Sure glad that’s over.

Taxicab driving has, in my opinion, always been a bit of a bellwether for the state of the economy. Times are good, drivers are happy, times are bad, drivers are unhappy. Imagine my amazement, now that the recession is over, when I read the story about the Naples, Florida taxicab driver allegedly slashing another driver’s tire and threatening him over a fare dispute. Not only risking his job, but his freedom over a taxi fare? Good thing the recession is over, he might have killed his whole family if not.

Now, I don’t claim to be an economist, in fact Introduction to Micro Economics screwed up my 4.0 GPA, but I am a small businessman. The recession may be over in Washington DC, but I think we might just be a little hasty proclaiming all is well with the rest of the country. I often wonder how stupid politicians can be when they profess to believe that they know how the American people are exactly. While congressional leaders argue over each iteration of their “revenue neutral” health care proposal and the need for “climate change” legislation I have to wonder if they’re playing with a full deck. The question seems to be either:

These people are idiots, or

They’re so arrogant and out of touch they have no idea how much they’ve already screwed up the economy.

After reading “Arguing with Idiots” I’m inclined to believe that they’re idiots and believe us to be the same. How long are we going to hear that Bush ate their homework? On Election Day 2008 the unemployment rate was 6.8%, now its 10.2 % (maybe higher by the time this is published). While DC Idiocrats plan tax hikes for this or that absolute necessity, working class Americans are struggling to just get by. But hey, the good news is the recession's finally over! Please, sir, may I have another.

Happy Birthday to youuuuu!

Yellow Cab of Baltimore is reported to be 100 years old in October. Having had the pleasure of visiting Yellow Cab of Baltimore I can understand why it is they lasted 100 years. The management, the staff and the facility were top notch. Early into the TLPA, then the ITLA, computerized dispatch Yellow has been a leader in the American taxicab industry for some time. Congratulations.

And the verdict is in…

Well, the verdict is in and it appears the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) looks worse than ever. In what can only be called a “she said, he said” case a Philadelphia jury is reported to have deliberated less than thirty minutes before acquitting Ron Blount of choking a female passenger who was presenting a credit card for payment. While Blount is reported to have referred to his prosecution as "a classic example of what happens when a white woman accuses a black working man of doing something" the entire affair appeared to me to be a thinly veiled attempt to rid the city of the taxi driver’s association leader. With no eyewitnesses or physical evidence what other conclusion can one draw from the entire affair?

Assistant District Attorney Stacy Forchetti is reported to have referenced Mr. Obama in the White House as a means of pointing out how passé racism is supposed to be identified. While I don’t believe her argument, I do believe that it most certainly wasn’t racism that led to Blount’s being taken to a jury trial. The reports of the PPA staff cheering Blount’s arrest outside their offices lead me to believe that the prosecution wasn’t racism but simply an abuse of power. If it were simply a criminal matter why wasn’t Blount arrested on the spot instead of later at the PPA offices? How was it the District Attorney’s office was convinced without evidence while the jury took less than thirty minutes to acquit? Nope, in my opinion, the fix was in. They were taking a shot at getting rid of their enemy.

While I don’t agree with Blount’s position on very much he has a perfect right to pursue the goals of his organization without interference from the Gestapo. There is more than a small difference between regulating an industry and running over those who disagree with you. There may or may not have been contact between the PPA and the DA, not that anyone would admit if there was, but the DA going after an obvious enemy of the city’s righteous leadership wouldn’t require contact. All in all a very sad statement of the state of affairs in the city of my youth.

Speaking of racism…

Okay, hold up your hand if you are sick to death of hearing accusations of racism every time someone of color doesn’t get what they want or has somebody disagree with them. So what makes the Detroit Metropolitan Airport Taxicab Association stupid enough to think that a federal judge wouldn’t think that the 500 grand they owed the airport wasn’t the motivating factor in their having their contract jerked?

While the article claims many of the drivers are immigrants from the Middle East they would have to be idiots from the Middle East to think they could stiff the government (yes, the airport is owned by the government) to the tune of 500k and that a federal judge was going to let them slide for any reason, race or otherwise. Jeffrey Kopp, an attorney for the airport authority, is reported to have said the contract is being terminated because the taxi association has failed to pay more than $500,000 fees it owes the airport. It appears that the “race card” no longer has trump status. Perhaps, in this case, the “N word” is short for nitwits.

Gee, I wonder why he’s doing that?

The soap opera that is the DC taxicab industry continues to entertain. A federal prosecutor is reported to have offered Ted G. ‘Everybody Does it Here’ Loza a plea deal on his accepting a bribe case. Since they have Teddy on Tape allegedly, I love that word 'allegedly', practicing to be a Congressman from Louisiana I wonder why they’re offering him a plea deal? Yep, I’ll bet there’s an opera solo in that guy’s future. In the interest of full disclosure I would like to state unequivocally that I have never met Teddy nor do I possess any of Teddy on Tape’s albums or CD’s. It’s amazing to me that anybody and everybody, it seems, gets caught doing something in DC. It’s got to be the payola capital of the known universe.

This is war!

Well, cities all over the country are declaring war on taxicab drivers on the phone. Some cities won’t let anybody on the phone, but cab drivers seem to have a special place in people’s hearts when it comes to cell phones. While I don’t like the government to get involved in the minutiae of my life, which they seem to want to do more and more, I can see how they might believe there’s a legitimate need to get drivers off the phone and focused on the road. In fact, you could say that about all drivers, not just cab drivers.

Good stuff, public safety, yeah, that’s the ticket. They’re not trying to control every aspect of our lives, they’re just trying to protect us from ourselves. We need that, no really, we do. The fact is that we’re just too stupid to make these kinds of decisions for ourselves. Seriously, how smart is texting while driving? Texting while operating a train? Dialing the phone in heavy traffic? I often wonder if we’re hiring someone to manage our government or to hold our hand as we cross the street. But, then, we hired them so what do we expect.

Well of course not.

The Nevada Supreme Court has reportedly ruled that the scumbag that murdered a taxicab driver while attempting to rob him be resentenced because “the circumstances of the crime did not warrant capital punishment." Really? If he’d shot a teller in the commission of a bank robbery would that have been enough? How about shot a judge in a car jacking? The justices claimed there weren’t “aggravating circumstances.” I don’t know about you, but I would find getting murdered while being robbed would be damned “aggravating.”

He’s toast.

It’s been reported that a New York City taxicab driver has been cited for ejecting a gay couple making out in the back seat. While Mikey “Green Cabs for Everyone” Bloomberg admitted he didn’t have all the facts he still felt compelled, of course, to comment on the alleged situation. The head of the TLC, Matthew Daus, also commented on the situation, but stuck mainly to some generalities.

I especially liked the “administrative law judge” finding the truth comment. The truth is we will never know the truth. By the time it gets in front of the “administrative law judge” the “victim’s” story will be that they were just holding hands and the evil cab driver hurled them from the cab and the emotional distress is unbearable. The driver, being the only witness against two, won’t have a prayer. Throw in the mayor running off at the mouth without the facts (hey, he is qualified to be president) coupled with the protected status of sexual deviants and the driver is pretty much toast.

While he may loose his license and his income, in addition to having him and his family thrown into the streets, absolutely deserving of course, he should be grateful this isn’t a capital punishment offense. During my tenure as a taxicab driver I felt compelled to urge restraint on the part of several couples both hetero and homo. Usually, reminding them that they were in public and that a taxicab is to provide transportation and not a place for conjugal visits was enough to turn the trick, okay poor choice of words. However, occasionally I did have to make a threat or two to enforce compliance. Of course, that was in Texas and not New York City. I have the feeling that some rights are going to be violated, but I doubt that Mikey and I would agree with whose rights those might be. The PC machine is poised to suck up another sacrifice. I’ll bet I never get elected to public office.

Too much is never enough.

Well, New York taxicabs are now collecting 50 cents per fair for the government of the state of New York and the riders aren’t pleased. So, let me see. You have some of the steepest tax rates in the country but a 50 cent tax on a taxi ride has got the whole state up in arms? Get serious. Do you really think that this is going to be the final tax? Do you really think that the politicians that got you into this mess can get you out? Do you, or they, have any idea how much will be enough? Are you going to change anything? Would you like to buy a bridge? Tea anyone?