Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by Jim Robinson
Free Republic has had one helluva run over the last five years or so. We helped impeach one president and helped get another into office. We've been active in demonstrations and protests in nearly every city across the nation. We've participated in conventions, petition drives, activism campaigns and projects for dozens of conservative causes.
We've grown from a tiny web site with a few hundred posters and readers from the time of inception in 1996, to one with tens of thousands of participants today. Along the way we've made lots of great friends and, unfortunately, also made lots of bitter enemies.
We've grown from a small web site that I could manage myself on a part-time basis to a huge monster that has totally consumed all of my time and resources plus nearly all of John's time, plus the time and resources of many dedicated FReepers who volunteer or contribute large amounts of their own time and money.
The site is now consuming all of a 10 mbps dedicated line with two servers and we're still growing, and it consumes large amounts of money to keep all this running. In the early years, it only took a few thousand dollars per month to keep Free Republic on the air, but it is now costing over $20,000 per month to cover all expenses.
The major costs include approximately $8,000 per month for bandwidth, 3,000 for systems management and programming services, 7,000 for management, operating and administrative services, plus two or three thousand per month for miscellaneous office expenses, telephone, communications, repairs & maintenance, travel & lodging, postage, rentals, insurance, legal fees, accounting fees, etc., etc.
We anticipate a reduction in bandwidth costs next year as we renegotiate our contract (the market price for bandwidth has fallen recently), however, that will be more than offset by an expected increase in costs of our legal expenses. As most of you know, our pro bono attorney has left us and we've hired a new attorney to continue with our case, plus we have the suit against eschoir to pay for. My projections are that our regular monthly expenses for next year will be running in the neighborhood of $22,000 per month, or approximately $264,000 total for the year. This means we will need to raise approximately $66,000 per quarter.
Talking about making enemies, we've got several ex-FReepers and other detractors who are claiming on their anti-freeper web sites that I am ripping off the donors and that Free Republic is a fraud. Now, Free Republic is what it is, and it is definitely not a fraud. It is a conservative news discussion forum that encourages participation in politics and activism projects. It is not being billed as anything else. We are not selling or promising anything. And I am being up front about our operating costs. The costs of running Free Republic are what I've stated above and they are necessary to keep FR on the air. I do not have the financial wherewithal to operate this site without your help. If the majority of the FReepers feel that these costs are out of line or too much to bear or that Free Republic is no longer wanted or needed, then we will either cut it back or shut it down or do something altogether different.
I've also been criticized about not making our financials public. Well, the reason I do not want to do this is that I have been sued, both personally and as Free Republic, LLC. The people suing us want to bankrupt us and shut us down. They subpoenaed our financial records, but we refused to turn them over. The judge agreed that the plaintiffs have no right to the information, thus I have no intention of making any more of it public than I absolutely have to, until this lawsuit is resolved. You all know the amounts of money we raise if you follow the fundraising threads. It is all above board and out in the open. The totals posted by BadJoe are usually pretty close to the actual cash received and the amounts expended are pretty close to the amounts projected. No one is getting rich here and no one is being ripped off. The funds raised are being used for the purposes stated, and that is keeping this website on the air and that's it. Nothing fraudulent about it. Those who want to help fund us freely do so with nothing expected in return. Those who do not want to contribute do not have to.
There was a thread running this morning where people were making all kinds of accusations about Free Republic "hiding the truth" or whatever. These accusations are being made by Chuck Allan and others and fall along the same line with the accusations being made by some of the earlier banees or AFers including Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan, Arator, keep U.S. Sovereign, TKEman and others. Some of these people are existing FReepers and some are banned. I am going to reinstate Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan and Arator's accounts so they can join Chuck Allan, TKEman, K.U.S.S. and whomever else wants to get involved, and I invite them to come onto this thread and make their accusations public. As long as they do not go onto other threads and make a nuisance of themselves, I will let them have their say.
Like I said above, if it is time for Free Republic to go away so be it. Those who want to keep it going speak up. Those who want it to go away, tell us why. But if those who want it to be gone lose out in the debate, then I'd say they should just go away themselves, or, in the very least, shut up and quit whining about it.
Thanks,
Jim
Amen to that!
If this thread isn't a natural setup to begin the December FReepathon a few days early, I've never seen one ;-}
The question is: What would be a reasonable amount of support if shared among the active users, like myself? Can you give us an idea of the order of magnitude? If it's a couple of bucks a month, no problem. If it's over $10 per month, I'd have to think about it, fun as this site is. (P.S. -- if this information was already in one of the previous replies, sorry if I missed it. I didn't have time to read all 1,000+ posts.)
Check is on the way.
Gettin' the ol' 45 lubed up, who's with me! Let's go take down some tune machines!
Oh well, at least you're expressing an interest. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.
Speaking of Chuck, is he still a member?
It does! Thank You!
Some don't like the censorship, some don't like the financial goings-on, some don't like a few of the Powers-That-Be, etc.
It seems strange that someone would become irate or just disenchanted for such trivial issues. When one becomes anti-anything one seeks to censor that thing! No one is obligatd to pay for FR. I believe that it is a free-will offering. Just don't give if you have a problem with it. And unless you have hard evidence of fraudulent misuse of money, your gripe with the Powers-To-Be is a cause of envy and pride. It seems to me that these anti-freepers need to look in the mirror and honestly evaluate their gripes with their own actions.
Uh...which one? I gotta read this!
I must go there and defend a lady's honor!
(He said whilst brandishing his broadsword.)
What does “Free” in Free Republic stand for?
I ask because I am constantly seeing people banned and comments pulled by the moderator.
There are two topics that I see this done consistently.
One is discussions on immigration, particularly Hispanic immigration.
People are being banned and posts pulled simply for discussing the wisdom of allowing unrestricted immigration to continue. Yet, to question our immigration policy is to be accused of being a “racist”. This charge is more in keeping with the liberal left silencing critics than it is with Republican ideology.
The second topic that is getting posts pulled and people banned at an alarming rate is discussions on our relationship with Israel.
I have yet to read a post where someone said, “Hitler was right” and yet posts are pulled for being “offensive” to some people and people are constantly being charged as being a “nazi” for simply discussing US-Israeli foreign policy.
According to the posting protocol, it says “Please: NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.” I don’t read where it says “Please, no comments that may offend people”.
Are we to be politically correct? Is there to be no free speech or debate because someone might find a comment “offensive” to their personal or political views?
Speech is either free or it isn’t. Censorship, either by moderators or self-censorship, cannot lead to finding solutions to complex problems.
I for one feel that the “abuse” button is too often abused by those seeking to intimidate or silence thoughtful criticism.
You ask, "Is Free Republic a fraud?" As I said, that depends on what you mean by the word “free”.
Me too......and see post #1199.
Is there an amt. that could be somehow stated? ......I don't know how you could figure the amt of freepers that use this site eveyday but they might be the ones that would be willing to committ to a monthly bill. I send $25.00 a month just for the priviledge of reading the vast amt of information gathered here for discussion. I do not feel that I could use FR the way I do without honoring it with money.
If America is going to remain free then this site will be priceless.
Time for another donation. I enjoy posting, reading, and occasionally sparring with my fellow freepers. I have learned a lot from this board.
No sir, FR is definately not a fraud! And it should certainly not go away. I for one intend to stay and to stand by FR, even if you do intend to reinstate an @$$---- like Inspector Harry Callahan. I figure if I can handle the presence of fartknockers like him, then they can tolerate me and we can all at least co-exist somewhat peaceably. I hope. FR's enemies ought to tread lightly...
Thanks for all your work, Jim.
Jim has been the victim of lie after lie after lie for a long period of time now. He used to try and refute the lies too, until he realized that NOTHING he said was ever going to be enough to satisfy vindictive people with personal vendettas against him. The official line was that they were 'exposing hypocrisy'. They weren't. It's only that their feelings got hurt or they felt insulted, and they've spent a considerable amount of time and wasted effort trying to destroy Jim personally and professionally. They started out like you, IHC. Beware.
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