While the car service app Uber Technologies faces continued government roadblocks to doing business around the world, Democratic candidates for President like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have spoken out forcefully against Uber, insisting that the company should be further regulated, ignoring the possible consequences of higher fares for users of the Uber app and the ease of doing business for Uber drivers should such regulations become enacted. The primary contention drawn by Democrats is that Uber drivers are legally classified by as independent contractors, a status under which they are exempt from most state and federal labor laws, as opposed to being classified as employees.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Bernie Sanders said he has "serious problems" with Uber because it's "unregulated." Martin O'Malley further proposes to create an entirely new safety net specifically for Uber drivers and other members of the sharing economy.

In Hillary Clinton's recently unveiled economic plan, she heavily criticized Uber and the sharing economy as a major contributor to the rise in income inequality arguing it creates independent contractors, such as Uber drivers, who do not receive government mandated employee benefits.

However, these arguments ignore evidence that in Uber's top 20 markets, Uber drivers "averaged more than $19 an hour in earnings, compared to $12.90 in average hourly wages for cab drivers based on Occupational Employment Statistics data", according to a study co-authored by Princeton economist Alan Krueger, one of Hillary Clinton's named economic advisers.