Tens of millions of Americans are part of the “gig” economy, one that utilizes everything from driving for Uber to freelance writing for streams of income. But these “gigs” are under fire from the Biden administration, which this week changed the rules for independent contractors.

Democrats deplore the idea of gig workers because they are not controllable. By definition they are not part of unions that force their members to funnel money to leftist causes, so unions hate them as well.

And the White House believes the hustling entrepreneurs are taken advantage of because they do not generally receive full-time benefits. 

The irony is that Biden’s economy forced millions of workers to join the gig economy and take on jobs with Uber, DoorDash and other companies to make ends meet. Historic inflation pushed people to pursue second and third employment opportunities.

And now Democrats seek to punish them for being enterprising.

On Monday, new rules went into effect concerning who is considered an independent contractor under the Federal Labor Standards Act. Biden administration officials argued that the new regulations will expand the fruits of being a full-time employee. 

BIDENOMICS: Biden wants to put contractors for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash out of business. The president wants to eliminate the gig economy. https://t.co/vSpDMLs0Go

— @amuse (@amuse) January 8, 2024

They claim more workers will benefit from the federal minimum wage, unemployment insurance, Social Security contributions and overtime.

But those actually in the business world know the broad confusion that is already resulting from Biden’s mismanagement.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Marc Freedman explained to the Dispatch that employers have a muddled new set of regulations to work through.

He noted that “a company trying to classify someone as an independent contractor is going to be left wondering which factors the Department of Labor actually cares about.”

Freedman observed that many Americans have built careers in contract work. “There are an awful lot of people operating as sole proprietors, who, in certain situations, could end up looking like employers.”

As an example, there are scores of freelance writers who face the risk of losing business if companies are forced to categorize them as employees. The definition of an independent contractor is now intentionally vague, as the Biden White House intended.

It is yet another example of leftists forcing their ideology onto real world situations that are already functioning well. Every knee must bow, even at the expense of earning a living in the tough economy that they created.