$300 For a Blog

An article over at The Escapist has recently been posted regarding the city of Philadelphia's new policy charging bloggers in their city $300 for a "business privilege license."


What?


Are you honestly going to tell me that the city of Philadelphia is that poor that they have to take money from people who may not be even trying to make any sort of substantial money from their blogs. Mind you, this $300 is only charged to those who have chosen to incorporate ads in their blogs, but still, this fee is charged regardless of whether or not you make any sort of substantial money. It could be only a few dollars, or a few hundred dollars per year, but that seems irrelevant to Philly.


What could've possibly been going through the minds of lawmakers when they put this gem through the legislative process? Is Philly that hard up for cash that they're going to charge people who may not even have a full-time job $300 freaking dollars for a license to speak their minds?
This may not be a contention of free speech so much as it is the money that is made from that speech, but still, this is a "labor of love" as The Escapist writer called it. It's a place where you can voice your frustration and anger about a certain topic without repercussions. This is a place of sanctuary where we can fire off our opinions in order to blow off steam. It's therapeutic for crying out loud, and you're going to charge people $300 for that?


I should mention that there also is, included in this license fee, a "pay wage tax, business privilege tax and a net profits tax," all on what could possibly only be a few dollars in a year. There is also a "proposed update" regarding the law that would eliminate the tax on the first $100,000 of profit brought in, but the bloggers involved are still required to purchase a license. There's also a slap in the face of a "$50 yearly plan" that the (I assume) mildly retarded City Councilor Bill Green suggested bloggers pay instead.


I cannot believe that a city has sunk so low as to start charging for ad revenue to a blog that may not even be about the damn money.


I know one thing's for sure, I'm not moving to Philly anytime soon.