Paul Soglin, Uber and Lyft are here to stay.

I am not a hip cat.  I do not own a tablet. The IQ of my phone is not anywhere near "smart." I am still confused by social media and I routinely threaten to quit Facebook in a huff.

In short, I am somewhat slow in adapting to new technology. Not unlike Paul Soglin in Madison and other cities.

Our world is hurtling into the future, creating new ways to do old things. Facebook changed the way we connect to others and share our life. Instagram changed the way we share pictures and make our friends feel jealous. Tinder changed the way we date. And Uber and Lyft change the way we travel around town.

Lawmakers need to keep up, and stop bowing to the special interests that line their pockets. 

Uber and Lyft are being cited as an "unregulated taxi services" according to the government.  This just means they won't pony up the enormous fees to be a Taxi company. And Taxi companies are quite pissed about it.   They argue under the pretense of safety. They claim the service needs be 24/7. The legislators  leave unsaid the $2200 per cab that needs be paid every two years to the city. The Taxi cabs leave unsaid that Uber and Lyft take away from their market share.


I have never used Uber or Lyft , but they are becoming more popular with a college crowd. And rather than bullying them out of the market, like Madison wants to do, maybe we should encourage entrepreneurship, like Milwaukee has begun to do.

And Taxi cab companies, rather than press your legislators to beat up on new services, why not ask "why are Uber and Lyft so popular?" or "what makes Uber and Lyft more enticing than our services?" Because Uber and Lyft are being used in Madison, even with your bully-tactics. So they have to be doing something right.

This fiasco is just another example of corporatism, where a business buys a politician rather than competes in the market.

Legislators and City Officials like Paul Soglin need to get hip to the times and listen to his constituents, not the Taxi Cab Lobbyists. Madison is full of young people, keen on technology and ready for the cyber-capitalist revolution. People who, like Alder Scott Resnik want access to the options technology is bringing. The technology is here, the desire for it is here. The markets are turning fast - too fast for heavy handed control. The digital-age genie is out of the bottle. And no amount of legislative saber-rattling will put it back.