Philly Proposes Blogger Tax

By Douglas V. Gibbs

What better way to try to silence the voice of political free speech than to make it harder to put that voice out there? Such is the thinking of the liberal left. If you can't order them to stop disagreeing with you, and you can't forcefully shut up dissent, make it harder by slapping on a tax . . . and hey, what liberal would be against a new tax, anyhow?

Of course, the intention is not to silence the political opposition to liberalism, according to the proponents of this tax. Philadelphia, as we are told, is simply trying to find more ways to pay for their huge bureaucracy. Rather than cut spending, why not tax bloggers? Hey, if those silly little bloggers wish to voice their "lives, problems, and concerns via the internet," make them pay!

The fee. . . err, uh, tax?

Bloggers in Philadelphia will be subject to a $300 “business privilege license.”

What is being dubbed as the “blogger tax” is a recent demand by cash-strapped Philadelphia for bloggers to pay $50 a year or $300 for a lifetime business license. There is no revenue minimum for this tax, so all bloggers who earn any money from their blogs are required to pay it.

Whew, you have to earn money. How dare you make a few cents on your blog! Now Philadelphia will take from you for daring to make a little money.

Why?

Because they can't manage their finances, and so tax and tax they shall.

Unnecessary tax burden?

Of course it is.

Could it hinder citizen journalism?

Absolutely. . . goes back to that silencing the opposition thing.

The blogosphere, remember, includes more than the kids that maybe get 7 hits a day if mom, or their boyfriend, visits the site. The blogger populace also includes citizen journalists who provide a lot of important information, many of them seasoned journalists-turned-bloggers. These folks, who make a small amount of money on their sites, will simply quit blogging if they are taxed on their meager profits.

The liberals are betting on it.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

If You Blog in Philly, Please Pay the $300 Tax For Your Thoughts - Get Liberty: Americans for Limited Government

Philadelphia's Blogger Tax is a Slippery Slope - Daily Caller