If their bill passes, bloggers will still have to get a privilege license if their sites are designed to make money
Even though this is sold as an improvement over existing policy, it's still a bad policy. Adding layers of bureaucracy not only hampers entrepreneurship but it lowers the quality of life, a little chunk at a time. I'm convinced that future generations of Americans won't have the same freedom I had growing up. I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I really do believe that loss of freedom is more likely to happen in baby steps than is some sweeping revolution.
In practice I can imagine how this would be enforced. A typical cat and knitting blogger no one knows about won't be contacted. But the blogger that starts writing critically about the city waste and corruption is suddenly on the radar and will definitely have to pay the tax, and quite likely will be arrested for tax evasion.
Even though this is sold as an improvement over existing policy, it's still a bad policy. Adding layers of bureaucracy not only hampers entrepreneurship but it lowers the quality of life, a little chunk at a time. I'm convinced that future generations of Americans won't have the same freedom I had growing up. I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I really do believe that loss of freedom is more likely to happen in baby steps than is some sweeping revolution.