Here’s a surprise:  Hillary Clinton really doesn’t like independent contract-based business models – like Uber.  Excerpt:

Grandmothers may know best, as Hillary Clinton has put it in tweets, but judging by her latest economic speech, they don’t necessarily get or like Uber.

The ride-sharing service is synonymous with the new efficiency and convenience enabled by information technology, and is anathema to regulators and entrenched interests everywhere. Add to the list of its critics the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Hillary Clinton didn’t mention Uber by name but warned about the disruption caused by it and other companies in the so-called sharing economy. Her husband wanted to build a bridge to the 21st century; Hillary worries about the downsides of “advances in technology and expanding global trade.” 

Republicans would be foolish not to welcome a contrast with Hillary over some of the hottest companies in the world. The Bush campaign let it be known that Jeb will order an Uber ride in San Francisco during a campaign swing there. If he really wants to stick it to Hillary, he will find someone handy to do minor repair work at his Miami headquarters through TaskRabbit, or borrow a wrench during his next trip to Des Moines through NeighborGoods.

Full disclosure:  I’ve used Uber on business trips, and it’s great.  But think about the implications of Her Majesty’s stance on this issue:  She thinks that you – you and I, actually – aren’t capable of making our own employment decisions.

Did you get that?  Queen Hillary I thinks we need the help of government to make arrangements for our employment.  We shouldn’t be allowed to work, say, on a contract basis, what hours we please, accepting (voluntarily!) a plainly stated contract arrangement to work a certain time for a certain amount.

It is a source of infinite pleasure to me that my own employment arrangements are precisely the type government paternalists (or maternalists, if you prefer) hate:

• I’m self-employed.
• I take only set contracts, project based.
• I make pretty good money, only because I have a reputation in the industry for experience, reliability and quality of work.
• I arrange my own health insurance, disability insurance, and so on.
• I’m making arrangements for my own retirement (assuming zero from Social Security.)
• I may not bother with the retirement plans at all, because I get to travel all over the world doing work I love, and I make a damn good living at it.

So screw that.  Uber is a great service, and nobody is forced to work for them.  They aren’t “exploiting” anyone.  They are exchanging in an economic exchange of the purest sort – a free and open transaction, voluntary on the part of both parties, in which both parties realize a gain in value.

And once again Queen Hillary I has revealed that she doesn’t know her ass from her face about economics.