Is Free Republic a Fraud? Is it time for Free Republic to go away?

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.

I'm sorry to come late to this thread, but have gone out of town and am logging in on another computer where I just discovered it.

FreeRepublic is most certainly not a fraud. As for this site going away, that is a decision only you can make, but I would hate to see that happen.

By monthly contributions, I pay more for FR annually than I pay for The Wall Street Journal online. Since I first found FR in early '98, I have come here daily, and appreciate all the work you have put into it, and all the heat you have had to bear.

Perhaps the time has come to make FR into a subscription site. I get sick of the whiners who cannot do anything other than criticize, while adding little themselves. If the disruptors want to pay up for the privilege accessing and posting here, let them, but I doubt they will continue to be interested, and will find some other location to spill their bile.

Regardless of what you decide to do with FR, it has had a great run, and has had a considerable impact on my life.

Thank you.

Chuck, I've just about had enough of your despicable suggestions that somehow the cruise committee was dishonest or crooks. You seem to have a selective memory...let me help you out a bit.

Chuck Allen - "It was on this site that Bob posted a thread one night titled "Don't mention the Travel Agent Fee Split". Apparently some people had asked Seeking the Truth some questions about the cruise raising money. As a member of the committee I could not in good consciense continue to serve if the fact that raising funds was going to be concealed. Call me goofy or what ever, thats just the way I am."

Ok, you're goofy. Here are my comments to the cruise committee DIRECTLY from the thread you cite.

"Passengers DO NOT GET THIS REBATE on their room! This is OUR commission for booking the group! Gene mentioned that some people are expecting this to be applied to their room charges! BAD BAD BAD! If someone asks how we are making money on this, it is Ok to tell them that we are getting a bulk room booking rebate, but that this rebate goes to the NETWORK!"

So much for your quest for the truth and bringing it to the other passengers and Forum. What did you do Chuck, read the title, assume the worst and move on? There was never ANY intention to hide that this was a FUNDRAISER to help defray start up expenses for the Network. It was one of the 3 goals we set prior to embarking on it, and the fact is we thought it was so self evident (hundreds of groups have cruises to raise money)we didn't even think it about it. When it was brought to our attention, we added that phrase to the ad so people would know we were expecting to raise money. We also raised money through t shirt sales and a drawing for packages to next years CPAC. Are you telling me that under the sign where passengers bought tickets for the drawing, you would have insisted we add "BEWARE! THIS DRAWING IS A FUNDRAISER! IF YOU HAVE ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE NETWORK RAISING MONEY IN THIS FASHION, PLEASE DO NOT BUY A TICKET AS WE DO NOT WANT OFFEND ANYONE!

The rest of your accusations are as equally ridiculous and unfounded. Everyone going on the cruise knew this was a fundraiser to help defray expenses in launching the FR Network. No one paid a dime more than they would have booking with RCCL separately. We don't have any final figures yet because we have not received a final accounting from the cruise line. When we do, a report will be made to the Network Board of Directors and then they will decide where and when to best use the money to the advantage of the Network and further the goals of FReepers in general. Your assertions that these summaries need to be made to anyone else is simply absurd.

I am deeply insulted and angry that you would accuse these people, people have been your friends and worked alongside you and NEVER ONCE HAVE GIVEN YOU REASON TO QUESTION THEIR MOTIVES OR THEIR HONESTY. You owe EACH AND EVERYONE of them a apology.

The Cruise Committee

Badjoe (Chief FR Fundrasier)
diotima (Chicago Chapter President)
Commonsense (South Carolina Chapter President)
Ms.AntiFeminazi (Dallas Chapter President)
Seeking the Truth (Florida Chapter President and winner of last years "Chapter of the Year" Eagle Award)
LurkerNoMore! - (Dallas Chapter Leader and about the sweetest girl you would ever meet!)
Ironjack (Tireless volunteer helping to make the FR dream come true)
MinuteGal - (Florida Chapter leader and tireless volunteer for FR)
abner - (Another wonderful girl and tireless volunteer for FR)
Syncro - (All around great guy and team member!)

BTW - I can't believe you're trying to mischaracterize my concerned call to you. In case you don't remember (which would really shock me at this point) there were some upheavels and bad feelings on FR and the FAB around that time. A couple people got angry and bolted (I think they've all returned now). When Joe saw you cancel your monthly, he called me knowing that you and I were friends and thought it may be best to give you call and find out what was wrong. You know as well as I do the only reason I called was to check on your welfare and see if there was anything I could do or explain. This additonal mischaracterization is just too much for me. I don't know what happened to you Chuck, but I sure stinks.

Merely establishing a board isn't "creative;" it's like plugging a guitar into an amp and turning the power on.

The "creativity" results from the postings; the "music," as it were

This is where you are you are again in error...let me put it to you like this. Using your analogy above, I made the guitar and the amp. IOW, I created an appending forum on my own. I wrote the code, I created the Database, my code is handling a discourse that at times, is heavy. Not nearly as heavy as this place, but I have been sent email from my host that I exceeded my bandwidth.

So, moving on...I did not put this place down. I commented from the heart...you know, kinda like the Emporer has no clothes?

But it is obvious you do not see things in parrallel so, ta ta!!

Chuck allen said:

I was also troubled that Joe made my donation status available to Bob. I thought this was supposed to be confidential information. I refinanced my home and used some extra cash to close out my credit cards. I ask Joe to please stop my donation, fully intending to start back up as soon as I closed on my new loan. But I get a late night phone call from Bob asking me why I quit giving money to FR.

Bob J. said:

When Joe saw you cancel your monthly, he called me knowing that you and I were friends and thought it may be best to give you call and find out what was wrong. You know as well as I do the only reason I called was to check on your welfare and see if there was anything I could do or explain.

Chuck: I've lurked here for a long time, and have read many of the threads you posted to. I also lurk at the other site occasionally, and have seen your comments there. I haven't thought of you as someone who was out to "get" Jim Robinson, or FreeRepublic. I don't know the full extent of your problems with anyone here, but I had to post a comment in regards to Badjoe. I don't believe Badjoe would give out personal information about anyone, but I know that he cares alot about people. If Badjoe thought someone was upset, he would try to straighten things out. I know from personal experience that Badjoe is a good friend that would do anything to help if he could. I believe what Bob J. said about Badjoe being worried about you.

" Irrelevant? Read the whole thread--it's about the relevance of personal opinion. And FR is "created" by ALL posters, including those whose knees don't jerk and who eschew cliches; if it wasn't, it wouldn't be FR. It's the source, degree, and consequences of dissent that this thread is about. "

You've got me thinking… Maybe the importance of the members and the request for donations are too out of place with the living room analogy. After all, we're not here for Jim or his nifty software.

But then if it's the people, why aren't we posting on talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.usa.republican, or alt.society.conservatism.

How about an analogy of a public or private nightclub? There's a donation or an entrance fee, and most anyone at a successful club will tell you that they're there because of the people. And if you ask that your C&W CD be played at a techno club, they'll refuse. Make a scene and they'll throw you out. Play it at your table and they'll tell you to get your own club. My God, a Cliché!

Even thought the people make or break a club, it's defined by whom is let in and how they manage the environment, even clubs with a suggestion box.

It's like you said, "FR is 'created' by ALL posters, but it's all posters that Jim lets in and how he manages them. That's what separates Free Republic from the user news groups above.

Now that I think about it, what's the difference between a club and a living room. You don't go to someone's house party for the architecture, maybe not even for the host. ALL the people that are invited define the experience. That make the donation issue kind of… hum, what was that word again?

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