This is so wasteful and stupid: Using police resources to benefit taxi cab companies. - Granite Grok

This is so wasteful and stupid: Using police resources to benefit taxi cab companies.

No, no: "I gave someone a ride in my car and got a few bucks in return."
No, no: “I gave someone a ride for a few bucks….”

The Manchester police dept. proudly announced a “sting operation” conducted last Friday to “nab 5 criminals.” The crimes? A few people gave rides to other people and got a few bucks in return. You can read the entire crime-busting story in the Union Leader HERE. Wow.

Why is this waste of thousands of dollars of police time allowed? Really only to benefit the two companies holding the government-created taxi monopoly. These are nothing more than economic scams, set up to benefit one or two favored companies while harming the public and denying the right to individual choice. In my response posted to the article, I explain why. Here’s what I said:

The solution to this waste of police time and resources is to change the law (are you listening, Concord?). Maintaining the taxi monopoly is a money-maker for the state, a money-maker for the cities, and a money-gusher for the two taxi companies that benefit from the government-created monopoly (it also benefits politicians who perpetuate the policy; they receive various types of payback, both seen and unseen). And yet hitchhiking is perfectly legal in New Hampshire. So what’s the difference between giving someone a ride for free, and giving someone a ride for a few bucks? Only those who benefit from the monopoly—and its artificially created high prices—complain…and they get to use the police to shut down any competition! Such a deal! Change the law, Concord. It’s pretty basic: Any New Hampshire citizen who wants to give someone a ride has the innate right to choose to do so, whether money changes hands or not.  —Tim Condon

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