car.  Sound familiar?

The only difference I can see between them and a taxi, is that they cannot be flagged down on the street.  They are tied to the app for their income. 

The thing that ticks me off about this business model is the sense of entitlement, that they are just too fucking precious to have to assume the responsibility for anyone or anything other than themselves, or to follow laws that everyone else has to follow.
Tweet

Rep Thompson shows no courage of convictions, or perhaps just no convictions

As were many others, I was pretty pissed off when I read the leaked  documents fro the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.  And I made sure that my representative knew about it.  Of course I knew that at best I would get a canned response.  I just hoped it would actually address at least of little of the more egregious issued revealed in the document.  Instead, this is what I got.

Thank you for contacting me regarding Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with me on these issues.

TPA, informally known as "fast track," is the process by which Congress authorizes the President to negotiate a trade agreement on its behalf. In exchange for following specific negotiating and consultation requirements in the TPA law, the President may submit a final trade agreement to Congress for approval by an up-down vote. However, in 2007, the law authorizing TPA expired, and as a result any new trade agreement negotiated by the President will now be subject to debate and modification by Congress before any agreement could be approved.

Meanwhile, the TPP is a proposed regional trade agreement being negotiated between the United States and eleven other nations. Negotiations cover a wide range of issues, including intellectual property rights, services, government procurement, investment, rules of origin, competition, labor, and environmental standards. In many cases, the rules being negotiated are intended to be more rigorous than comparable rules established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Some topics, such as state-owned enterprises, regulatory coherence, and supply chain competitiveness, break new ground in negotiations.

As we face an increasingly globalized world and economy, I believe balanced, two-way trade must be a tool in our toolbox of economic growth and expansion. Promoting American exports and eliminating barriers to trade in foreign countries will help us create good-paying jobs at home and grow our economy. However, in the past, many trade agreements that have been submitted for Congressional consideration have included inadequate labor and environmental provisions.

Before a final TPP agreement would be sent to Congress for approval, it is expected that Congress would need to first re-authorize TPA. To date, no TPA legislation has been introduced in either the House of Representatives or the United States Senate.  However, before Congress should even consider new TPA legislation, such a proposal must include incentives to keep well-paying jobs at home, promote innovation and job creation, strengthen our trade laws and enforcement agencies, and incorporate strong labor and environmental negotiating goals.

Please know, as a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which is charged with reviewing all matters relating to trade, I will review any proposed TPA or trade agreement with a sharp eye and concern for safety, labor, and environmental protections. TPA and any trade agreements must include incentives to help keep well-paying jobs at home, and to help spur new American innovation and job creation across all sectors of our economy.

Rest assured I will keep your thoughts in mind should any legislation or agreement regarding TPA and TPP come before the Committee or the House of Representatives for consideration.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please continue to contact me on all issues of importance to you and to our district.

Note the presumption that the only way the treaty can be submitted is if the president is granted fast-track authority, tying the hands of Congress (and the people) from having any input into the document.    Note also, despite specifics being available on the content of the proposed agreement he has carefully avoided any mention of them, so he can avoid actually taking a position.  No mention of how the top executives of the corporations that will benefit from this (to the detriment of most of us) have seen copies of the text, but he as a 'senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means' has not.

Would somebody primary this guy from the left, please?

Tweet