What I don’t get is why some people are saying it takes 1/2 a mil to run the site, but then someone posted a link to the budget, and it said it costs about 25K a month. That’s a big difference.
If Jim asks for money in terms of donations, he opens himself up to questions. I think he’s the better person to answer that some self-appointed people who get sarcastic towards people on this thread.
By asking of money, people will also point out ways that could reduce costs, but it’s tough when we don’t see how those costs are broken down.
Then,some people say that Jim and John receive nothing, but then others are posting that they get a salary.
Clarity and transparency are important to people, and I’ve found that the more I read on this thread, the less clear things become. Contradictions from those holding themselves out as ‘in the know’ abound.
It’s not like people are asking about (or making suggestions about) how much is spent on what type of paper clip.
As much as I love FR, this is a problem that I see, too. Transparency is the issue.
We don’t get a salary, but we do take a draw. All four of us. We have to pay our bills and our taxes and we work at this full time so have no other way to earn a living. None of us are rich. Also, as the owners of Free Republic, LLC, the net income of the LLC flows back to us and we get to pay the taxes and both sides of the FICA on our personal tax returns.
The budget listed is a couple years old. I’ve asked John to update it, but he always seems to have bigger fish to fry. We added Chris to the payroll a couple years ago and his costs are not reflected in the budget. We also spend considerably more in travel than we budgeted and our taxes are much higher than we had listed. Also there are some big one time expenses we’ve had in the last couple of years that we had to borrow for and our payments are not listed. But they are almost paid off. Unless we get sued again or decide to purchase a lot more equipment or have some other large unexpected expenses pop up, I think we’ll be able to reduce our funding requirements starting next quarter.
This seems to be an expectation of the new, socialist generation. Why should anyone need to know every detail of the financial workings of FR in order to offer something to its owners in return for using it frequently? Neighbors help each other build their barns and fences. It's as simple as that.
FR is like a magazine or newspaper, only much, much better, in terms of being able to converse with like-minded people and obtain factual links and information readily on a huge range of topics of your choice. If you pay $35 or more for a subscription to a news source like the WSJ or large city paper, do you demand an accounting of the editors' expense accounts? No, you don't even give it a thought.
There is something about freedom, privacy and private enterprise that just enrages people. They want to tear it down without even realizing it. No one at FR is promising to use your money to feed orphans and then putting it in their pockets instead. If you are getting a benefit here, just pay something for it without feeling entitled to micromanage how that benefit is delivered. Trust Jim unless he proves he is untrustworthy. Since 1998, a core group of his beneficiaries have found his product/service of a value worth compensating.
FR is what it is, an invaluable news and opinion aggregator and virtual meeting place that reveals the daily, moment-to-moment pulse of the nation's grassroots conservatives. It costs the tiny staff all their time, hence they should be paid, and from the info given, they seem to be working considerably below the market value of their talents.
JimRob's and his family's contribution to the United States of America has never been adequately recognized and probably never will be; in no small part because of his dedication to the principles that made this country great, including personal responsibility, individual liberty and free enterprise without the overbearing intrusion of government.