Re/code's technology journalist Kara Swisher said Friday on CNBC she couldn't believe she agreed with Republican Jeb Bush's support of Uber, the ride-sharing company that has upset Democrats for being better than taxis and not wanting to be drowned by government regulations.
Bush took an Uber ride in San Francisco Thursday and addressed the controversy the company has stirred among people who dislike good things, saying Uber was "disrupting the old order" and there were means to address employee abuses if they were happening.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, took a shot at Uber and the shared economy this week in a speech that played to her base. According to U.S. News and World Report, Clinton said "This ‘on demand’ or so-called ‘gig' economy is creating exciting opportunities and unleashing innovation, but it’s also raising hard questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future," and she vowed to "crack down on bosses misclassifying workers as contractors."
Swisher called Clinton's take on it "old-world."
"It's an interesting debate," Swisher said. "Of course, it's going to make it into the presidential debate. I can't believe I kind of side with Jeb Bush on this one. I think the question is, we've got to put in regulations that create this, but some of these regulations do have to change. This is a really fascinating area of the economy. It's an area that has a potential for enormous abuse, and at the same time it has a potential for enormous innovation. So the answer is right down the middle. To have sort of old-world answers, which Hillary Clinton sounded a little bit like that, is not really the way to go."
In New York City, far-left Mayor Bill de Blasio has roused the company's ire by seeking legislation curbing Uber's growth to 1 percent while the city conducts a traffic congestion study, according to Gizmodo, which adds "the car-hailing service has correctly seen this as a handout to the angry taxicab lobby."
As Rich Lowry wrote, "The ride-sharing service is synonymous with the new efficiency and convenience enabled by information technology, and is anathema to regulators and entrenched interests everywhere. Add to the list of its critics the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee."
Uber drivers work when they please and often do it to supplement the income from their other, more traditional jobs.