It’s becoming a trend. Business leaders from across the state and nation are stepping forward to step on Governor Hickenlooper’s brand as the pro-business chief executive he claims to embody. Earlier this week it was a CEO survey that dinged Colorado for the “anti-business forces” that won elections in 2012 (thanks, in part, to Hick’s efforts).
The most recent executive to put lie to Hick’s preferred brand is the CEO of Uber, the upstart taxi cab company, who blasted Hick as being all talk when it comes to technology and innovation during a recent Google event in DC.
Reports The Denver Post:
The CEO of Uber – a technology darling that essentially transformed town cars into taxis with a smartphone app – slammed Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper during a recent appearance with Google D.C. Talks, the search giant’s series of panel discussions covering tech policy issues.
Uber launched in Denver last year and is fighting to stay in the market as Colorado regulators decide how the startup and its e-hailing service fit into state transportation rules.
“The PUC of Colorado tried to put some regulations – really the governor of Colorado and his Public Utilities Commission put out regulations that are essentially trying to put us out of business,” Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said at the April 23 event.
“He’s an entrepreneur and he’s technology friendly and he embraces innovation every step of the way until he actually has to,” Kalanick said. “He talks the talk, but we have not seen him walk the walk. … He’s trying to push that taxi agenda. He’s talking about innovation on one side, but trying embrace the taxi side at the same time, but you can’t do both. You just can’t.”
Governor Hickenlooper’s office responded to the criticism by trashing Uber as a “luxury limousine service.”
Luxury limousine? Really?
The Yukon or Tahoe that are the vehicle of choice for Uber drivers in Colorado sure do look a lot like the “luxury limousines” that the state patrol shuttle Hickenlooper around in too.
We’re sure Denver Post columnist Alicia Caldwell has an explanation for why the CEO of Uber is full of crud in the same way she defended Hick from charges that he’s anti-rural earlier this week. Elites in the media like Caldwell, who have all kinds of personal and professional reasons for clinging to the idea that Hick is still the business friendly guy he’s advertised to be, will refuse to give any credence to the amassing case against the current administration.
But so what.
Heads of rural electrical providers and the Uber CEO have at least one thing in common – they don’t have a reason to lie.
When they say Hick is “all talk”, they know of what they speak.