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Bill: Heritage Media
Details
Submitted by[?]: National People's Gang
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: April 2086
Description[?]:
| Ten years ago the government agreed to help fund a pilot project to give the people of Lodamun the opportunity to own and run media enterprises known as Vox Pop TV (VPTV) and Vox Pop Radio (VPFM) under the corporate community branding of Vox Pop Media. A clause in both of the two acts which initiated this project stated: "Additionally, and also for the first 10 years of operation, the government shall not claim any tax, licence fee, or other levies and revenues related to purchases of equipment, lease or purchase of accommodation or purchases of consumables for use directly by the project. As this is revenue which currently does not exist and therefore is no loss to government funds, Vox Pop Media shall only be liable to government levees after 10 years by the passing of a specific bill setting a new rate." Both radio and tv have been a tremendous success - millions of people own a stake in the enterprise as Community Shareholders - viewers and listeners now have democratic control over both a national radio and a national television network. The government must now decide the future of its commitment to the project. Such is the success of the scheme that government funds, through tax breaks and the suspension of levees etc, are no longer necessary. It is appropriate that Vox Pop Media shall now be considered a private business, owned by the people through their non-negotiable shares in perpetuity. Henceforth, Vox Pop Media shall be subject to the same rates of tax, licence fees and other government levees as every other media business in Lodamun. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Radio stations.
Old value:: The government subsidises a national radio station for educational and informational purposes; other private non-subsidised radio stations are allowed.
Current: The government subsidises independent non-profit-making cooperatives for educational and informational purposes; other private non-subsidised radio stations are allowed.
Proposed: All radio stations are private.
Article 2
Proposal[?] to change Television stations.
Old value:: The government subsidises a national TV station for educational and informational purposes; other private non-subsidised TV stations are allowed.
Current: The government subsidises independent non-profit-making cooperatives for educational and informational purposes; other private non-subsidised TV stations are allowed.
Proposed: All television media are private.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 21:37:14, July 25, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | Yet again a bill to vote with no debate. PATHETIC equitrista. |
| Date | 00:40:10, July 26, 2005 CET | From |  Tuesday Is Coming | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | While we agree with the ASP, we must support any bill that reduces government involvement where it is not justified. |
| Date | 00:52:28, July 26, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | We do not oppose the content of the bill. We oppose the way in which it has been done. It matters not if we support or not an item, it should be debated. |
| Date | 02:23:13, July 26, 2005 CET | From | Tuesday Is Coming | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | Perhaps there exists a way to have certain parties ejected from a nation? |
| Date | 05:21:59, July 26, 2005 CET | From | Cooperative Commonwealth Federation | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | the bill also says: "Those who opt to support the service may dedicate 1% of their annual tax burden directly to the funding of regional production centres." would this tax redirect be abolished? it represents an indirect gov't subsidy, and one that it might be good to continue. abstaining for now, but please answer before voting deadline, thanks. |
| Date | 09:46:09, July 26, 2005 CET | From | National People's Gang | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | As far as we're concerned that part of the act remains in place, as no time limit was placed on it. It will continue to encourage people to invest in their own Community Shareholdings and join the democratic process of running the company. |
| Date | 14:16:06, July 26, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | So the government redirecting 1% of its financing to this project does not represent a discount on taxation for the Vox Pop entities. It clearly does. As such, if the Vox Pop broadcasters are to "be subject to the same rates of tax, licence fees and other government levees as every other media business in Lodamun" then this 1% redirection of government revenue has to be scrapped. We will quite hapily accept that the general population receives a 1% tax cut, just that this can not be linked to their paying this money to vox pop. |
| Date | 14:29:59, July 26, 2005 CET | From | National People's Gang | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | Government does not tax investment into companies. This is not a tax cut. It is people having control of where their money goes. |
| Date | 14:40:42, July 26, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | We agree that the government should not control investment into companies. However the initial bill linked a 1% tax curt to this money being paid to Vox Pop. If they are no longer to be subsidised by the government, this linkage has to be broken. Otherwise they are being given special terms and conditions. We are very happy to support the people deciding for themselves what they do with their wealth, and as such we request that this required spending aspect is eliminated. ((Would it not have been better to have debated this, so the terms of the bill could refer to this issue one way or another. As it is, the bill description can not be amended, so this issue is going to be left hanging anyway)) |
| Date | 21:57:32, July 26, 2005 CET | From | Cooperative Commonwealth Federation | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | the 1% tax redirect sounds like an indirect subsidy, and it's worth keeping. |
| Date | 23:38:45, July 26, 2005 CET | From | National People's Gang | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | The 1% tax redirect stays even if this bill passes. |
| Date | 00:21:11, July 27, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | Sorry It does not. This bill rescinds the Vox Pop bill by making all media privately owned. Look at the terms of this bill. There is nothing whatsoever about a 1% transfer of income tax to this private company. There is no statement that this private company will receive subsidies, and our laws at the moment prohibit them from doing so. "Government policy on industry and subsidies to industrial operations The government does not intervene in the market nor provide any form of subsidies/relief to industries." ((The penalty you pay for not debating.)) |
| Date | 00:24:03, July 27, 2005 CET | From | Tuesday Is Coming | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | Too bad it is too late to make the bill say that "Such is the success of the scheme that government funds, through tax breaks and the suspension of levees etc, are no longer necessary." The bill says otherwise. The above-quoted text, along with "Vox Pop Media shall be subject to the same rates of tax, licence fees and other government levees as every other media business in Lodamun.", implies that the tax manipulation will disappear. Since this bill has already been moved to voting, there is no way for albert to change this. |
| Date | 01:36:37, July 27, 2005 CET | From | National People's Gang | To | Debating the Heritage Media |
| Message | The 1% we're talking about is not from the government. It's from ordinary people. It isn't government money, it never got there, sorry. Tax breaks for Vox Pop Media will however end. "Vox Pop Media shall be subject to the same rates of tax, licence fees and other government levees as every other media business in Lodamun." Means just what it says, it implies nothing more than what it says. You'll note that the subject of the sentence is "Vox Pop Media" not "People of Lodamun." There's no need to change any of this bill, we're happy with the way it is. Your attempts to make it say something it patently doesn't are why debates are pointless. ((And finally, please do not refer to "Albert" - let's keep it strictly IC )) |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 276 | ||||
| no | Total Seats: 60 | ||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 101 |
| Random fact: Particracy is set in the fictional world of Terra, which mirrors the real world of today and yet is not quite like it. |
| Random quote: "Global warming is indeed a scam, perpetrated by scientists with vested interests, but in need of crash courses in geology, logic and the philosophy of science." - Dr. Martin Keeley |