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Rolling out short-term rental heavy artillery

"For years, Chris Lehane has known how to wage political war inside the Beltway," according to the New York Times. And now, Airbnb "has appointed Mr. Lehane as head of global policy and public affairs, a role in which the online room-rental company said he is expected to make Airbnb's voice 'heard loud and clear by policymakers,'" according to the Times article.

The article describes Lehane's "long political career, including more than six years in former President Bill Clinton's White House grappling with the many scandals the administration confronted." In a 2014 New York Times profile of Lehane, he is described as "a pugnacious political adversary, known for thoroughly researching his opponents, who advocates going into so-called 'warrior mode' to defend his clients..."

In an article late last year about the sharing economy, wired.com described Airbnb as "the poster child of sharing" noting that Airbnb, at that time, "had a valuation of $10 billion..."

Big business and industries have the power and resources to shape policies and opinion. Everyday people, on the other hand, lack such resources. So, in residential neighborhoods, when there are strangers suddenly coming and going, renting rooms in the house next door, what can everyday homeowners do? Since they really can't afford heavy artillery. 

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