A Government Official at the Tap of a Button

Testimony from Ashwini Chhabra, Deputy Commissioner of Policy & Planning at NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, in 2012, on the question of hailing taxicabs with apps like Uber:

“It is not the rightful function of government to protect one segment of an industry from competition from another segment. So long as passengers win and the industry over all wins, our goal to be to encourage innovation and forward movement.”

So it will not surprise you to learn that he is becoming Uber’s first head of policy development and community engagement. I’m sure someone told him, in a sing-songy voice “Why reg-u-late when you can inn-o-vate? Also here is a large sack of money, woven from the hair of the world’s last unicorn.”