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Getting mailers does not at all mean you have lobbying power, and even spending large sums of money on a campaign doesn't mean you have lobbying power. Often times power comes from who you know. Uber and Lyft are not local like cab companies, so they have no local precedent or representation in local governments. People have this Aaron Sorkin view of government lobbying where dropping dollars from helicopters can get you anything, that is patently false, even in DC.

Look up "regulatory capture," a Nobel was won because of it. It's exactly what's happening here.



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