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The CLOG
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First thing: There is no blogger tax. Never was. This was an Internet meme that got carried away and blown the hell out of proportion (though, admittedly, some imprecise language on our part may have fanned the flames). But, as we first reported, the city does expect bloggers, freelance writers and âbusinessesâ of all stripes that report any income on their tax forms — even if the amount of money is infinitesimal — to shell out $300 for a lifetime business privilege license (or $50 for an annual license).
In any event, on Wednesday the city tried to make nice with area bloggers with a happy hour at National Mechanics. I didn't go; basically, I just plum forgot. But local freelance writer Laura Goldman did go, and she filed this report on her newly minted blog, Naked Philadelphian:
To quell the furor over bloggergate, the Department of Revenue and the Mayor's Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy walked into the lion's den and sponsored a Q&A about the city's business privilege tax on September 8, 2010 at the Old City bar/restaurant National Mechanics. Bloggers, freelancers, and small business owners were in the audience. The crowd was small. They probably scared off by the presence of the Department of Revenue. The fact that it was held at the start of the Jewish New Year did not help.
Moira Baylson, the city's deputy chief cultural officer, kicked off the evening with a brief introduction and then opened up the floor to questions. David Dorman, the revenue compliance program director, along with 10-15 officials from the departments of commerce, the managing director's office, the division of finance, and the mayor's office of the arts, culture and the creative economy, was available to answer questions.
Dorman announced, âThe city is reconsidering the tax.â When the crowd got excited about the prospect of not paying the tax, Dorman quickly clarified, âEveryone still has to pay the tax until it is actually repealed. The abolition of the tax is a long time way. It will take a vote of City Council to change the tax. â Lauren Vidas, assistant to the Finance Director, explained, âThe Pa. state constitution would have to be changed to institute a sliding scale fee because of the uniformity de minimus provisions.â
Goldman also breaks down what the BPL means for her and other small-time bloggers and freelancers:
For those that think the city is considering revision of the tax out of the goodness of their heart, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for you. The powers to be think that abolition of the fee will generate even more revenue for the city's business privilege tax. Citizens will be more inclined to start a new business sans the license fee.
Andrew Baer, a lawyer whose clients are smaller hi tech companies, asked, âHow much revenue has the fee generated for the city? The fee maybe generates $1 million in revenue. The city has received many times that in bad publicity.â Baer was not that far off.
Frank Breslin, deputy revenue commissioner, later confirmed that the fee was an insignificant part of the city's revenues (.1%) âThe business privilege license fee generated a little more than $3 million in revenue for fiscal year 2010 ending June 30. The total tax and fee receipts for the city for fiscal year 2010 were just under $3 billion.â The $3 million figure was a little higher than normal due to the city's tax amnesty program, reminded Andrea Mannino, special assistant to the revenue commissioner.
I, a freelancer, complained that the tax also hits âthe grunts of the editorial world.â I continued. âI do not own my own blog. I am not a freelancer by choice but because of the dire economics of the media industry right now. No one can afford to hire me full time. I am already levied a higher tax rate (6.46% vs. 4.9%) on my income because I pay the business privilege tax not the wage tax. I receive no healthcare benefits and also pay double social security tax. (Self employed freelancers pay both the employees and employer's portion of social security). Dorman conceded, âFreelancers were in a tough position but they still receive 1099 income so they have to pay the business privilege license fee.â
Gloria Bell of Red Stapler Consulting asked, âI take in $10 in ads on my blog that pay for my hosting. It is a wash income tax wise. Do I have to pay the business privilege tax?â Dorman said, âUnfortunately, according to the city, you are generating revenue so you have to pay the tax.â The crowd was surprised that the city is insisting that $10 in income would generate $300 bill.
City officials, Goldman writes, say Nutter is mulling some tax reforms over:
While no one wants to pay taxes, the crowd agreed that a $50 lifetime tax would be more reasonable. Vidas sounded promising, âOne of Nutter's main issues is tax reform so he is thinking about this tax.â Gary Steuer, the city's chief cultural officer, reminded, âThe abolition of the tax still has to be revenue neutral. It is hard times for the city.â Due to those hard times, the city did not pick up the tab for the cocktail hour, it was BYOB (Buy your own Booze).
I've e-mailed city officials to get their take on the meeting and to see if I can get confirmation on tax reform proposals. If/when they get back to me next week, I'll update.
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
I hate to break it to you, but the $300 fee pales in comparison to the 6.46% income tax, plus the gross portions tax. That is where we get killed - and where people almost everywhere else in the country pay none of it!
[...] You can find a full account of the “blogger tax” debacle and the September 8 Q&A session — as well as comments from me — on public radio’s “Marketplace” here and on Citypaper’s blog here. [...]
Reading this Slate piece reminded me of a line from the W.B. Yeats poem "The Second Coming":
The best lack all conviction/ while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
You see this in the vociferous demonstrations against that Islamic community center in lower Manhattan; in the inchoate and often incoherent rage of the Tea Party groups and Glenn Beck acolytes; in the denunciations of âsocialismâ and dire warnings of some fascist government takeover during last year's health care reform debate — the right, and particularly, its fringe, reactionary, conspiracist and stunningly vacuous, uninformed and anti-intellectual base, has been whipped up into a frenzy these last 18 months and is poised to make big gains in November. The 112th Congress, if the polls bear out and this current crop of Republican extremists takes control — Rand Paul, Joe Miller, John Boehner, Jim DeMint, Darrell Issa, and, yes, Pat Toomey, among too many others to name — we're almost certain to see two years dominated by hyperventilating ideologues, government shutdowns and the sort of endless bullshit "investigations" into nonexistent improprieties that marked the Gingrich "revolution" of the 1990s. Probably worse, because unlike that class of Republicans, these fools have no absolutely no appetite for actual governance, nor any type of discernable agenda beyond cutting taxes for billionaires and bulldozing the small, but important, progress we've made on health care. (On that note, check this out: Were Republicans still in charge, we'd have higher deficits and unemployment than we do now.)
The problem is, while the worst of us — the Glenn Becks and Sarah Palins and so forth — are frothing over with âpassionate intensity,â as Yeats would say, âThe best lack all conviction.â And that brings us to today's Must Read, from Slate's Jacob Weisberg:
Barack Obama's redecoration of the Oval Office includes a nice personal touch: a carpet ringed with favorite quotations from Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, both Presidents Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr. The King quote, in particular, has become a kind of emblem for him: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." For all the carping about his every move, the only big problem with the Obama Presidency is the gap between what's written on his rug, and what's buried under it—the distance between the President's veneration of moral leadership past and his failure, so far, to exhibit much of it himself.
Obama has had numerous occasions to assert leadership on values issues this summer: Arizona's crude anti-immigrant law, the battle over Prop 8 and gay marriage, and the backlash against what Fox News persists in calling the "Ground Zero mosque." These battles raise fundamental questions of national identity, liberty, and individual rights. When Lindsey Graham argues for rewriting the Constitution to eliminate the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, or Newt Gingrich proposes a Saudi standard for the free exercise of religion, they're taking positions at odds with America's basic ideals. But Obama's instinctive caution has steered him away from casting these questions as moral or civil rights issues. On none of them has he shown anything resembling courage.
The whole piece is worth a read, but one particular passage struck me:
With the Proposition 8 fight, Obama has fallen short in a different way, by his reluctance to join an emerging social consensus. Obama had previously criticized California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage, as "divisive." But his official position—which no one believes he actually holds—is that he is against legalizing gay marriage. Americans are changing their views on this issue with inspiring rapidity. Judge Vaughn Walker's moving opinion provided an occasion for Obama to move to embrace the extension of equal rights to gay people. Instead, he slunk mumbling in the other direction. How dismal that America's first black president will be remembered as shirking the last great civil rights struggle (emphasis added).
The best lack conviction. As I noted last year (at my previous employ), prominent Democrats too often take the right positions when they don't matter. In power, they're cowed by the worst's âpassionate intensity.â And though it shouldn't really matter, there is a political aspect to this: Passionate intensity gets voters to the polls, especially in midterm elections (see âthe enthusiasm gapâ). The president's unwillingness to channel his inner MLK or Truman or LBJ — who passed through the Civil Rights Act famously knowing that it would cost Democrats the South for generations, and it did — and do the goddamned right thing because it's the goddamned right thing will be part of the reason the Dems will take a lashing in November.
Ø£Ùض٠عد٠اÙاÙتÙاع. ÙÙ٠ا أشرت Ù٠اÙعا٠اÙ٠اض٠(Ù٠تÙرÙر٠اÙساب٠تÙظÙÙ) Ø Ø§ÙدÙÙ ÙراطÙÙ٠اÙبارزÙÙ ÙÙ ÙØ«Ùر ٠٠اÙØ£ØÙا٠اتخاذ اÙÙ ÙاÙÙ Ø٠عÙد٠ا Ùا ÙÙÙ . Ù٠اÙسÙطة Ø ÙØ٠تخÙÙÙÙÙ Ù Ù Ùب٠أسÙØ£ ÙÙ "اÙØ¥ÙÙاع" Ø ÙعÙ٠اÙرغ٠٠٠أÙÙ Ùا ÙÙبغ٠أ٠اÙ٠سأÙØ© Ù٠اÙØÙÙÙØ© Ø ÙÙا٠اÙبعد اÙسÙاس٠ÙÙØ°Ù : ÙثاÙØ© عاطÙÙ ÙØص٠اÙÙاخبÙ٠إÙ٠صÙادÙ٠اÙاÙتراع Ø ÙخصÙصا Ù٠اÙتخابات اÙتجدÙد اÙÙصÙÙ (اÙظر "اÙÙجÙØ© اÙØ٠اس "). اÙرئÙس عد٠اÙرغبة ÙÙ ÙÙاة MLK اÙÙ ÙربÙ٠أ٠ترÙ٠ا٠أ٠ÙÙدÙ٠جÙÙسÙÙ -- اÙØ°Ù ÙاÙت٠٠٠خÙا٠ÙاÙÙ٠اÙØÙÙ٠اÙ٠دÙÙØ© ٠ع اÙعÙ٠اÙØ´ÙÙرة Ø£Ù٠سÙÙÙ٠اÙدÙÙ ÙراطÙÙÙ Ù٠جÙÙب ÙأجÙØ§Ù Ø ÙÙع٠ذÙÙ -- ÙÙع٠اÙØ´ÙØ¡ اÙصØÙØ ÙØ£Ù٠اÙØ´ÙØ¡ اÙصØÙØ Ø³ÙÙÙ٠جزءا ٠٠اÙسبب Ù٠اÙدÙÙ ÙراطÙÙ٠سÙÙ Ùستغر٠ÙاÙجÙد ÙÙ ÙÙÙ٠بر تشرÙÙ
I'm offended by Mr. Billman's use of profanity...it's unclassy and unnecessary.
Greta, what did you think of the content of what Mr. Billman had to say?
Sorry, I don't need to be anonymous.
[...] MUST READ: Obama's moral cowardice: âThe best lack all conviction … [...]
[...] MUST READ: Obama's moral cowardice: âThe best lack all conviction … [...]
[...] MUST READ: Obama's moral cowardice: âThe best lack all conviction … [...]
Intern Will Stone reports:
On Monday morning, a modest cluster of nontheists set up camp outside the federal courthouse to protest the first hearings of the rental dispute between the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the City of Philadelphia. Their battle cry: well, okay, halting the Scouts taxpayer-subsidized discrimination against gays and lesbians is good and all, but what about us? Quick background: A few years ago, the city told the local Boy Scouts that they had to leave their Center City HQ where the Scouts had enjoyed free rent begin paying $200,000 in annual rent, or renounce the national Boy Scouts national antigay policies. Instead, the Scouts sued, and here we are.
Of course, the Scouts aren't big fans of atheists, either: hence, this protest. With signs reading No Deals For Bigots! and Time to Pay BSA, Margaret Downey, president of the secular advocacy group Freethought Society, informed passersby of the citys alleged disregard for the nontheist community in favor of the safer option the gays.
We support the Citys actions against BSA, except for the fact that they forgot to add nonetheists to their charges of discrimination, says Downey. Since Downeys own feud with the BSA in 1993 over their refusal to accept her atheist son, she has pushed for the public, including loads of journalists, to acknowledge that not only gays, but also nontheists deserve a seat on the BSA-bigotry-bashing bandwagon.
Statistically, we are the most mistrusted and disliked minority, she says. The BSAs discrimination goes far deeper than anyone realizes.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Cabot Oil & Gas Corp to halt drilling in Dimock, PA after some 14 residential water wells were contaminated with methane gas that "migrated," into the wells, DEP says, as a result of the company's drilling activities in the area.
Funny enough, I wrote about Dimock and its bubbling wells, at which Cabot has installed vent pipes to relieve some of the methane, and which sound like turkeys gobble-gobbling in this week's "Man Overboard.":
Bubbling is only one of the magical properties the Sautners' well water has taken on since they first leased land to Texas-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. for natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale geologic formation two years ago. The water has also turned brown, tested positive for strange salts, metals and chemicals and started clogging things: "[Cabot] cut into a pipe that was less than a year old," says Craig Sautner, "and it looked like solid peanut butter in there."
Cabot, the Inquirer reports, continues to deny responsibility:
Despite agreeing to plug and abandon the three gas wells, Cabot maintains those wells are not at fault - it says the methane comes from shallow shale formations and is seeping into groundwater through natural fractures. Pre-drilling tests on more recent wells show preexisting methane concentrations in groundwater in that area, Cabot says.
"We're agreeing to plug the wells in order to comply with the order," said Kenneth S. Komoroski, a Cabot spokesman. "We do not believe they are a source of methane migration or contamination."
Interesting especially, since the order, which is signed by a Cabot attorney, says that Cabot agrees to take responsibility and not to challenge the DEP's findings in "any matter or proceeding involving Cabot and the Department" apparently that doesn't hold true for Cabot and the news media:
Not that Cabot has been put out of business. Reports the Inquirer:
But Dan O. Dinges, the Cabot chief executive who met with Hanger Wednesday, said in a news release that the DEP's order does not affect the number of wells planned for 2010, or its expected production.
The ban on drilling affects only the Dimock area, Komoroski said. Cabot has about 25 permits to drill wells in other parts of Susquehanna County.
Isaiah - aLex is not the only one to deeply appreciate the work that you and all the other sharp journalists are doing on my behalf... oh... um THAT IS on behalf of the public!! Don't we ALL benefit!?
big important news. way to go.
Thanks, Alex, for your continued readership of the Clog. I hope to someday earn the praise you so generously heap on me. - Isaiah
So, hey - what's taking the federal government so long to stop the oil spill? The federal government should have federalized the spill response over a week ago. The fumbling and bumbling of this is aggregious...Obama's Katrina. According to the National Enquirer, Obama has been ridin' dirty with Vera Baker, an assistant http://www.nationalenquirer.com/obama_cheating_scandal_vera_baker_video_/celebrity/68589 Maybe Obama should focus more on making sure oil doesn't coat our shores instead of spending time banging Vera behind Michelle's back (if it's true)?
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