SACRAMENTO'S LATEST BRIBE: THROWING MONEY AT UBER DRIVERS FOR CARS THAT DON'T WORK!

The Santa Barbara Independent, ever vigilant in reporting the latest bureaucratic boondoggles, dutifully informed us this week that California is now showering Uber and Lyft drivers with up to $20,000 to swap their perfectly functional gasoline cars for finicky electric vehicles. Dubbed the 'Rideshare Incentives for Driving Electric' (RIDE) program, it's just the latest example of Sacramento's boundless generosity with *our* money, all in pursuit of a green utopia where the peasants drive golf carts and the elite fly private jets.

Apparently, these 'high-mileage' drivers, whom the Independent notes are of 'low to moderate income,' are now the proud recipients of government handouts for expensive toys. Because nothing says 'fiscally responsible' like giving money to people to buy vehicles with limited range and a charging infrastructure that's more myth than reality. We can only imagine the surge pricing when a driver's battery dies on the 101, or the thrill of waiting 45 minutes for a charge while your next fare cancels.

This isn't about clean air; it's about control and virtue signaling. It's about Sacramento deciding what kind of car you, a hard-working citizen, *should* drive, and then dipping into the state'coffers – which are miraculously still full despite years of this nonsense – to dictate your choices. Meanwhile, the power grid groans under the strain, and electric vehicles remain largely impractical for anyone who isn't a Silicon Valley millionaire with a home charger and a backup generator.

Perhaps the real 'RIDE' program is the one taking taxpayers for a ride, directly into the poorhouse, while lawmakers congratulate themselves on their environmental stewardship. Someone should inform them that genuine innovation doesn't need government subsidies; it needs freedom from government meddling. But don't expect the local rags to dig into *that* angle anytime soon.