@sun @truthbait

for the people who think 'this isn't fair! why should the government be paying to view a free website!'

this is exactly what @amerika and others often say people should do: "pay authors for their work! if you don't pay authors they won't write" this is more true of the kind of writing that politico does -- up to date analysis on current trends -- if you don't pay for this kind of thing, you'll get only the scraps and leftovers of people who do. For individuals this might not be a big deal, but for governments this might be. Also : they can afford to have a free loss-leader website if it means competing for the actual government subs with the likes of stratfor.

generally: there may be a net positive or net negative when costs and benefits of this service are considered, and it may very well be not worth the cost. But just flat out complaining because "writers are being paid" is imho beneath people like at least @amerika