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Regulators Criticize Banks For Lending Uber $1.15 Billion (venturebeat.com)

Federal regulators criticized several Wall Street banks over the handling of a $1.15 billion loan they helped arrange for Uber this past summer, reports Reuters, citing people with knowledge of the matter. From the report: Led by Morgan Stanley, the banks helped the ride-sharing network tap the leveraged loan market in July for the first time, persuading institutional investors to focus on its lofty valuation and established markets rather than its losses in countries such as China and India. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which are trying to reign in risky lending across Wall Street, took issue with the way in which the banks carved out Uber's more mature operations from the rest of the business, the people said.

139 comments

  1. Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit's by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 0, Troll

    Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit's and kills / get's in a real bad accident and they try to get out of it.

  2. Death of Uber by DaMattster · · Score: 1, Troll

    I hope that Uber dies and with each loss they sustain, I cheer. The company cheats its drivers out of so much. Uber is just another predatory company.

    1. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Can't they just not drive for uber? Or just drive for Lyft?

    2. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly. Why do people think they need to be white knights for Uber drivers? Uber drivers know what they are doing.

    3. Re:Death of Uber by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 2

      Clearly you have never caught an Uber, or if you have you have never bothered to actually speak to the driver(s). I usually use my motorbike to get to work and back, but when the weather is really crappy I catch an Uber, and I chat with the drivers. Of all the Ubers I have caught I have only encountered one disgruntled driver, ironically he didn't like meeting all the different people and wanted to go back to driving long distance trucks. All the other drivers have been happy driving for Uber, sure the metered taxis charge twice what Uber charges and so get more out of driving, but no one uses them anymore (because they are so expensive).

      --
      There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
    4. Re:Death of Uber by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      Exactly. Why do people think they need to be white knights for Uber drivers? Uber drivers know what they are doing.

      Your post reminds me of this clip from Airplane.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    5. Re:Death of Uber by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most are happy until they go to sell their cars and learn there is no equity left after a few years. The more you drive, the more you loose.

    6. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uber drivers know what they are doing.

      Trying to survive in a world where wages for the non-college educated have been declining?

    7. Re:Death of Uber by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

      I'm sure they're perfectly free to say how much they hate the job and driving you round with no percussions whatsoever.

      --
      If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
    8. Re: Death of Uber by Gorilla_Man · · Score: 1

      Usually, you don't have to worry about percussions with Uber drivers, except when you get one of those beatnik drivers. I try to stay away from them.

    9. Re:Death of Uber by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      I find the idea that someone can make anecdotal claims on the Internet and pass them off as a comprehensive study probably the oddest part of the parent's claims.

      "Oh well, fuck employment law, because sometimes I take an Uber ride, and the drivers seem totally cool with it!"

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    10. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So much this

    11. Re:Death of Uber by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 0

      That's why you buy an older used car. Taxis routinely buy old cop cars with over 100,000 miles or more and use them for several more years.

    12. Re:Death of Uber by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

      Why not just create a competing version that gives drivers their due and lures them all away from Uber?

      At the moment Taxi drivers are notorious for really nabbing passengers. Perhaps you are a couple steps ahead?

    13. Re: Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea because uber drivers are employees right? They are kept in the loop on everything and have stock options and other benefits. They get daily status updates on the company.

      Ohhhh wait...

    14. Re: Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find I get stiff after lots of driving, not loose.

    15. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're playing fast and lose with the facts, looser.

    16. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good luck getting Uber to approve your 1987 Mercedes with 420,000 miles on it.

    17. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uber drivers are not employed by Uber. Employment law does not apply.

    18. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      services like uber and lyft have rules about how old a car you can use and the cars condition

    19. Re:Death of Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember when we had that attitude with mortgages ? That worked out well.

    20. Re:Death of Uber by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      That's a claim that has already been attacked in multiple jurisdictions, and for reasons heavily covered on Slashdot. Just signing a contract does not make you a contractor; if it sufficiently resembles an employer-employee relationship, in many jurisdictions it will be deemed as such, meaning minimum wage laws, working standards and withholding tax rules apply.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    21. Re:Death of Uber by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Because, as Uber's loss of $2+ billion a year shows, you cannot make a profit doing this kind of business. It doesn't work. There's a reason cabs cost what they do - it's kind of what you have to charge to make a profit as a business. Right now, we have billions of dollars given to Uber to use to subsidize (pay) customer's rides. Once that subsidy goes away - Uber's costs will greatly increase to that of a cab, and Uber loses its value.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    22. Re:Death of Uber by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

      Where I live, Taxis must be 7 years old or less, and most drivers buy them with 2-3 years and 100k miles on them. Uber has an age limit of five years; I don't think I have ridden in more than a couple that seemed "used", and most were fairly new. But yes, if you buy a 3-4 year old car to drive 50k miles per year you might be able to keep your costs around $0.25/paid mile, earning $0.60 net after self employment taxes, or about $30k for about 1,00-1,500 hours behind the wheel with the app on... best case scenario. Talking to drivers I ride with, the most active ones have the app on about 60 hours per week and get 60-65k paid miles per year. Unless a lot of those hours have high surcharges, they are only making $12/hour.

    23. Re:Death of Uber by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

      I wasn't aware Uber was receiving subsidies. Are you talking government subsidies (i.e. tax revenues)?

    24. Re:Death of Uber by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      No, I'm talking riders getting subsidies - via Uber paying more to the drivers than the costs support. Once that subsidy to the rider goes away, either the driver loses money (and Uber loses drivers in droves), or the cost of the ride goes up (and the number of riders plumments). Cut the billions that Uber is spending to buy riders - and you have no more riders.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    25. Re:Death of Uber by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

      Wasn't aware of that. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

  3. The banks know something, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....persuading institutional investors to focus on its lofty valuation....

    ...Wall Street, took issue with the way in which the banks carved out Uber's more mature operations from the rest of the business,....

    Maybe because the banks aren't stupid enough to get suckered in by horseshit valuation like Wall Street is?

    But Uber proved a popular draw for investors because of their familiarity with its business and because it had recently closed a $3.5 billion round of financing from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, giving it a valuation of $62.5 billion, dwarfing that of blue-chip companies such as General Motors Company.

    Unbelievable. But, if Uber goes public, they'll probably make out because the IPO will be sold too people who are going to go, "D'uuuuuuuuhhhh; it's a techonology company and it can only go up! D'uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh. Things are different! D'uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

    It's 1999 all over again.

    1. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by the_B0fh · · Score: 2

      While risky, Uber does actually have a bloody good business model. It's just that they are also unethical as hell, and does not give a crap about your privacy or your security.

    2. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is one of those odd ones. I work in the tech sector. I also trade stocks as a bit of a hobby, not any real large amounts of money mind you, just money I don't care if I lose. Sort of my type of gambling.

      I feel I should understand how stocks in tech will react and have some level of success in trading them. But I'm always wrong. If I try to use the logic of do the opposite of what I think, I still end up wrong. I simply cannot understand tech stocks and what earning results and announcements will make them go up or down. Tesla, in enormous amounts of debt, taking on more, losing money every quarter, one of the largest expenses is dealing with recalls due to poor quality, cars are reviewed to not be very good, constantly misses production goals yet their stock is through the roof. Twitter, literally never turned a profit, seems to be imploding, literally has no physical assets, not idea how to monetize anything, stock is unphased. When I worked for an unnamed company, we'd put out an earnings report that we'd achieved record sales and profits, our stock would dive 15%.

      Yeah, tech stocks make no effing sense to me.

    3. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by PPH · · Score: 1

      Maybe because the banks aren't stupid enough to get suckered in by horseshit valuation like Wall Street is?

      It's just a debt vs equity question. Uber figures they'd rather borrow than try to raise money with an IPO. Either way, banks or Wall Street brokers don't care about the risks. Their job is to package the debt or equity and get it out the door to investors ASAP. They won't be around if Uber falls on its face.

      Right now, the debt vs equity decision is tilted heavily in favor of debt, given the overhead costs of regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Also, assuming that Uber does go public in the near future, loaning them a big chunk of money allows well connected investors an opportunity to get in ahead of future equity investors and make a tidy profit.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    4. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      It's hard to call a business model that has thus far lost hundreds of millions of dollars a "good" business model. About the only way it is a good business model is that the guys at the top are probably taking in a pretty tidy salary, and will be walking away from the wreckage of Uber's bankruptcy with millions.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    5. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by radl33t · · Score: 1

      It may be hard for the short sighted or ignorant.

    6. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      When you consider that it's unlikely that the business model as it stands is likely to even work in many jurisdictions, due to the growing number of jurisdictions that are rejecting Uber's argument that its drivers are private contractors, I don't actually see a long term view here. Yes, they have the app, and that IP may be worth something, but the business model where you weasel your way out of paying minimum wages and withholding taxes doesn't look very optimistic.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    7. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      It's hard to call a business model that has thus far lost hundreds of millions of dollars a "good" business model.

      Get your facts straight - they lost $2 BILLION last year alone. If they were losing just hundreds of millions of dollars, they'd be in a much better position than they are. How a company that loses $2 billion in subsidizing it's only "product" (rides) is worth $62 billion is stunning, and a huge warning we're back in an Internet bubble...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    8. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It will be a small price to pay for building the one and only all-self-driving taxi fleet.

    9. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People used to talk like this when Amazon was being built. Now they wonder where the "profitable" retail stores have gone.

      Uber's true business is the extinction of human taxi drivers.

    10. Re:The banks know something, that's why. by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Amazon had enough money to weather the storm and survive; will Uber? Their burn rate is an order of magnitude higher than Amazon - and they have no path towards profitabilty, their assets being not warehouses and physical stock but an app.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  4. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by DogDude · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The whole point of corporations in the US is so that nobody's liable for what corporations do. Corporations can't/don't go to jail, and a member of a corporations going to jail for something done under the auspices of the company is rarer than lightning strikes or lottery winners.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  5. Imbeciles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    REIN in. Jesus, people, this is not difficult.

    1. Re:Imbeciles. by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      Why would you want to rein in Jesus? What makes you believe it would be easy to do so?

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    2. Re:Imbeciles. by dbraden · · Score: 1

      Nah, I think they have it right. Read it again, as written: The government is "...trying to reign in risky lending". They want to be the kings of it :)

    3. Re:Imbeciles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The misspelling seems to be coming from the original article as posted to Reuters, strangely enough.

      I'm convinced that it's spelled that way by all of the fools living on the coasts that have never read a book that contained references to riding horses (or, for that matter, seen an actual horse.)

  6. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by MitchDev · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and THAT is the problem

  7. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "hit's", "get's"? Seriously?

  8. Uber is not a ride-sharing company by dave420 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ride sharing has a specific meaning, and Uber is not it.

    1. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a ToI (taxi over the internet) company, just as AirBnB is a HoI (hotel over the internet) company .

    2. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      T'was an evil ship to be sure... but sailed, she has.

    3. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ride sharing has a specific meaning, and Uber is not it.

      For those who are still confused, we used to call ride-sharing "carpooling" but needed a hip new buzzword when you use an App to schedule your car pool with strangers. When you pay someone to drive you around, you're not "sharing" the ride any more.

    4. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never stop fighting. If "Hitler was okay" is said enough times, does that make it true? It is almost your *duty* as a human being to call out corporate BS whenever you see it. Otherwise they will corrupt the language to suit themselves. Corporations will "like" you (hurt you). They will "share" with you (sell your privacy). They will be your "friend" (fuck you over). Part of controlling people is controlling the message and the language.

    5. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by kwerle · · Score: 1

      Meh. When I'm in SF, most of the uber rides I take are shared. Not with the uber driver, but with folks I work with or with strangers.

    6. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Luthair · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which is something people also do with taxis.... If the driver wasn't going that way already and you're only covering a share of the gas money it isn't ride sharing.

    7. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by kwerle · · Score: 1

      I have far fewer taxi experiences than uber.

      Is public transit ride sharing?

    8. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh.... so, you can ride the Internet to the grocery store now?

    9. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is public transit ride sharing?

      No, it is public transit; It's own category.

      In Minneapolis, I have been told by several veteran drivers that rider payments make up about 1/3 of operating expenses. The rest is funded by tax money.

      I think the OP's thought was that "ride sharing" == "car pooling". However, Uber is not "ride sharing" because you are paying someone to take you from point A to point B when that person was not going to point B anyway AND is charging you money in excess of operating cost (profit) for the service.

    10. Re:Uber is not a ride-sharing company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You pay for public transit so it isn't ride sharing. Most places have coin/card operated stands you place money in when you board. A few areas have free public transportation, but the money for that comes from taxes.

  9. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by DickBreath · · Score: 1

    The head of foreign corporation building diesel engines programmed to cheat emissions tests can be arrested while on vacation in the US.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  10. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Realize though that the reason people working for a corp don't go to jail is mostly on the shoulders of the DoJ. If the DoJ wanted to throw the CEO in prison for something illegal the company they are responsible for did, they can. See here for evidence. If you would like to see the DoJ throw more CEOs in prison for wrong doing of their companies, demand it of your elected officials and vote them out if the refuse. This actually is one item you can directly blame the president for since he actually does preside over the DoJ.

  11. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Totally a problem.

    So enjoy your lengthy sentence for that buggy ass code you wrote, chump.

  12. Re:Dear Trump, please kick out the Muslims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm guessing Muslims

  13. Yes, risky lending by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    When every last customer and driver you have can walk away after a 3-minute download, how can that "lofty valuation" be justified?

    What I don't get is how the company can be worth more than every last taxi medallion in every major US city combined.

    1. Re:Yes, risky lending by dehachel12 · · Score: 1

      The US only has about 4% of the world population.

    2. Re:Yes, risky lending by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, so why is my local bank with its fancy app not worth trillions?

  14. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by DogDude · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yup. That's one of the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. Oh, maybe that kid who tried to run a pharmaceutical company. But, that's my point. It happens much more rarely than it should. Who from GM was sent to jail for killing over 100 people by knowingly using bad ignition switches? Every industrial accident that was the result of negligence? Or even companies that willingly and knowingly sell things to people that give them cancer?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  15. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where were these "regulators" when the banks were lending trillions on junk mortgages then reselling them to people as bonds?

    --
    No sig today...
  16. What's the money for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What does Uber do?

    Write application software? Maintain some servers? Ok. Those sound like real things.

    But they sound like something that costs less than a million dollars per year. Is the rest all spent on embezzlement services?

    1. Re:What's the money for? by afidel · · Score: 1

      But they sound like something that costs less than a million dollars per year. Is the rest all spent on embezzlement services?

      First, haha NO, servicing hundreds of thousands or millions of customers a day does not cost less than a million a year, try probably ~$50 million if you're doing it right.

      Second, they're currently employing most of the former AI and Robotics labs folks from Carnegie Mellon and a few other large high profile labs in an effort to get autonomous cars going to the point where they can remove their biggest expenditure (their drivers).

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    2. Re: What's the money for? by cunina · · Score: 1

      The robotics stuff is merely a news-friendly stunt to fluff their market cap when they IPO. Non-savvy investors will hear all about self-driving cars and buy Uber as a "technology" stock.

    3. Re:What's the money for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Second, they're currently employing most of the former AI and Robotics labs folks from Carnegie Mellon and a few other large high profile labs in an effort to get autonomous cars going to the point where they can remove their biggest expenditure (their drivers).

      I'm willing to bet Uber will contribute little value to the self-driving auto movement. Love how the "journalists" say that Uber's advantage is that they collect so much real traffic data from their drivers. If that is their advantage, then Waze is doing a much more comprehensive job for Google-Alphabet-Waymo-whatever.

    4. Re: What's the money for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have clearly never been to their advanced technology center. It's far more than fluff.

  17. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Rockoon · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They were making sure the banks complied as an "equal opportunity lender"

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  18. Hey look everybody! by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 2

    Found the cabbie scum.

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    1. Re:Hey look everybody! by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some of us just expect them to follow the same laws that cabbies are required to. You know like the same insurance that's required for a commercial operator. Vehicle inspections, CPR training and so on. You know, exactly the same things that were put into law because cabbies had such a terrible track record that it was killing people.

      Yes, how dare people demand they actually follow the law.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    2. Re:Hey look everybody! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vehicle inspections, CPR training and so on.

      That may be true under the letter of the law but it is not true in practice. Cabs here are pieces of junk that shouldn't even be on the road in many cases. Most of their vehicles are from the late-70s/early-80s. The last cab I had to take a few months ago was running on 3 donut-tire spares and the cabbie had to pump the brakes as it had a bad master-cylinder.

      The drivers don't have any training of any sort, except what they had to memorize to pass the written test at the DMV to get a chauffeur's license. The cab companies do not perform any background checks except to make sure their license is valid and they have no outstanding warrants. They'd lease a hack to Hannibal Lector if he walked through the door with a clean license. They are not employees of the cab company. They are contractors. They 'lease' cabs and at the rate they are paid often must drive for 48 hours or more just to break even on the lease cost plus fuel.

      Any complaints about the cabs, the drivers, or most anything else are universally met with blank stares and mountains of inaction and don't-give-a-shit from everyone including police and city/State regulatory agencies.

      Cabs are a racket in which the only ones making out (like the proverbial bandits they are) are the cab companies and the government. Drivers and passengers are collateral damage. Thank $DEITY for Uber/Lyft!

    3. Re:Hey look everybody! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The cab permit is a racket and a racist system. The resulting monopoly produce dirty car and displeasing driver to say the least. Uber is shaking the industry and that useful.

    4. Re: Hey look everybody! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Worldwide the medallion system used in some cities in the USA is pretty uncommon.

    5. Re:Hey look everybody! by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

      That's great, you likely live in a city with no taxi-regulations. Good for you that you get to see the result of no regulation. Maybe you should visit a city with real taxi regulation where the prices are fixed and the safety and insurance rates are standardized and you know the cabby has had a background check.

    6. Re:Hey look everybody! by Shane_Optima · · Score: 1

      Some of us just expect them to follow the same laws that cabbies are required to. You know like the same insurance that's required for a commercial operator. Vehicle inspections, CPR training and so on. You know, exactly the same things that were put into law because cabbies had such a terrible track record that it was killing people.

      Yes, how dare people demand they actually follow the law.

      I don't particularly like Uber as a company and I'm not at all happy with the current contractor vs. employee status quo in general, but if there was ever an argument for a libertarian-ish view of things, it would have to be here. You're describing things that aren't necessary or indeed pertinent to driving someone safely from point A to point B with the possible exception of vehicle inspections[1]. Simple performance tracking should suffice here.

      Piling on the red tape to give it a veneer of professionalism might make life a little easier for the tiny fraction of a percent of people who get in a car accident, but they don't reduce accident fatalities and its most immediate effect is to create barriers to entry that dramatically affect both the consumers and the drivers. Those are mostly bullshit laws that make life more difficult, particularly for the working poor. I don't just mean the Uber drivers looking to make a few bucks on the side; I'm referring to people like my former coworker who don't have a car and are constantly having to deal with the hassle and expense of buses and cabs.

      If you want people to be upset about apparent violations of the law, go reform the law in an intelligent fashion instead of implying that paying 2x+ more for cabs is definitely worth any arbitrary amount of red tape, regardless of its actual impact on transportation safety.


      1. But how many fatal car accidents are caused by hardware failure? Surely it's a tiny percentage? Regardless, I don't see any reason to single out cabs for hardware inspections. Either everyone should be forced to get them or no one should.

    7. Re:Hey look everybody! by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      1. But how many fatal car accidents are caused by hardware failure? Surely it's a tiny percentage? Regardless, I don't see any reason to single out cabs for hardware inspections. Either everyone should be forced to get them or no one should.

      Dig back through the news, you'll see the stories of "cabs with wood covering holes in floors" or people becoming sick because of fumes in the cab because of exhaust leaks or brake failures. Those cases are the reasons why 6mo safety inspections exist. What would happen is either the person or company would buy absolute rust buckets and use them to ferry people around. Round that out that those vehicles have very high mileage, and get driven very hard. Especially in city environments where poor roads heavily contribute to the degradation of critical vehicle components(tie-rods/ball joints/struts/etc). Trucks depending on where you live require 6mo or 12mo inspections, or inspections on every tire change(unless emergency). Cabs aren't the only ones that require this, so are buses(public and private charter like greyhound), cop cars, fire trucks, ambulances. Private charter vehicles, and so on.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    8. Re:Hey look everybody! by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Vehicle inspections can be useful for safety. Adequate insurance is useful for when safety fails. If you're operating a dangerous machine, you're creating a danger for others, and should be in a position to deal with the consequences.

      The difference between commercial and non-commercial auto insurance isn't in general government-mandated. Your insurance company will sell you a policy cheaper if you agree to no commercial use, because they expect the personal policy to cost them less. If commercial insurance was the same risk as personal, some insurance company would price them the same, and others would have to follow. This is how libertarianism is supposed to work: two parties in an open marketplace negotiating their best deal.

      Laws do tend to be stricter for commercial as opposed to personal activities, for various reasons. If I do something to be paid, I'm likely to do it more than if I do it for fun, and I'm more likely to do it in unfavorable conditions. If I do something commercially, additional expenses are tax-deductible and part of the cost of doing business. If I'm doing it personally, the government often gives me something of a break by being less strict about it. (In some other countries, it's harder to get a license, and more insurance is required.)

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    9. Re:Hey look everybody! by wisnoskij · · Score: 1

      The point of Uber is not just a relabeled Taxi. Uber exists because Taxi's have a horrible tract record and are synonymous with shitty service, Uber exists because we want something diametrically opposite. It's shitty cabbies cannot compete on a level playing field, but they should campaign to fix their situation, not to drag others down.

      --
      Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  19. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by dehachel12 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In theory, the people up the chain of command get a huge salary because they are responsible when something breaks.
    in practice, they get to blame you.

  20. Bearings by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

    That's almost as much money as it took Nick Leason to bankrupt Bearings Bank ($1.4M) back in the ninety's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    1. Re:Bearings by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      $1.4B Doh!

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Bearings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      $1.4bn. Corrected again.

    3. Re:Bearings by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Disambiguate.

      Thousand million.

      Fuzzy foreigners are confused about Billion verses Trillion. (Statement is true from either side, but Euros are, on average, fuzzier in my experience.)

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  21. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by dehachel12 · · Score: 1

    They lined their pockets with money to deregulate ?

  22. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why did you write "hit's" (hit is, or something belongs to the hit), but kills? Get's means get is, or get was.

    Why not also write bank's?

    What is it about the smallest punctuation mark in the English language that is so confusing? Is it the letter "s" that's confusing?

  23. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Jahta · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The whole point of corporations in the US is so that nobody's liable for what corporations do. Corporations can't/don't go to jail, and a member of a corporations going to jail for something done under the auspices of the company is rarer than lightning strikes or lottery winners.

    This is the result of corporate lobbying over the last 20 years, and the growing view (among the wealthy elite) that white-collar crime isn't really a thing. After the savings-and-loan collapse in the 1990s, over 900 bankers were convicted of criminal offenses; after the most recent (and much worse) financial crash, nobody in the banking industry has spent even a night in jail.

  24. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Grishnakh · · Score: 0

    If you would like to see the DoJ throw more CEOs in prison for wrong doing of their companies, demand it of your elected officials and vote them out if the refuse.

    The DoJ under Obama hasn't been very strong on this, and people have now voted for Trump. If you think Trump's DoJ is going to do any better, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

  25. But where are the customers' yachts? by TTL0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...long long ago, an out-of-town visitor to New York was admiring the elegant vessels harboured off the Financial District; "Those are the bankers' and brokers' yachts!" exclaimed the guide. "But where are the customers' yachts?" questioned the naÃve visitor in response...

    --
    Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. -- Mark Harrold
  26. Is it just me... by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    ...or, for a rather heavily-regulated industry, banks seem to behave in a rather cavalier fashion?

    --
    -Styopa
  27. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What part of my statement implied I thought Trump was going to do any better? I don't think Clinton would have done better either. Partly why I didn't vote for either of them. If we the people want companies to be held responsible, then we need to voice this as something we want of our elected officials, and vote for the ones who will do something about it. But the people seem fine with how things are right now, thus nothing happens. They'll moan about things, but ultimately when it comes to vote time, they'll base their entire vote based if there's an R or a D at the end of the name.

    Seriously, with Trump, it becomes increasingly obvious that most people, both Ds and Rs don't actually care about a candidates actual position. They assume a position based off of emotion and run with it. The media has been making an ass of itself claiming Trump is against certain things (gay rights specifically comes to mind) because he's an R and Rs are against it in their opinion, even though Trump isn't against it. Facts are unimportant. He's an R, Ds don't like Rs, so clearly an R can't support anything they support in their minds. You can flip the Ds and the Rs on another subject and the same holds true. It's pathetic.

  28. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Luthair · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Funny how it only happens to foreign corporations while wall street bankers and ratings agencies walk free after the sub-prime crisis.

  29. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by thomn8r · · Score: 2, Insightful
    demand it of your elected officials and vote them out if the refuse.

    Aww, that's so cute...

  30. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    I think at the moment with allegations that his campaign team was in regular contact with the Russians and that the Russians may have something pretty nasty on him, I'd say there are a lot of Ds AND Rs who probably ain't so thrilled with him.

    (And yes, I know, the dossier is problematic and may be false in part or in whole).

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  31. A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

    Everyone is judging how much Uber is worth and talking about their services but no one here has actually looked at their finances, loan agreements, and most probably haven't even read the article. How can this? How can that? Uhh guys you have no idea what makes a company valuable and especially the government doesn't know. They look at one thing, collateral, and say screw it when it comes to all the other details. Of course a 'new' and growing company doesn't have much collateral. Banks don't just loan based on that, although it is the main factor, they bet on the leaders of the company, the potential of the company, and the business model. A business model where someone downloads an app to drive and then you start making hundreds of dollars a day from their service is a pretty damn good one.

    1. Re:A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by Cederic · · Score: 2

      You're demonstrating a fair amount of ignorance yourself here.

      Banks don't just loan based on

      The banks didn't provide the loans. The banks helped Uber secure investment from others, and likely made a hefty profit on their fees.

      This is precisely why the regulators are getting grumpy. The banks have a history of disregarding whether they're providing those investors with a viable and sensible product or not - and that's explicitly one of the factors that led to the financial crash.

      The banks haven't bet on anything. They've facilitated others making a sizeable and very risky bet, and received a safe guaranteed income as a result.

    2. Re: A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

      Your comment is a joke. Everything that I said that apples to "banks" applies to "institutional investors." The one reviewing the loans is the government and that is the point. I don't know if you are just incompentant or you have never worked in the banking industry.

    3. Re: A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The government isn't criticising the institutional investors, its criticising the banks for their role.

      So no, your comment remains utter fucking nonsense and you've failed miserably to understand the situation or my comment.

    4. Re: A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I side with other. No one failed to understand your absurd position.

    5. Re:A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

      You apparently don't know how the financial collapse happened. The banks took junk loans, sliced them up and packaged them as AAA (the highest rating) investment grade even though 80% of the loans were subprime that the banks KNEW were going to default. The banks then turned around an invested the banks money in shorting those very same investments.

      The banks can't be trusted, and the investors can't know what the risk is when the banks lie about it. That is what the government is saying with Uber because that's EXACTLY what the banks are doing again.

    6. Re:A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The banks can't be trusted, and the investors can't know what the risk is when the banks lie about it. That is what the government is saying with Uber because that's EXACTLY what the banks are doing again.

      You appear to be violently agreeing with me.

    7. Re: A lot of arm chair quarterbacks here by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

      Nothing about that is related except that these are not AAA loans as well.

  32. Re: Dear Trump, please kick out the Muslims by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

    The problem with Slashdot these days is that 4chan trolls like yourself are here. There's should be a "-100000 4chan scumbag".

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  33. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

    In theory, the people up the chain of command get a huge salary because they are responsible when something breaks. in practice, they get to blame you.

    Of course. They are important to the company (that's why they make that huge salary). The company can't afford to lose them. However some cog way down the chain of command that makes a fraction of what they do (and thereby obviously isn't as important to the company as they are) is easily replaced so they are the ones that get blamed and get fired. Even if they do "resign", they get a seven or eight figure buyout and land somewhere else a few months later after taking a nice long vacation.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  34. Important Lesson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The 2008 crisis taught investment banks an important lesson. If you are politically connected enough, the government will bail you out if you screw up.

  35. Re: Dear Trump, please kick out the Muslims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I cannot wait until I'm elected president in 2020, my first executive order will be to round-up every b-tard and force them to watch Barney and Friends until they gouge their own eyes out.

  36. Re: Dear Trump, please kick out the Muslims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You completely failed to recognize the sarcasm in my post.

  37. Re: Dear Trump, please kick out the Muslims by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    My apologies. Hadn't had my first cup of coffee

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  38. Re: Make the banks take the risk when an driver hi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They get hit by other means. A plane in the face for example.

  39. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by EndlessNameless · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There was no regulation.

    Congress "deregulated" that piece of the banking industry when it repealed sections 20 and 32 of the Glass–Steagall Act in 1999.

    It only took the corporations 9 years to create a national disaster.

    It turns out some regulations are very, very good ideas.

    --

    ---
    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
  40. Stop this government corruption by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

    Please, Mr. Trump! Stop the regulators from deciding who they should be lending to!

  41. Nothing to worry about by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If anything should happen to these banks the U.S. taxpayer will be there to bail them out and make sure the executives get their bonuses.

    Just like the last time.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  42. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ... that white-collar crime isn't really a thing.

    There's been an entire attitude shift: Remember, civil forfeiture laws were created to steal boats and houses from rich criminals. Now, they're being used to steal a traveler's laptop and iPhone. Citizens who have won court cases against such theft have never gotten their property back, putting those police in contempt of court.

    There were many complaints when NY police began 'stop and frisk' procedures but the courts have approved such fishing expeditions so the practice has spread. Police departments have militarized to combat civilian militias that don't exist and even bought house-smashing tanks for arresting non-violent criminals, such as illegal immigrants.

    It's not a war on terror or drugs, it's class warfare, with the welfare-dependent and black communities being the enemy.

  43. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They are important to the company (that's why they make that huge salary).

    Janitors are important too, but look at what they make. A CEO not showing up for two months while he has a vacation in southern France and no one would notice. All the toilets in the company overflowing for two months and that would cause serious productivity damages.

    So why are executives "important" if their absence is not missed?

  44. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 2

    But, without all the shit the CEO generates, they might not need the janitors.

    --
    Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  45. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    What part of my statement implied I thought Trump was going to do any better?

    You didn't, but you implied that the people could vote for someone who would do better.

    My assertion is that they can't. The system is too broken for that to happen. It simply isn't feasible to get someone who will do better, with the way our election systems work.

    they'll base their entire vote based if there's an R or a D at the end of the name.

    And they have to, because of first-past-the-post voting. It's simply mathematically impossible to have anything besides two dominant parties with such a voting system, so we're stuck with it until we somehow manage to get the Rs and Ds to pass a constitutional amendment reducing their power by changing the voting system to something else.

  46. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

    They are important to the company (that's why they make that huge salary).

    Janitors are important too, but look at what they make. A CEO not showing up for two months while he has a vacation in southern France and no one would notice. All the toilets in the company overflowing for two months and that would cause serious productivity damages.

    So why are executives "important" if their absence is not missed?

    A janitor is a cog. They can be easily replaced, and in most cases aren't even part of the company: most major companies outsource cleaning. Now, of course my comment was mostly sarcastic, as we all know that most cogs tend to do much more work than those higher ups.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  47. It's different this time. A new paradigm by cshay · · Score: 1

    Trust us.

  48. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    There is a difference between 'necessary' and 'mission critical'.

    Which isn't to say CEOs are all 'mission critical', some are about as competent as drunk monkeys throwing darts at 'decision boards'.

    If your Janitors (digital or mop) are 'mission critical', you are doing it wrong.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  49. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is it about the smallest punctuation mark in the English language that is so confusing?

    Period's are smaller than apostrophe's.

  50. Re: Dear Trump, please kick out the Muslims by gnick · · Score: 1

    Kanye?

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  51. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It only took the corporations 9 years to create a *global* disaster.

    FTFY

  52. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    rarer than lightning strikes on lottery winners

    FTFY

  53. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

    Well, some were gaoled. But mostly low-level, none of the big fish.

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  54. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

    Awful example, the engineer responsible for the forged data is being prosecuted and could spend 20 years in jail.

  55. what do they care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Feds will bail Wall Street out anyway if it fails so that executives can get million dollar bonuses. Thanks citizens.

  56. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Sanders would at least have been more interested in prosecuting high executives, and he came close to winning the Democratic nomination. Whether he could have won in November is an open question with lots of unknowns.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  57. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    No, that's not an open question at all. Sanders would have won, easily.

    Hillary wasn't that far behind Trump, she won the popular vote, but she screwed up (among other ways) by not campaigning in key states like PA that the DNC thought were "safe". Bernie was always much better about campaigning in places like that. Hillary's campaign was totally full of hubris; they really thought they couldn't possibly lose, especially to Trump. Her campaign was also full of condescension, esp. to the Bernie voters, and of course to anyone on the right. A lot of Trump voters were just sick of mainstream, incumbent politicians and voted for him out of spite for that and her. Many would have actually voted for Bernie. Bernie brought a lot of enthusiasm from the under-30 crowd. Obama himself won largely because he got young people to get out and vote. Hillary didn't: young people didn't like her, and her campaign didn't care much to court them either. It didn't help that she and her followers specifically told the Bernie crowd that "we don't need you". It also didn't help that she and the DNC were seen by the Bernie voters as having knifed his campaign in the back with dirty tricks, as shown in the leaked Podesta emails.

    Hillary lost an election to the 2nd-most unpopular candidate in history. That's because she was the most unpopular candidate ever. There's really no way Bernie could have done worse. People actually *liked* Bernie, he had the support of the youth, and he wasn't hamstruck by scandal after scandal. The only arguments against Bernie were from Hillary supporters inventing nonsense to try to back their queen (like, "the Republicans would have found dirt on him too!" Except that they didn't.).

    Just look at the election numbers. There were millions more votes in the 2008 election than in November's, even though the population is a little bigger now. Lots of people simply sat at home. Obama was famous and acknowledged for getting a lot of people out to vote, particularly younger people who are infamous for not turning out to vote; Bernie had the same effect, but Hillary had the opposite effect. Assume that Bernie would get those several million people out to vote unlike Hillary, add in all of Hillary's voters (because they sure as hell aren't going to vote for Trump, and they're generally older so they're more reliable about both turning out and voting along party lines even if they aren't enthused about the candidate), plus definitely more swing voters since he didn't have Hillary's baggage, and it's quite clear that Bernie would have won.

    It's just too bad the DNC and their lapdogs in the media will never admit to itself that this is the case, and Trump being president is really all their fault for doing everything they could to keep Bernie from winning their nomination. (Remember the day when Washington Post published almost 20 hit pieces on Bernie in a single day?)

  58. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hillary lost an election to the 2nd-most unpopular candidate in history. That's because she was the most unpopular candidate ever.

    Ah, the Superlatives, they hit so hard. They aren't really true as you may think though.

    Trump is controversial, not unpopular. If he could learn to stop running his mouth, he'd probably not be so mocked.

    And with Hillary, not even that. The main dislike was the partisan, everybody else was really more meh than you realize for her.

    Just look at the election numbers. There were millions more votes in the 2008 election than in November's, even though the population is a little bigger now. Lots of people simply sat at home.

    Exactly. It's even more apparent when you do it state by state. It's worth looking at, if you haven't. And so should Trump, so he doesn't think he has a landslide. Check out Wisconsin in 2004, for example.

    It's just too bad the DNC and their lapdogs in the media will never admit to itself that this is the case, and Trump being president is really all their fault for doing everything they could to keep Bernie from winning their nomination. (Remember the day when Washington Post published almost 20 hit pieces on Bernie in a single day?)

    Bernie should have been rejected from the start, he was never a qualified Democrat. Maybe I could see letting him be the VP candidate, but not on the Presidential Ticket. Of course, I feel the same way about Trump, but no need to get into that.

    Still, you really don't know how this election was a technical victory, only occurring due to the arcane nature of the Electoral College AND the aforementioned depressed turnout. Which makes you wonder about some states. Really hard.

    What Hillary should have done, was picked a barnstormer of a VP candidate, Kaine may have gotten her Virginia, but I'm not sure he brought in the crowds anywhere else. The real clincher would be if she could have nabbed somebody from the minority Republican side of things, I personally don't like Rubio or Cruz, but they would have given her some traction, if they could be steered properly. Rubio easier than Cruz.

    But I don't know that anybody even thought about that. I know they looked at Cory Booker, but I would have gone for a strong Hispanic.

  59. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    Wow, you're really a loon if you think that's a winning strategy: have Hillary pick a Republican running mate? That might pick up some R voters who don't like Trump, but it'll also cause tons of D voters (including everyone who considers themselves a progressive) to sit out the race or vote third-party. This strategy actually would have been great for getting the Green Party a lot more votes than they got with her crappy pick of Kaine.

    Sanders *was* a qualified Democrat. He ran as one, and that's all you have to do. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Democrat Party faithful think that only long-time Party members should be allowed to play in their party. No wonder they have such a hard time getting progressives to turn out to vote for them, by pushing partisan politics over ideals and doing the right thing. Honestly, if there's any good to come out of this crazy election, it'll be the utter destruction of the Democratic Party. At least the Republicans are somewhat honest about their intentions and who they work for.

    And Trump absolutely *is* unpopular. Countless polls have proven this. Just because people voted for him doesn't mean they actually liked him, same as Hillary.

  60. Re:Make the banks take the risk when an driver hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, you're really a loon if you think that's a winning strategy:

    You're a loon if you think calling me one is an effective strategy. It won't work. I'd rather be a crazy shit in this world than sane.

    Every day, I get more and more convinced, that it'd be better to be going rip-snorting bonkers.

    have Hillary pick a Republican running mate? That might pick up some R voters who don't like Trump, but it'll also cause tons of D voters (including everyone who considers themselves a progressive) to sit out the race or vote third-party.

    Not really no. Oh sure, if she'd picked somebody who didn't know how to spin things the right way, she'd have been in trouble, but you know, I'd think they'd have the sense for a little coaching. At least, anybody WORTH picking. Yeah, ok, another Sarah Palin would be a bad idea, but even Dan Quayle could have worked.

    Selling yourself as "The alternative to the crazy guy that's taken oven my party" would cause voters to swoon across the spectrum. And maybe throw in a few lines about "Now I've seen the light, and will support this wonderful Democratic lady" and wham, here comes the voters, eager to suck on the teat of lies.

    A more salient objection is that none of them would have the moxie to do it. Not that going into the VP job is a good idea, when you can' t even be guaranteed you won't be pushed out in 4 years. But still, it'd take a cast iron set of balls to run that table.

    The better choice (since it would be more likely) would be a dynamic and exciting Democrat. Even Sanders. Should have courted him for the VP job before he entered to run. But no, no, we got blahbity-blah Tim Kaine.

    Who couldn't even fuck up Mike Pence. Seriously. Guy was totally a whiff at the VP debate. Against a guy who should have been a total target.

    Who in the name of hell coached him? They ought to be slapped. The goal was to make Pence look like he was working for a crazy guy, maybe a little crazy himself, not to make yourself look asinine.

    It's a fine line to walk, I'll grant you, but surely somebody told him that his Plan B was to back off?

    This strategy actually would have been great for getting the Green Party a lot more votes than they got with her crappy pick of Kaine.

    Please, they haven't managed to get anything in the way of traction in this country. You want to change that? Change the electoral system on a more fundamental level. That'll help.

    Sanders *was* a qualified Democrat. He ran as one, and that's all you have to do.

    Nope!

    Even further...well, you'd have to read the convention by-laws. Even the GOP could have rejected Trump.

    Yeah, technically there's a lot of easy ways to get in, but that's like the Electoral college, a result of America's haphazard system, it only seems stable and effective because it hasn't been fully broken all that often. Like a farce of security, not actual protection, but as long as nobody breaks in, you're cool.

    But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Democrat Party faithful think that only long-time Party members should be allowed to play in their party.

    I think Donald Trump is a good example of why it's a terrible idea for a political party to let any Johnny-Come-Lately grab the presidential nomination without any form of commitment or participation. I wish they had said "No, no, thank you, stay away!" but they knew from 1992 that they didn't want to risk an independent with chutzpah and resources enough to run. They got greedy. They knew they had nothing else to take on Hillary, so...they gave themselves up to be screwed.

    (They wanted it anyway, that's their dirty secret. The horny bastards.)

    Sorry, but I think a political party SHOULD be able to identi