Dennis Cakert, ATR

Dennis Cakert

ATR

Washington, DC, United States

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Recent:
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Past:
  • ATR

Past articles by Dennis:

ATR

Obamacare Regulation Takes Aim at Craft Beer

Amidst Obamacare’s 3,000 pages lies a regulation that may squeeze craft beer brewers out of business. Why would federal healthcare bureaucrats want to meddle in this thriving industry? Well, regulators claim that American consumers are not healthy because they are blissfully unaware of the amount of calories in beer. As of December 2016, Obamacare dictates that all brewers must include a… → Read More

ATR

New Mini Book Released: “Uber-Positive: Why Americans Love the Sharing Economy”

Jared Meyer, Research Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, released his mini book on the sharing economy today. The highly anticipated book chronicles how Americans are leveraging the power of peer to peer networks to make ends meet in a weak economy: “Even in today’s slow economic recovery, entire industries are transforming, consumers are more powerful than before, and people are finding new… → Read More

ATR

TX Gov. Abbott on Prop1: “The Game Is Not Over”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is prepared to override Austin City Council’s decision to impose FBI fingerprint-based background checks on ridesharing drivers. In an interview with CNBC, Gov. Abbott said: "The issue's not over…Republicans in the Texas Legislature have already raised proposals coming up in the next session to override the Austin vote." The Austin City Council decided to shake down… → Read More

ATR

Arizona Continues to Lead the Way on the Sharing Economy

Today, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law three bills that make Arizona a friendly state for innovative sharing economy services. “It’s time for our laws to get with the times,” said Governor Ducey. “The sharing economy offers people great services at the tip of their finger and the click of an app. Now, Arizona leads the nation in embracing the Sharing Economy, including the growing… → Read More

ATR

Harsh Regulations Mean Austin is Now Uber-Less and Lyft-Less

An inhospitable regulatory regime has chased Uber and Lyft out of Austin. Regulations imposed by the city council include “fingerprinting requirement for drivers, ‘trade dress’ for all rideshare vehicles, prohibitions on where drivers can pick up and drop off passengers, and a voluminous and invasive data reporting scheme.” As the big regulators bragged at a local beer garden, others experienced… → Read More

ATR

Study: Young and Poor Rely On Sharing Economy Between Jobs

A new study by JP Morgan Chase & Co is the first to analyze financial transaction data from participants in the sharing economy. → Read More

ATR

Ironically, Dem Convention Might Need the Free Market

The Democratic National Convention is in for a wild ride in Philadelphia. Taxi and limo drivers are threatening to boycott driving passengers to the DNC unless regulators “crack down” on Uber and Lyft. One taxi driver said they will “shut down the road, we’ll block the roads, we’ll shut down the airport and train station.” Taxi drivers are upset with the regulatory system in Philadelphia because… → Read More

ATR

Obamacare Regulation Takes Aim at Craft Beer

Amidst Obamacare’s 3,000 pages lies a regulation that may squeeze craft beer brewers out of business. Why would federal healthcare bureaucrats want to meddle in this thriving industry? Well, regulators claim that American consumers are not healthy because they are blissfully unaware of the amount of calories in beer. As of December 2016, Obamacare dictates that all brewers must include a… → Read More

ATR

The Sharing Economy is Not Ready For Hillary

This op-ed was originally published at Townhall.com: The 2016 presidential election will determine the fate of the sharing economy. Donald Trump has yet to voice his opinion, but other candidates have made their positions clear. → Read More

ATR

5 Examples of Bad Policy in the Massachusetts Bill to Regulate Ridesharing

Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 139 to 16 in favor of a bill riddled with cronyism and protectionist policy. The bill regulates Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), such as Uber or Lyft, in a manner that no other state should emulate. Here are 5 policies the Massachusetts bill includes that other states should avoid: 1) TNCs are assessed an annual fee to fund the operating costs… → Read More

ATR

Small Victory for Uber in France

French regulators eased their crack down on ridesharing and took Uber’s side on Wednesday. France’s Conseil d’Etat, the country’s highest administrative court, overturned a law that made it illegal for Uber to show customers the location of available drivers. The previous law, passed by the French Constitutional Court in May, was ignored by Uber. The ride hailing service continued their spirit… → Read More

ATR

Chamber of Commerce Defends Independent Contractors From Seattle Organized Labor

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is challenging a Seattle ordinance that threatens the freedom of on demand drivers to be their own boss. The ordinance gives unions the green light to organize for hire drivers working as independent contractors, regardless of an individual driver’s consent. Matt Patterson, executive director of the Center for Worker Freedom, notes: "All across the country government… → Read More

ATR

Thanks to AZ Gov. Doug Ducey, Ridesharing Allowed to Pick Up at Phoenix International

Phoenix City Council voted 5-4 to allow ridesharing services to pick up passengers from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The vote comes nearly two months after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in his State of the State address called on the city owned airport to change protectionist regulations: “More than 40 million passengers enter our state through Sky Harbor International Airport every… → Read More

ATR

Estonia Aims to Be First European Country to Legalize Ridesharing

The Estonian Parliament hopes to amend the country’s transportation act and become the first European country to legalize ridesharing. Estonian Prime Minister, Taavi Rõivas, stated: “Wouldn’t it be reasonable at a time when a large part of the world is finding protectionist reasons to prohibit the sharing economy if we, Estonia, would be the first country to welcome Uber, Taxify and Airbnb? → Read More

ATR

Norquist: Uber Will Be Against the Law if Hillary is Elected

Grover Norquist warns that many sharing economy services would be against the law under a Hillary Clinton administration. During an interview on C-SPAN Washington Journal, Norquist said: “Uber has created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States. Millions of customers are very happy. They had to go around organized labor, the government and taxi commissions. Hillary Clinton has… → Read More

ATR

Planesharing Aims for Liftoff Despite FAA Drag

An amendment sponsored by Congressman Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), legalizes the use of digital platforms by private pilots who want to notify passengers when they have open seats. In exchange for the ride, passengers agree to share the flying expenses. → Read More

ATR

Austin City Council Votes to Force Ridesharing Services Out of Town

Moments ago, Austin City Council voted to reject a ridesharing initiative supported by over 65,000 citizens. The initiative is now scheduled for a public vote on May 7th. The vote is a slap in the face to local organizations Austin Music People, ATX Safer Streets and The Old Austin Neighborhood Association who spearheaded opposition to a hostile ordinance passed in December that would chase… → Read More

ATR

Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides Aims to Extort Ridesharing Customers

Mayor Mike Pantelides has proposed an ordinance to fleece ridesharing customers in Annapolis. → Read More