The Goat Pen

The head of a San Francisco taxi company has seen the modern-day writing on the wall and says the taxi industry in its current form may cease to exist within 18 months.

DeSoto Cab Company, one of the city’s oldest, has been operating in San Francisco since the 1930s. CEO Hansu Kim says his industry is hemorrhaging drivers who flee to ridesharing services, using their personal vehicle to offer rides on Uber, Lyft and Sidecar.

“When I say the taxi industry may not survive 18 months or so, I’m seeing a situation where those who drove a taxi cab in the past are now taking their personal cars and acting like a cab on their own,” said Kim.

A quarter of Kim’s cab drivers have switched to rideshare companies. Among companies across the city, it’s more like a third.

“We cannot compete against an unregulated force,” said Kim, who maintains rideshare drivers aren’t playing by the same rules.

The California Public Utilities Commission defines rideshare companies as Transportation Network Companies. The CPUC has adopted regulations such as driver background checks, car inspections and a $1 million-per-incident insurance policy for drivers using their own vehicles.

Cab drivers complain the rules don’t go far enough, saying rideshares don’t have to pay the same fees or be specially licensed.

Kim sees more more drivers jumping from the sinking ship that is the cab industry if things don’t change.

“People are not getting cab drivers’ licenses anymore, because they don’t have to do that anymore,” said Kim. “The concern here is if the driver pool of people who used to drive cabs, it questions if the taxi industry can survive that.”

I do the same thing outside male strip joints.

Industry will figure out a way to squeeze the Uber and Airbnbs of the world. The hotel industry, at least, will only tolerate so much market share loss.

wow

Eric Cantor loses to a relatively unknown challenger because he basically ignored his district and went all in on Amnesty backing Boehner.

This has to scare the RINO GOP members of Congress now - and it pretty much kills any Amnesty bill coming out of the house.

Fuck Amnesty, it pretty much guarantees nothing will ever get done in conjunction with the democrats. I

Did Brook have a heart attack?

Bklyn wrote:Fuck Amnesty, it pretty much guarantees nothing will ever get done in conjunction with the democrats. I

I understand we aren't going to ship 11m illegal latinos back but I'll be damned if I ever support rewarding them with Citizenship for breaking the law.

And Obama is just opening the gates to let them in here.

We need to drop the anchor baby rule and stem this mass exodus of latin America into the states.

I am for immigration, but it does need to be a tad more orderly.

Maybe they should set up a toll booth...

eCat wrote: And Obama is just opening the gates to let them in here.

How's that? Under the Obama Administration, I thought the US has deported more undocumenteds than ever before and immigration was at a net negative. Now, the latest shit with the kids from Central America and Mexico is a whole different story. I have no idea what's driving this shit. Maybe, bad information on our immigration policy (like, say, that we have let the gates open)?

(no, I did not have a heart attack...but my oldest brother did Tuesday night. May he RIP. In AZ now trying to get his affairs in order. This is my first run through this type of situation. Not fun)

so the question is - what is Obama doing to stop it?- its a refugee type situation and we are processing them and letting them stay in the states - doing nothing to show that our borders are closed.


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An organization of former Border Patrol agents Wednesday charged that the federal government, under the administration of President Obama, is deliberately arranging for a flood of immigrant children to arrive in America for political purposes.

“This is not a humanitarian crisis. It is a predictable, orchestrated and contrived assault on the compassionate side of Americans by her political leaders that knowingly puts minor illegal alien children at risk for purely political purposes,” said the statement released by the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers.

“Certainly, we are not gullible enough to believe that thousands of unaccompanied minor Central American children came to America without the encouragement, aid and assistance of the United States government,” the officers said.

“Anyone that has taken two six- to seven-year-old children to an amusement park can only imagine the problems associated with bringing thousands of unaccompanied children that age up through Mexico and into the United States.”

Republicans are blaming Obama’s immigration policies for enticing the illegals, particularly the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program launched in 2012, which recently was renewed.

More than 33,000 have been caught in Texas alone over the last eight months, the report said, overwhelming Border Patrol capabilities.

A federal judge even concluded the White House “has simply chosen not to enforce … border security laws.”

Bklyn wrote:

eCat wrote: And Obama is just opening the gates to let them in here.

How's that? Under the Obama Administration, I thought the US has deported more undocumenteds than ever before and immigration was at a net negative. Now, the latest shit with the kids from Central America and Mexico is a whole different story. I have no idea what's driving this shit. Maybe, bad information on our immigration policy (like, say, that we have let the gates open)?

(no, I did not have a heart attack...but my oldest brother did Tuesday night. May he RIP. In AZ now trying to get his affairs in order. This is my first run through this type of situation. Not fun)

Sorry, to hear that Bklyn. My mother had a heart attack on Easter Sunday and even though she didn't have much of an estate, its a lot of work to wind things up. At least I have a couple of siblings who are helping with the load.

best wishes for both you and Brooklyn - sorry to read this

Sorry to hear about your bro, Brook...

Condolences to both of you.

Sorry Brook.

Yes, condolences to both Brook and Sardis.

Condolences

Sorry to hear it, Sardis."

Thanks to all of you guys with well wishes on behalf of my family. We're all bags of water, so it's bound to happen sooner, rather than later. But still, it's anything but unemotional. I'm worried about his youngest. She's 13 and not showing anything right now. If she doesn't embrace her emotions, it could become a problem.

eCat

I am unfamiliar with the referenced "Deferred Actions..." law. However, the post you clipped still rings of partisan hackery. Are you saying that all undocumented children get to stay in the US? How? In our foster system? Is MS13 gonna raise them? How can I even trust an article about a topic as complex as this that is all of a dozen, or so, sentences?