<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style=""><div class="" style="font-family:'comic sans ms',sans-serif;font-size:small">Uber-corruption? New taxi service threatens good-paying US jobs while enriching a few insiders</div><div class="" style="font-family:'comic sans ms',sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="" style=""><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.rt.com/op-edge/326671-uber-taxi-us-chicago/">https://www.rt.com/op-edge/326671-uber-taxi-us-chicago/</a></font><br></div><div class="" style="font-family:'comic sans ms',sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="" style="font-family:'comic sans ms',sans-serif;font-size:small">Uber, with Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street insiders as
investors, including the Chicago Mayor’s brother, Ari Emanuel, is
putting at risk thousands of jobs nationwide while the taxi industry
undergoes a game-changing transformation.
</div><div class="" style="font-family:'comic sans ms',sans-serif;font-size:small"><p>Last week I was in Moscow,
invited there by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGM), an
organization founded by young patriotic Russians. They have made an
effort to reach out to progressive communities around the world, even
protesting in front of the US Embassy in Moscow against police impunity
in murders of unarmed Blacks. We had been negotiating dates for my trip
there for about a year. I finally made the trip last week: my visit
coinciding with that of US Secretary of State John Kerry. This unusual
alignment of US officialdom and a former Member of Congress made for
enhanced media interest in my visit.</p><div class="">
<a class="" href="https://www.rt.com/news/325221-uber-taxi-protest-toronto/" target="_blank">
<img class="" src="https://img.rt.com/files/2015.12/thumbnail/56683b03c36188b37a8b458e.jpg" alt="@SaharActually">
<span class="">'Uber is illegal’ - Toronto taxi protestors</span>
</a>
</div><p>In the process, I learned a lot about young Russians. But, for
now, I want to explore the focus of this article: what I learned about a
controversial business that has deep financial ties to Wall Street
insiders and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.</p><p>On my return from Moscow,
I landed at JFK airport, but had to make my way quickly over to
LaGuardia airport for the next leg of my journey. That is when I chanced
upon a conversation with my taxi driver who was fighting mad about what
he believed was an acute injustice that violated the compact between
taxi companies that pay more than one million dollars for permission to
operate, called a <em>“medallion,”</em> in exchange for protection and
regulation by the City. The political tale he spun to me reeked of what
seemed to be a type of illegal Wall Street insider trading. Here’s what
he told me:</p><p>Immediately after collecting the medallion money from
taxi operators in New York City, then-Mayor and billionaire Michael
Bloomberg publicly quarreled with a political connected businessman
known as <em>“The Taxi King,”</em> Evgeny <em>“Gene”</em> Friedman. According to news reports, Bloomberg reportedly told Friedman that he was going to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bloomberg-has-words-with-taxi-boss-2013-5" target="_blank"><em>“destroy your f_cking industry.”</em></a> </p><p>According
to information provided to Business Insider by a witness to the
exchange, Bloomberg appeared to be upset by the ‘Taxi King’s’ successful
legal attack on Bloomberg’s plans to introduce reforms in the New York
taxi industry. Those reforms were to include the mandate that all taxis
would be a special yellow design made especially by Nissan for the New
York Mayor’s initiative, the <a href="http://www.autonews.com/article/20141215/OEM/312159982/how-a-billion-dollar-deal-is-frustrating-nissan-in-new-york" target="_blank">Nissan NV 200</a>. The deal with Nissan was reportedly worth one billion dollars. Dubbed by Mayor Bloomberg as the <em>“Taxi of Tomorrow,”</em> it just so happened that my dash from JFK to LaGuardia was in that very Nissan model that is neither electric nor hybrid. </p><p>My
driver was angry because he had worked hard and paid the fee for the
medallion and then the Mayor undercut the value of the medallion by
allowing Uber drivers to operate in the city in any vehicle. He railed
that overnight, the value of his medallion had dropped precipitously and
due to the Uber competition, he was facing eviction from his home due
to decreased business and increased price competition. He claimed that
his situation was mirrored by thousands of other New York City taxi
drivers and that overnight a middle class job had become one out of
which barely a modest living could be eked.</p><p>Indeed, Uber has made international headlines recently. Available in 68 countries according to its <a href="https://www.uber.com/cities" target="_blank">website</a>,
Uber faces a frontal challenge from competitors in India and China.
Uber’s website claims that its drivers make good money, work on their
own schedule, outside of an office and without a boss. Indians and
Chinese investors have joined forces to back <em>Ola</em>, Uber’s competition in India. The stakes are big with <em>Ola</em>
having raised approximately $670 million between 2012 and mid-2015
before the Chinese investment. In mid-November 2015, Ola announced
another fundraising success of an additional $500 million that included
investment from the Chinese Uber competitor, <em>Didi Kuaidi</em>.</p><p>The struggle in Australia is chronicled on Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaxiDriverPage/" target="_blank">here</a>. One Aussie taxi owner even <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/australian-taxi-firm-owner-brags-about-beating-uber-driver-1522729" target="_blank">reportedly</a> bragged on social media about attacking an Uber driver and recommended that others follow his action.</p><div class="">
<div class="">Read more</div>
<a class="" href="https://www.rt.com/op-edge/225631-uber-cars-drivers-future/" target="_blank">
<img class="" src="https://img.rt.com/files/opinionpost/37/15/f0/00/uber-taxi-homophobia-london.si.n.jpg" alt="Reuters / Sergio Perez">
<span class="">Uber: A small step towards world bankruptcy</span>
</a>
</div><p>Then, my driver dropped what was a bombshell to me: Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ari Emanuel, head of William Morris
Endeavor talent agency, was an Uber investor. So, I decided to
investigate. And sure enough, it turns out that the William Morris
Endeavor talent agency owns an investment in Uber. According to the <em><a href="http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/7/71/166840/rahms-brothers-stake-in-ride-share-firm-raises-uber-questions" target="_blank">Chicago Sun Times</a></em>,
the company spokesperson confirmed that the Uber investment was made
about three months after Uber began operating in Chicago. Moreover, the
Sun Times reports that Uber investors also include Amazon’s billionaire
Jeff Bezos and Goldman Sachs.</p><p>Chicago taxi drivers contend that
the relationship between Uber and the Mayor’s brother is an outrage
because of the city taxi regulations. The paper concludes that the
relationship makes it hard for the mayor to appear to be acting solely
in the city’s interest. Even worse, in 2012, a city employee was
reassigned after she informed the public in a <a href="https://twitter.com/RKrim/status/237298640379596800" target="_blank">tweet</a> that the Uber drivers were not licensed. By 2014, Mayor Emanuel’s <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/chi-chicago-rideshare-regulations-approved-20140528-story.html" target="_blank">ordinance</a> was adopted allowing Uber to legally operate in the city where taxi medallions cost over $350,000.</p><p>An investigation by the City of Portland and reported by Bloomberg <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-19/these-four-charts-show-how-uber-steals-turf-from-cabs-and-spreads-throughout-a-city" target="_blank">news</a>
shows how taxis become displaced by Uber. Meanwhile, in New York City,
my driver reported to me that current New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio is trying to sort out the mess left behind by his predecessor.
But in July 2015, the <em>Washington Post</em> reported, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ubers-bare-knuckle-battle-against-the-taxi-industry/2015/07/27/e0e7be98-3483-11e5-8e66-07b4603ec92a_story.html" target="_blank">“Uber mows down Bill de Blasio.”</a> The <em>Post</em>
article also says that driver-less cars could soon replace Uber
drivers. It ends by acknowledging that while Uber was smashing Bill de
Blasio’s efforts to slow down its penetration of the New York City
market, it also was crushing the dreams of <em>“a lot of hardworking cab drivers.”</em></p><p>So, what does this mean to me?</p><p>Somehow,
it seems unseemly that billionaire and millionaire mayors can use their
money and political power to cost the jobs of hard working middle class
taxi drivers without some kind of alternative training opportunities or
something to ease the losses of the losers while the winners seem to be
playing insider profit games.</p><p><a href="https://www.rt.com/op-edge/325895-haiti-presidential-elections-clinton/" target="_blank">Last week</a>,
I wrote about how those powerful enough to make US policy on Haiti are
turning it into a vassal state; what I stumbled on two days ago, upon my
return to the US, is how a similar situation is brewing in cities all
across the United States while <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-ubers-new-17-billion-710771" target="_blank">millions</a> of dollars in profits are on the table and hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake.</p><p>In
the current US neoliberal system, the winners are the few on the inside
and the losers are all of the rest of us. This is especially true
while the taxi industry undergoes a game-changing transformation.</p></div><p class="" style="font-family:'comic sans ms',sans-serif;font-size:small">The
statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.</p></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><b> <span style="color:rgb(51,204,0)">-----------------------------</span><span style="color:rgb(51,204,0)">-----------------------------+</span><br style="color:rgb(51,204,0)"><span style="color:rgb(51,204,0)">| __o CONTINENTAL CRITICAL MASS </span><br style="color:rgb(51,204,0)"><span style="color:rgb(51,204,0)">| _`\;,_ come ride with me</span><br style="color:rgb(51,204,0)"><span style="color:rgb(51,204,0)">
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