Here’s the argument I wrote against Proposition L, the estimated $25 million a year tax increase on “transportation network companies” like Uber and Lyft.
Again, feedback is welcome!
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
(415) 573-7997
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Politicians are always asking voters to pay more taxes (give them more money to play with). They describe these takings with euphemisms like “investment” or “raising revenues”, when in fact they are cutting the budgets of you and your family and friends, and lowering your standard of living!
If you vote for Proposition L, you’re basically voting for higher Uber and Lyft prices, and lower pay for drivers! Of course these companies could also cut executive pay or reduce corporate profits, but will they? One way or another, higher costs of doing business usually translate into higher prices, lower wages, and/or lower quality service.
There’s also a hidden downside of government imposing more costs on businesses: Fewer people will start them and succeed. Entrepreneurs looking to get into the taxi business and seeing little profit in it will be less likely to do so. The result is a smaller number of big companies with less competition, and more people seeking to work for others instead of running their own businesses, putting job-seekers at an artificial disadvantage.
This is similar to how laws putting additional expenses and burdens on landlords mean fewer people going into the business of renting property, making available units more scarce and expensive. It’s basic supply and demand. When the administration of libertarian president Javier Milei recently implemented reforms ending rent controls in Argentina, the housing supply skyrocketed and rents came down.
Do San Francisco politicians really need to increase their take yet again, when they already have a $14 billion budget, bigger than those of many entire states? Do you really want to let them make transportation more like they’ve made housing in San Francisco – unaffordable to the average person?
If not, vote NO on Prop. L!
Starchild
Chair, Libertarian Party of San Francisco
LPSF.org