Excerpts of Marco Rubio's Remarks on the Sharing Economy

Excerpts of Marco Rubio's Remarks on the Sharing Economy

Today, October 6, Marco Rubio will discuss the unique challenges facing businesses in the sharing economy because of outdated government policies. The remarks will be given at Civic Hall in New York City, followed by a discussion with Civic Hall Founder Andrew Rasiej and a short Q and A session with members of the New York tech community.
Below are excerpts of Marco's remarks:
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The on-demand platform is one example of an important truth facing us in this election, which is that the American economy is fundamentally transforming. Uber didn’t even exist when our current president was sworn in. Today it’s worth $51 billion.
And it’s not just the fact that the economy is changing; it’s the fact that it’s changing faster than ever. It took the telephone 75 years to reach 100 million users. It took CandyCrush one year!

Yet while our economy is changing, our government is not. And both parties are to blame. Never before – at least not in my lifetime – has the political establishment in this country been more out of touch with the American people than it is today.
The result is a worsening friction between our mid-twentieth century government and our rapidly changing 21st century economy. Nowhere is this friction more apparent than in the on-demand economy. Here, innovative companies are running up against an antiquated tax code, burdensome regulations, and numerous outdated politicians.
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This is why I’ve proposed a comprehensive tax reform plan that is both pro-growth and pro-family. And today, I’d like to discuss with all of you some additional ways to make the tax code more welcoming for on-demand companies. Some ideas I’ve had are to maintain the “physical presence” standard for taxation of online purchases, to stop discriminatory taxation of digital goods and services like app downloads, and to ensure the Internet remains tax-free.
But on-demand companies aren’t only hurt by our tax code; they also face the uncertainty of a volatile regulatory environment. Just last Friday, the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission said the on-demand economy would require, quote, “targeted regulatory measures.”

We have to realize that all of the best innovation in our economy is happening in the unregulated space. Yet Washington has imposed 60,000 pages of new federal regulations just this year, costing our private economy almost $70 billion in compliance costs.
As president, I will put an end to this. I will place a cap on the amount regulations can cost our economy each year. I will also require federal agencies to include an analysis of exactly how each proposed regulation would impact competition and innovation.
I believe the more America regulates, the more we create an opening for other countries to deregulate and draw jobs away from our shores.
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The American people have chosen an economy in which the most valuable retailer in America, Amazon, owns not a single store; the largest transportation company, Uber, owns not a single vehicle; and the largest accommodation provider, Airbnb, owns not a single hotel.

Free enterprise has brought us these developments, and free enterprise will bring even more developments in the years ahead. In fact, I believe free enterprise will work better in this century than it did in the last, because the new economy is all about innovation, creativity, and productivity, and we are the most innovative, creative, and productive people on earth.
I believe the 21st century not only can be a new American Century; I believe it will be. It will be as long as everyone in this room keeps doing what they’re doing, and as long as Washington stops doing what it’s doing and starts looking for a better way.