Analysis by Kyle A. Lohmeier
It appears that many on the Left have never met a new, innovative private enterprise that they didn’t want to see destroyed – a trend which has only gathered steam as the Left’s own policies have further crippled the economic recovery over the last seven years. With the economy most of us know and love effectively hobbled, the Left now has time to turn its attention to the “Gig economy.” We’ve already heard Hillary and Bernie’s open hostility to Uber and Lyft – or, rather, their having been bought by organized labor representing cab drivers – and now two prominent Democrats and another guy are taking aim at short-term lodging sites like AirBnb, FlipKey, etc.
“We are concerned that short-term rentals may be exacerbating housing shortages and driving up the cost of housing in our communities,” the senators, Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Diane Feinstein (D-California) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, according to reporting by Reuters. “We have also read troubling reports of racial discrimination on some short-term rental platforms.”
I know, you’re still re-reading the above quotes trying to figure out what possible role the federal government has in these matters. Relax, Pocahontas, etc., wants the FTC to spend taxpayer money to conduct a study with the hopes of being able to determine to what extent some people are using the short-term rental apps as a business. Because, of course, making money in such a way is evil. And, they’re probably not paying anywhere near enough in taxes, according to them.
It seems as if the Left is at least conscious of the fact real people see their anti-business motives and actions for what they are, so in this case, at least the senators are attempting to head off such criticisms. According to Reuters and Fortune, the senators “acknowledged that short-term lodging firms have sparked innovation, increased competition and provided new means for earning extra income.”
Which, if they were honest, is why they want them all regulated out of existence; they represent way too much individual liberty in the fiscal realm.
Their mention of the problems some black users of AirBnb have reported in finding a place to stay is nice political cover, even though AirBnb is already addressing the matter themselves, the way private companies do, even if they were, as they admit, “late to the issue” of racial bias.
Again, it bears mentioning that sites like AirBnb are merely the catalysts that bring people with short-term lodging to rent and people looking for short-term lodging together. At the end of the day, it is always the owner of the private property who gets to decide who will stay there and for what price. If that individual has a racial bias, so what? It’s his property; it doesn’t belong to AirBnB or anyone looking to rent it. If a person wants to reduce the odds of filling his rental space with a renter by 13% because he refuses to deal with 13% of the population, that’s on him. Blacks can take their money to smarter and more appreciative renter.
There is no actual role for government here. Not a legit one, anyway. There is no realistic danger of short-term lodging sites causing long-term disruptions in average rent prices for big cities. And, even if there was, there still wouldn’t be a legit role for government there. Hell, if the government were actually concerned about undue influences in housing availability and price, they’d get rid of rent controls. I wouldn’t hold my breath there.
Throwing thin veils of populism and fighting racial bias over a nakedly hostile attack on private business, entrepreneurship and the “gig economy” shouldn’t be enough to fool anyone, but then again, something has to explain the popularity of mountebanks like Liz Warren. People like her and her supporters have a completely fractured view of liberty; they pretend fiscal and social liberty can be treated separately and independently. That’s how we’ve come to a point where today, America’s Left will, as they should, let people do what they wish with their private parts; just never their private property.
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