Maggie's Farm

I don't know if government elites get it or don't about people willing to trade some job security for some freedom. But I do know for certain they don't care what common people want.

In San Francisco the cab drivers are all independent contractors though cab companies largely set their hours, routes and customers. They are not employees and are not subject to standard worker protections and overtime laws. Some pay as much as $250,000 for their licensing medallions. Others rent their cabs on a daily basis and pay taxes as part of that rental.

No story about the gig economy includes these independent contract drivers. No one calls this gig work and no one protests the exploitation of these workers by the taxi cab companies. All those hours of work and no worker protections.

But when drivers transport customers where they like and when they like using their own vehicle and the Uber app, the approved messaging changes. These are now exploited Uber employees who must be protected from the voracious appetites of the gig economy.

Read my lips. It's about the taxes. It's always about the taxes.

Were the City of San Francisco to receive taxes from each mile driven by these gig drivers, then they would shout the benefits of the gig economy from the highest rooftops.

We would then see squabbling between cities each claiming their share of every mile driven.

Yes the route included 5 miles in your city, but those were highway miles at 60 MPH and so only 5 minutes elapsed. But the two miles they drove in our city took 10 minutes and so we deserve a double share of the taxes. I mean we had twice the carbon dumped on our Fair City and so suffered much greater harm.