I see the new DU membership rates as a Flat Tax

[sellitman]

Talk me down?

[dionysus]

1. option 2; use DU for free.

there's just some ads on the page...
:shrug:

[ClassWarrior]

2. Let them eat cake?

:shrug:

NGU.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. How Is That The Same Senitment?

If it's free, or you pay a bit to not have to see the ads, i hardly think that is the same as Marie Antoinette.
GAC

[dionysus]

14. no, "let them use DU for free", because.. you can use DU, for free...

:shrug:

[MjolnirTime]

15. AdBlock gets rid of those, too

[Amerigo Vespucci]

42. The ads are easily taken care of

It's not just the ads.

It's:

1). Custom avatars

2). Polls

3). DU search

4). And whatever Skinner, EarlG and Elad decide goes on the chopping block in DU3.

So posting on DU3...minus what's described above...is "free."

[CTyankee]

3. I was due for renewal so I just paid the $42.00 on my credit card.

I don't think $3.50 per month is a bad deal. I look at it as a subscription to a periodical I benefit from. I get information here I'd have to go to many websites to gather if there were no DU. I also feel I have friendships here, people who share my political and cultural philosophy, people who give me valuable insights. Sometimes my biggest laugh of the day comes from a DU thread. DUers are clever, smart and many are just very, very nice individuals.

I like it here so I want to see to it that it will be here for me in the future.

[elocs]

6. Wow, good for you! How about a little empathy for DUers for whom $42 is a big deal?

Yes, $42 is chump change for the evidently many DUers who are doing find, but it is dear for many others.

[CTyankee]

10. I cannot speak for anyone else's situation. Only my own.

I feel it is my obligation. My guess is that the current system cannot sustain DU and rather than have it simply die on the vine, everyone is asked to pitch in. I am giving more under this plan, but I feel it is worth it.

Question: if a DUer can only pay half that amount, does she/he still get to use and post on DU? I haven't read all the information about the new plan. If the Duer cannot pay anything, can they still use and post here?

I need to know more...

[defendandprotect]

40. ? Skinner just made clear they are doing very well -- !! ? So why an increase ... ?

Granted, you can't speak for anyone else here, but you must have some clue

as to what's going on economically?

You must read some of the posts on DU expressing unbelievable hardships?

You can still be a member without a star -- but evidently some exclusions --

like you can't see GD or LBN?

[Pacifist Patriot]

17. I'm with you. I can't swing it.

[sellitman]

31. Thank you.

I have always donated but I have three in College and had lost my job for almost 2 years. We are just getting back to normal after running an equity loan to pay back our credit card debt. While I know I can use DU for free I will feel like a second class citizen unless I pony up $42/ yr. Others are worse off than I .

[DevonRex]

35. So donate $5 just before DU3 starts and you've got a star for a year.

:shrug:

[Frustratedlady]

9. I've been paying $5/month for over a year and consider it cheap entertainment.

Where else can you keep up-to-date (or, as often happens, ahead of the general public) on info that is pretty dependable...far different than the MSM, which, btw, is filled with ads, as well as corrupted by corporate control.

Our "management" is courteous, the site is user friendly and the pages are easy to read, follow and post to.

Try going without DU for a couple days. I think you'll be surprised at how much you missed on state, national and world news.

DU has been my "Occupy Support Site" since the Bush Headache/Heartache days. I am amazed almost daily by the wealth of information available, archival documents/videos stored and DU's willingness to share that data/background. I may be able to draw from memory on a lot of situations, but with what bit of CRS I have, I have to rely on you guys to fill in the blanks. You never fail me.

Thanks to the "powers that be" for all the work you do and all the information you bring into my house each day.

[Raven]

4. I'm wondering if this will lead to less $ for DU. For example, if

the flat fee is $42 then that's what people will pay even they could donate more in a particular year. Am I making any sense?

[CTyankee]

7. It may work out that way in the future if DU doesn't make the "ask."

As a retired fundraising professional, we went by the theory that donors like to be asked. You can't assume that even your donors will make the contribution if you don't ask. But I am assuming that some sort of "ask" is in the plan going forward.

My guess, also, is that the admins did the math and the numbers came out positively for the plus side of the ledger.

Whatever, I wish them well in their fundraising and I will continue to support DU.

[MjolnirTime]

16. No, they'll make more on ads now that people can't avoid them for $5 a year

Ads > Donations apparently

[Cirque du So-What]

5. It's worse than a flat tax

which is, by definition, flat. This is a regressive fee structure, where those unable to afford a $42/year fee become subject to a $60/year fee in more-affordable-at-any-given-time payments if they desire membership.

[Bonhomme Richard]

8. If you want it for free then put up with the ads.

I don't understand the problem.
If the admins don't bring in the same amount of money, or more, then they will make changes.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. +1

Seems like a tempest in a teapot when there is a FREE option.
GAC

[Mz Pip]

26. +1

This is not a Flat "Tax." It's not a tax at all. It's a subscription.

Taxes are mandatory.

[Pacifist Patriot]

18. I'm okay with that. I wish I could be a subscriber, but I can't justify it at the moment.

I totally get the trade off.

[polly7]

13. I gave my $15, just as I do for every fundraiser, before I knew

I should have been paying $42. D'OH. I usually can't give a larger amount all at once, so I guess when my star runs out I'll be seeing ads.

[in_cog_ni_to]

33. The new system starts next year. You will be Grandfathered in. Your donation is good all next year.

You actually just saved $27. :)

Download Ad Block Plus FOR FREE and you will see ZERO ads. http://adblockplus.org/en/

[RegieRocker]

19. ROFL yep.

[jeff47]

20. Yes, it's just like a flat tax, except you can use DU for free.

So it's nothing at all like a flat tax.

[shraby]

21. I just plain can't afford it. On social security it's not easy with

everything else going up and up and no raise at all in two years. Our insurance-car, house, medigap, Part D have all gone up as has our taxes and light bill (both from the city). Then there are higher prices on groceries and gas. I guess I'll watch the ads..after while I don't see those any more than I do on t.v.

[pipi_k]

22. Wha?

Are you going to go to jail for not paying this "flat tax"? Have your pay garnished? Not be able to access DU at all?

So you lose the prestige of having a star if you choose the free option. And you see ads.


For 80 cents per week...or 11 cents per day...you get a star and no ads.

If a person thinks a star and no ads are important enough, there must be some way to make an extra $3.50 per month. Think of some way. Be creative.

[Orangepeel]

23. is looking at ads really a burden?

I sometimes read DU without logging in and, while I prefer fewer ads, it isn't oppressive to have to look at them. I have a DVR which allows me to try to avoid TV commercials, but I understand why the ads are there. I don't begrudge the magazines I read for having ads in them.

The administrators of the site deserve to be compensated for their work and the desire for a more regular cash flow is understandable. I worked at a restaurant for a while and I didn't like living on tips.

[redqueen]

28. +1

I've always supported DU... but I see ads on other boards and have had limited use of bells and whistles, and it didn't seem all that bothersome.

[Nye Bevan]

24. Well, it's not a "tax". And it's not "flat". Otherwise I think you've hit the nail on the head. (nt)

[randome]

25. Best response so far.

:thumbsup:

[Mz Pip]

27. Taxes are mandatory.

This isn't. You can still have DU for free.

[krispos42]

29. Like a magazine subscription? n/t

[onenote]

37. +1

[LanternWaste]

30. I see it as Ads or No Ads. I guess we often see only what we want to.

I see it as Ads or No Ads. I guess we often see only what we want to.

[in_cog_ni_to]

34. Download this FOR FREE.

http://adblockplus.org/en/

You will see NO ADS. I had to get this for Yahoo and it works at all web sites. I never see ads on DU and I;m not a donor..

[sellitman]

36. I have no problem donating.

I just have a problem with being told how much I can afford.

[NeedleCast]

32. It is Nothing Like A Flat Tax

1. Taxes are not optional.

2. If paying 42$/year for DU is like a flat tax then the sale of everything should be considered a flat tax. Is buying a $3 loaf of bread a flat tax? Is buying a Double Whopper with cheese for $5 a flat tax? No. So neither is paying for a subscription to DU.

[onenote]

38. +1

[SidDithers]

39. DU3 is free...

you can post and read as much as you want at DU3 for free.

If you can't afford to donate to DU, then you shouldn't donate to DU.

Sid

[Obamanaut]

41. Don't pay the flat tax, use it for free, same as now. You're talked down now. nt