E-BIKE MANIA: WILL LEFTISTS LICENSE THOUGHTS NEXT, OR JUST FREE RIDERS?

The Santa Barbara Independent, bless its progressive little heart, recently mused about licensing e-bikes, posing the deeply philosophical question of whether these two-wheeled contraptions, capable of reaching speeds faster than a bureaucrat processing a permit, should require a driver's license. It's a classic leftist playbook move: identify something popular, then smother it with red tape and fees until only the most compliant (or government-subsidized) dare participate. What's next? Permits for walking too briskly?

This isn't about safety, folks; it's about control, plain and simple. It's about turning every simple pleasure into another revenue stream for the perpetually hungry public coffers, and another notch in the belt of an ever-expanding regulatory state. While our state's leadership champions 'equity' and 'access' to transportation, they simultaneously erect barriers for entry, making it harder for everyday folks to get around without jumping through a dozen bureaucratic hoops and shelling out hard-earned cash.

Imagine the grand vision: a new E-Bike Enforcement Division, complete with its own fleet of taxpayer-funded e-bikes (purchased at triple the market rate, naturally), patrolling the bike paths, ensuring every pedal-assist joyrider has their papers in order. It's a job creation scheme for the administrative class, disguised as public safety. Meanwhile, the actual problems, like the soaring cost of living and the exodus of productive citizens, go unaddressed.

Perhaps the Independent and its ilk should focus on ensuring our roads are actually paved before demanding we license every mode of transit on them. Or, better yet, how about licensing the ideas that keep coming out of City Hall and the County building? Most of those seem far more dangerous to the public good than an e-bike going 25 mph down a bike path.