Posted on 03/24/2009 12:47:27 PM PDT by Red Steel
CHICAGO Newspapers perform a public service for democracy and should be allowed to operate as tax-exempt non-profits, U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D.-Md., proposed Tuesday.
Cardin introduced a bill that would explicitly include newspapers among organizations eligible for 501(c)(3) status. The non-profit status is the same that public radio and television have now.
The legislation would give a national green light for newspapers to adopt the so-called Low Profit Limited Liability Company business model, often shortened to L3C.
The L3C model, which the Newspaper Guild supports as an alternative newspaper ownership model, is the subject of a feature story in the current print issue of Editor & Publisher.
Under Cardin's legislation, newspaper revenue would be tax-exempt, and contributions to papers would be tax deductible. The status would also allow non-profits to invest in newspapers, something that is forbidden now.
Cardin said action is needed to help preserve local newspapers.
"We are losing our newspaper industry," Cardin said in a statement. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy."
The Associated Press quoted him as saying on the Senate floor, "As local papers are closing, we're losing a valuable tradition in America -- critically important to our communities, critically important to our democracy."
Newspapers that accept non-profit status would not be allowed to endorse candidates, but they could cover political news just as they do now, Cardin said.
"..and contributions to papers would be tax deductible..."
see post 37
Since they deem welfare to be a "tax cut," bailouts can be "tax exemptions."
Which means, of course, they’d have to lift the ban on political speech in Christian churches (only banned, of course, in conservative churches).
Well, the church itself couldn’t endorse a candidate, but the sermons could.
All this is doing is subsidizing failure.
Count yourself fortunate to have it dropped in your drive!
We just returned from a week on your sunny isle, and were impressed by not only the climate, but also the amount of work that's been done since Ike.
And the friendly folks we met every place we went.
Now there's a contradiction if I ever saw one. Current coverage equates to an endorsement in most circumstances.
I'll bet similar legislation was filed to save the buggy whip industry too. Print on paper presentation of stale news is the problem as well as a complete contempt for half their potential customer base. This is another case of propping up failure to delay the advent of better solutions.
LOL! Give the dog a bone or throw them a ball. I love Labs.
I think even if they are non-profit they still cannot make any money. They will still have to pay employee taxes. They will get cheaper postal rates but most papers are delivered by hand.
Yeah, but aren’t they changing the tax laws and near eliminating charitable deductions?
Strings are attached.
About newspaper and magazine pollution:
Yeah, and the diesel fuel and gasoline used to cut the trees, the diesel and gas used to truck the logs to the mill, the electricity (coal, etc.) used to make the paper, the diesel fuel and gas used to truck the paper to the newspaper printing plants, the fuel used to distribute the newspapers and magazines to readers, the fuel used to pick up discarded newspapers and magazines, and take them to the dump/landfill/recycle place.
Congress should legislate the size of newspapers and magazines, limiting newspapers to about 10 pages per day. This legislation should also limit the size, such as 3” x 5”, and the kind of ink permitted by the federal government. Same idea for magazines.
Journalist should be screened by the Department of Justice before they can write, and then there should be a three day waiting period before anything the write can be published, to give federal censors time to check it out. There should also be a three day waiting period before editorials and letters to the editor can be published.
Congress should establish a new federal department to administer the new law, The First Amendment Improvement Act of 2009 —— calling the new agency The Department of the Media. This new department can be expanded to include all forms of media ........ TV, radio, etc etc.
as they said in Alice in Wonderland.....
Verdict first.....
then the trial...
The Red Queen...M-belle.
It's actually been such for a while, now. The power to tax, is the power to destroy, and all that...
the infowarrior
Yep - we’re going to vote the libs out of office. That “revolt” American style. Only liberals think “revolution” - sickies like Ayers.
“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freedom of speech.”
Benjamin Franklin
1722
“No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.”
Thomas Jefferson
1799
“The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of the liberty of the press; for it
is an essential branch of liberty, so perhaps it is the best preservative of the whole.”
John Peter Zenger
Colonial printer
1735
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