Posted on 08/22/2020 6:29:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
Those who can’t leave need to rear back on their haunches and start voting these people out. If there aren’t enough of them to carry the day, then CA is truly doomed.
Except you have to be licensed, registered and insured to drive for either Uber or Lyft, and you must present documentation to prove you are here legally. Your car also has to meet minimum standards of safety and appearance and you’re tracked and trackable, so you are exceedingly unlikely to rob your passengers.
Most Uber or Lyft drivers do not do it for a living but for extra cash. They also often combine it with food and grocery delivery services that work on similar lines and make a surprising amount of profit; a neighbor drives for Lyft and Postmates (among others) in his spare time and usually makes at least $50 per full night.
I don’t drive for either, but I’ve used their services when traveling, when I’ve been ill or injured to the point where it wasn’t feasible or safe for me to drive and when my car was in the shop.
Also - pre-pandemic, Lyft was set to be profitable by 4Q 2021; they’ve cut costs since and still think they’ll make it:
Just to remind you, Amazon started in 1994 and didn’t show *any* profit until 2004 - and even then it was just on paper. Real profitability didn’t appear for another year and it was 07 - 13 years later - that consistent profitability was achieved.
Keep in mind that both Uber and Lyft (and all the other similar services) have significant overhead and investment in their back end systems that make it all possible and workable. It’s way more than ‘just an app for gypsy cabs’ - that had been tried before and failed.
For that matter, have you ever used their services?
That's all true. That explains the appeal of Uber and Lyft to a large group of customers who need a ride on short notice and are willing to get in a car with a stranger. But for people who use these services regularly -- especially if they aren't too particular about the driver and the vehicle -- there is always an opportunity to get it done cheaper.
A business associate of mine ran into a problem a few years ago where he couldn't drive for several months for medical reasons. He used Uber to get to work for a week or so, then realized that he could save a ton of money just by making an arrangement with a local acquaintance who was an Uber (or Lyft) driver on the side. He just made an arrangement to bypass Uber completely and have the guy pick him up at the same time every morning and drive him to work. He paid the guy directly, which meant the rides cost less even though the driver was getting more money for himself than he would have gotten through Uber.
The passenger would still use Uber for non-work travel, and also occasionally in the evenings for his return trip from work if he couldn't coordinate a trip with his regular morning driver.
Now take this example and multiply it by the thousands of illegal immigrants and marginal people who simply hitch rides with each other in crappy old cars.
For that matter, have you ever used their services?
I've used it occasionally when traveling on business with others. I have an Uber account myself but have never used it. I do most of my travel in a company vehicle, and I happen to live in an area where there is limited Uber coverage so it isn't nearly as convenient as it is in other places.
In most cities, Uber and Lyft have pretty much killed off actual gypsy cabs.
“Now take this example and multiply it by the thousands of illegal immigrants and marginal people who simply hitch rides with each other in crappy old cars.”
Those wouldn’t be gypsy cabs, that’s just called “getting a ride with a friend.” That market is actually very small these days. Seriously - just go to an area of illegals or ‘marginal people’ and see just how many cars have passengers that aren’t obviously the driver’s SO or family.
You do know that a lot of undeniably profitable companies don’t pay dividends, right? Something like a quarter of the S&P 500 do not pay dividends.
From 2014: https://www.dividend.com/investor-resources/sp-500-companies-that-dont-pay-dividends/
Dividends are *not* a good indicator of profitability; Sears kept paying dividends despite bleeding cash for a decade: https://historicalstockinfo.com/sears-dividends-reference-page/
GM was paying dividends through spring of this year despite being bailed out and then falling back into the hole of burning money:
Paying dividends is a crappy, inaccurate way to determine profitability.
If you are in business you can manipulate financial records and even post fraudulent financial statements ... but you can't fake a dividend once you've paid it.
P.S. -- the last time I had a conversation like this with someone on FR we were talking about Enron. Seriously.
And if it passes, the state will just run to some Leftist judge who will say, too bad so sad, I overrule this prop as "unconstitutional" (a.k.a. not fascist and therefore unacceptable), sorry voters but nobody cares what you want!
Complete insanity
Opponents of Prop 22 include
KAMALA
Biden
The Teacher’s Union (what business is it of theirs?)
AMZN ... Amazon.Com Inc. ... Market Cap. $479,767,648 ... Profit Margin 1.74%
Seriously? This company is trading at almost 127x its trailing earnings today.
Do you think this is a good buy?
I’m not say it’s great, but it’s all that will be left unless you want to use a bus.
Where did you get that Amazon’s profit margin is 1.74%?
The information might be out of date because the market cap is much smaller than Amazon is right now.
True. We have the same problem in Warsaw. The Uber drivers are Ukrainians or Indians — both of whom don’t speak polski well. They are 40% cheaper or more than cabs, but I prefer cabs except for work.
There are newer apps like MyTaxi etc. that provide similar functionality but connect to licensed taxi drivers.
Ca and NY and other liberal pestholes are banking on a RAT victory in November. A RAT win will see the FED now bailing out these corrupt State oligarchies into the future, forever. They will also change the laws so that they stay in power forever.
It’s not the individual corrupt States that will fail financially. It’s the whole country.
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