Its another beautiful, sunny day in the City of Angels. JkL strolls out of his HQ, his security entourage forming a barricade. He is in a confident mood.

The speed shutters on the FBI cameras go in to overdrive. JkL does not care though, he has more important matters to deal with. To the soapbox he goes.

So, following some feedback, we've decided to simplify the rules for the LA business district. Apparently actually charging people was a little too intrusive into the individual's business practices.

So, from now on the rules are very straightforward.

To set up a business in LA, you will need to pay a one off fee of $50,000, then a weekly payment of $20,000 per week.

Failing to pay will result in your business being torched, and closed.

Alternatively, you can pay $1,000,000 up front and not worry about the weekly vig.

If you wish to recoup that money by charging for entrance or services, well, we'd encourage it - if you'd rather just take the hit yourself, then that's your call.

Existing business owners, you will be spared the start up fee, but you will be expected to make the weekly payment of $20,000 to me.

And with that, JkL steps down from the trusty soapbox and is soon back in the safe confines of his HQ.

Zuldazar claps

Much easier to understand JkL and it allows each businessman a chance to run it how they want. Nicely changed and well thought up and I wish you the best of luck my friend.

Something I didn't understand from the last one is... People coming and asking me if I agree with JkL and The_Liar's business district ideas and implemenation. JkL is my Street Boss, meaning everything that he does for the benefit of the city as a whole comes through me first and I have the utmost respect and trust for anything he wants to implement.

So in short for all those wondering whether I agree with this... Yes... I damned well do.

I think it's a great idea, will certainly weed out anyone who just wants to slap a seedy bar up to say they did, we'll end up with the quality level of businesses we want as good businessmen understand it takes money to build and run such. I'm looking forward to seeing this in action.

CantThinkOfAName walks over to the man standing on the soapbox.

Sir...

50k for setting up a business? Then 20k a week to keep that business running. Bit steep if you ask me. For the little business that goes through LA don't you think this is pushing it a bit much?

On the other hand $1,000,000 dollers for a one time fee? Correct me is am wrong. 1000000 devided by 20000 = 50 weeks worth of payments (Wow yes i can use a calculator)... How do you know that the City of LA will be run by the same people? Also, 1million on time fee count for all your accounts dead or alive?

There is alot of unansweard questions here that am sure people would love to know about.

20k is nothing these days, it's half the profits from the drugs run that you presumably did on the way in. We wanted a figure that was meaningful, while not being too pricey. It's meant to be extortion, after all.

As for the one time fee, yes, that's basically a year's worth of payments, it is expensive for two reasons:

1 - It removes the hassle of having to make weekly payments, and charges a bit of a premium for that.

2 - People live longer these days, that's just the way it is.

Obviously, should PJ and JkL die, these rules will become null and void, one cannot enforce the rules governing a city if they are not actually alive to do so.

And in answer to your final question, the pass lasts your lifetime, it's not something that can be passed from father to son.

While I am here, let me just say publicly that I take full responsibility for the rules being simplified, it was my over-exuberance that needlessly complicated the original plan and tried to dictate how businesses would be managed. Our goal is simply to extort money from businesses - y'know, like we're in the Mafia or something - I lost focus from that goal while thinking out the plans.

For the sake of argument, this is not a personal view nor a threat, simply me playing devil's advocate here...

You're trying to extort money from businesses. However, these ain't your mom and pop corner stores. These are mafia fronts for nefarious activities. If I send one of my New York bosses to LA for some 'business', are you really suggesting you will attempt to extort him? Take a cut of my profits? Dip your hand straight into my pocket?

If so, what is to stop someone in my position deciding to dip my hand into the pocket of everyone from LA who simply enters my city with similiar extortion? Or even outright ban each and everyone of them from entering my city?

It also begs the question, should someone choose to start up a business and refuse to pay these rates, what will the punishment be? It's all well and good to say the place will be 'shut down', but it's a front. It's an address to give the 'appearance' of a business, not to actually be one. It just has to look legit enough to fool the feds. I'm sure, no matter how well someone tries to destroy it, it would be put back into operation with minimial effort.

I'm not saying that you don't have perfectly agreeable answers to each of these questions and queries, but if you do, we've yet to see or hear them. I look forward to the replies, as much as I enjoyed advocating the devil for a few moments.

Well normally when a farther/mother dies the next of kin should take over the business, why can't the next of kin be left to pick up the bills and pay the rent to there newly found empire?...

Lucretia scratches her head. For the last few days she had pondered this issue and hadn't quite been sure how to respond. Finally, she decided to speak up a bit, even if she still was unsure where she stood on the issue in the end.

Hmm, so Los Angeles is going to start charing fees for people who want to set up businesses in their city. I'm glad there was a refreshingly honest assessment of what this is, from none other than The Liar of all people. It's extortion. Fair enough. Theft, extortion, and other nasty activities come part and parcel with our line of work. What I'm perplexed by is the indiscriminate nature of it all.

When I take a look at the Los Angeles city rules on picking pockets, I find this: "I will ask that you respect those ranked above you and not stick your hands in their pockets." Rightly so. Money should flow up the ranks, not down. What is merely a blunt way of ensuring the wheels are properly greased in one case may be a horrible affront if the ranks are simply reversed.

So I guess what I'm concerned about here is the utter lack of discrimination. Treating a Don or, heaven forbid, a Godmother the same way as you would a lowly Goomba? The possibility of a street boss having their business torched as though he were just an associate behind on his dues? I'm not sure I like that prospect. I find it both necessary and proper for the Men of Honor in our thing to be treated with due deference, and I'm not sure this policy is in keeping with that philosophy.

I guess what I'm with here is the answer to this question: If you wouldn't lift the money direct from their pocket, why would you pry it from someone's hands by threatening to torch their business? What's the distinction here that makes one OK and the other disrespectful in the utmost?

This is your city, you run it how you please. But do you honestly think charging or closing down businesses of fellow mobsters which in turn will effect their revenue stream will end well? Another thing that comes into mind, sure people can pay, but if they don't want to, why should they? Will you really stop them? I guess this all comes down to power. Do you have the power to extort other mafia businesses without any repercussions? Also what is stopping other cities from extorting your city?

I believe this idea of yours should have been thought out more before considering announcing it

We were not stopping anyone from coming to LA. We were not stopping anyone dealing drugs, committing felonies, ripping off post offices, or even entering places of business (as I said before, that last one was taking it way too far).

All we were trying to do with this initiative is develop some realism in how our business district works, the concept that businesses would be allowed to operate in another city without paying some tribute to the head of that city is bizarre to me.

Sadly it appears that the terms we bandy around these streets do not actually mean anything. Respect is only for those with the most powerful guns, perhaps it has always been this way and I merely romanticise the way our world should be.

Either way, it has been made abundantly clear to us that no, we do not have the power to back this up, if violence has become the only solution. It is obvious to even the most casual observer that if push comes to shove, we residents of LA would all be dead in a matter of minutes.

As such, we withdraw the rules for the LA business district.

I'll be in the bar if you need me.

Interesting, people question your rules and instead of answering them and backing yourselves up, you stand down and remove the rules.

"the concept that businesses would be allowed to operate in another city without paying some tribute to the head of that city is bizarre to me."

Unless my furry little head got something wrong here do not people pay taxs to your city when they petty, felony or do drug deals? Bring more people into your business district and while they enjoy the businesses they shall rob post offices, commit felonies and do drug deals all in YOUR city and from all the money they make, a percentage gets taxed and goes to LA.

So technically the more successful businesses you have, will attract more people to LA hence making LA more money. But instead you wish to scare off business owners by extorting them. Like I said before you should have thought through this Idea a bit more before coming out to the streets.

"It is obvious to even the most casual observer that if push comes to shove, we residents of LA would all be dead in a matter of minutes."

I wouldn't think thats the best attitude coming from a high ranker of LA. Life is about having balls and guts. A lot of people here respect that aswell as having the most powerful gun like you so mentioned. You want respect? What respect have you just shown to your own city by basically calling it weak?

I guess I am a different type of mobster who loves their city, respects their city, and no matter what thinks there city is the best. The fact New York is the best just makes it easier.

Pooh Bear grins

When two godfathers come out in opposition to a proposal, and one of their leaders challenged it physically within hours of the initial announcement it becomes pretty clear that standing by this plan is not worth the lives of everyone in LA. While I am a firm believer that balls and guts can take you so far, family history teaches me that they can also take you to an early grave - especially when it is flying in the face of those cities considerably more powerful than ours. That's just the reality of our lives these days, sadly. As for the taxes, I believe those taxes kick in at Godfather, PJ isn't
there yet. I could well be wrong about that, but that is certainly how
it worked when my family last walked these shores.

Let's be honest, the business district is not a reason to visit any city. A surplus of sleeping bums or favourable drug prices are the only reasons the vast majority of the population travels. I have the utmost respect for PJ, and JkL, stating a fact isn't disrespectful, it's merely an honest appraisal of where we stand at the moment. At a time when everything seems to boil down to our ability to defend it physically, it would be nigh on suicidal to continue to push for something which we cannot uphold without the use of violence, which we don't want.

I had hoped at the outset that torching and closing the businesses (something we cleared with city hall in advance to ensure we weren't crossing any lines from that perspective) would be enough. It appears however that businesses we do torch and close can magically re-open themselves, even if this weren't the case, there is nothing to stop those intent on flouting the would-be rules from opening another, and another, and another...

This means that the only other method of enforcing these rules is to start shooting... and even ignoring the fact we'd lose, that was never what this was about. It wasn't a power play, merely an attempt to bring a level or realism to the business district I felt was lacking.

In all honesty, you are right, I had not thought this through to this conclusion, probably as a result of those rose-tinted lenses through which I tend to view things, the eternal optimist in me believing that not everything in this world boils down to power

First of all I may have made a mistake, I forgot that LA does not have a Godfather at the moment so those taxes don't come into effect. All the same why not start getting businesses running now, good ones, so when the moment finally arrives when you get a Godfather your taxes will bring in great revenue.

I did not see two godfathers opposing your proposal, I saw two Godfathers asking questions about it. Is it you don't have answers for them so you just give up? In that case you made a big mistake bringing this proposal to the streets. You did not think before hand about the cons of it all and only saw POSSIBLE pros. When we ONLY think about money we end up making bad decisions.

I myself hardly visit business districts and I know this is the same with many other people. But your whole plan here did not involve trying to change peoples minds about business districts, in fact it gave LA's business district a worse rep.

Most of us here in this world have not heard much from LA, finally what seemed to be a dormant LA become active all of a sudden with a new auth and now a new proposal, a proposal which we have now seen failed.

"the eternal optimist in me believing that not everything in this world boils down to power"

That is all it ever boils down to. If you think it is all about being nice to each other and holding hands then you are in the wrong business my friend, perhaps you should consider a career change.

As our ancestors from Italy have learned us... it's a fact that business owners pay a protection money in order for their business to survive.
It's been done for ages in our world and it will be done again and again.

Does it truly make sense to extort other Mafiosi? No. Does it truly make sense that Mafiosi have businesses in a city not their own? No.
It doesn't make any sense, at all. Yet here we are, 20 active restaurants, massage parlours, kindergartens and what not.
That's to hide and launder money you say? Oh really? Damn I'm still awaiting to fill in my tax forms for 1915!

Everybody here gets that you can only operate similar to Sicily to a certain length, that's the life we chose and accepted.

What LA has been doing here is just that, they're working with what they got to make a profit. Should we refer to it as Pizzo? perhaps not.
Should we find it ridiculous one has to pay "something" for running a business, what ever their purpose is? No, I don't find that ridiculous at all.

Thing is...
we're not a charity and hopefully never become one. If you were running a city and someone just broke into one of YOUR buildings and set up shop there without communication, approval and a payment, wouldn't you go bonkers?
I know I would, what gives them the right to just move into one of your buildings? That doesn't make sense right? I'm sure that was never done in Italy.
"Oh hi mate, you're from Detroit? Oh please here's a building" there's no such charity in the Mafia.

Those who should be in need to launder money would happily do so in their own city where they know how things are ran and if it's really necessary to do so outside their home-city because they're one of these rare Mafiosi who didn't manage to stay under the radar and Mr. TaxAgent is tracking them down... then they would happily pay 70,000 set up funds and an additional 20,000 per week to manage to stay out from the heat.
Hell I probably would pay the 1 million, easy and quickly money laundered right there no?

Let's face it nobody is laundering money here right now, nobody. The discussion right here must have gotten the attention alone of the tax federation! Why aren't they doing anything?
Because we're together too powerful for them to do anything about it and if they do, I just bust them out of jail again, for free, nfp!

Then it is power that makes things go the way they are? Ahhhh... got it.
Right so Los Angeles realised part of the Mafia community (nearly the majority population wise) is not keen on their plans, so what can you do?

Exactly what Los Angeles did.. they revamped the rules and at a later stage totally revoked them.
Am I ,Godmother of Philadelphia, sad to see I now don't have to pay any more? No, thank you very much!
Would I happily have paid to "launder my money"? Yep, made perfect sense to me.

Because last time I checked... Running a business and laundering money... costs money.

I had hoped at the outset that torching and closing the businesses (something we cleared with city hall in advance to ensure we weren't crossing any lines from that perspective) would be enough. It appears however that businesses we do torch and close can magically re-open themselves, even if this weren't the case, there is nothing to stop those intent on flouting the would-be rules from opening another, and another, and another...

Regarding this point only, I would strongly disagree with city hall having anything to do with "business maintenance" or the enforcing of mobster-initiated rules. Any such policies should be mobster enforced.

Tyrion steps forward to venture a comment.

"I appreciate that this matter is all but concluded, however I was reading through a very old family journal and came across an almost identical scenario and problem to the one in present debate.
One of the very first settlers of my family line to live this life was a part of a new family in New York. The boss of the family was inexperienced and in an attempt to make an impact in the streets and impress the various Godfathers, he implemented an almost identical system of taxing local businesses.

He also stated that businesses would be burned to the ground in case of non payment and sent out various members of the family to collect the weekly tax. All the same arguments were raised by the respective business owners and in an attempt to show strength, the leader of my ancestor's family ordered a great many businesses burned. And they were. However he did not anticipate the New York community's determination and was powerless to prevent the reoccupation of all of the burned out buildings.

Some businesses were refurbished as good as new, some were just used to mount rooftop demonstrations. The looting and chaos was quite a spectacle. Ultimately the law was unenforceable and all the screaming in the street that the boss did, only served to weaken the public's faith in is ability to lead. From there it was only a matter of time. If you'll indulge me, I have a few comments marked in the journal..."

Tyrion flicks through the pages of the journal, pausing at the various markers.

"The boss has us collecting on this tax. it's a joke, all the bar owners keep laughing in my face and sending me away calling our family a joke."
--
"Oh no. Oh no. Its all gone wrong. All the Godfathers are getting pissed at the boss."
--
"After missing his first three shots, Oberon has just killed the boss. The entire country's hitmen have descended on New York. The complete upper structure has been wiped out in less than three minutes.
--
Oh no. Oh no. Bad bad bad."

Closing the journal he looks up once more.

"That's the last entry. Anyway, I'm not saying that this is exactly what will happen, its just exactly what did happen many years ago. There is a fundamental issue that creates an almost unsolvable problem:

As a community of career criminals, we extort money from the system. As long as we do that together, harmony is maintainable. The moment we cross the line and start extorting money from each other, we tread on people's toes. If you can find an mutually beneficial way to abuse each other financially, I'm all ears. However I doubt its realistically possible.

I appreciate that I am not a high ranking member of our community, so my sincere respect and thanks to you good people for allowing my to speak."

Placing the journal back in his coat, he steps back nodding acknowledgment to the esteemed mobsters present.

I am not sure whether i agree with what LA are doing with their business district but what i will say is this. If they wish to start a business tax, that is completely up to them. But with so many people opposed to the idea i think we could see a severe lack of activity in the LA business district. Why would someone pay to open a business in LA when they can go to another city and open it there for free? Sure, like most of the other cities LA want a city tax of some sort to make money, can't blame them, afterall who doesn't like making money? I just don't think the business they have chosen will attract much interest but i could be wrong. Be interesting to see how it works out.

~E~

Obviously i have not had my morning coffee and missed the point where this business idea had been scrapped. Shame to see a new idea go to waste but i believe it could be for the best.

As do I Erratic.

See, this whole thing has gotten totally out of hand. We in LA tried to extort the people entering a particular part of our city and we have failed. Hell... I hate to admit it but i'll admit it none the less.

The main reason i've asked for this to be scrapped? How do two Don's and their less than 50 members take on a Godfather, his three Don Crewleaders, two Consigliere Crewleaders and their 100+ members? (To use NY as an example) It just wasn't possible. I'm all for standing firmly by my ideas, my Bosses ideas and the RHM's ideas. But when standing firmly by an idea means the destruction of everyone below me? That's just idiotic to be fair. So the idea is scrapped.

Good ideas are never perfect from the start. Good ideas take days/weeks/months of fine tweaking before they become perfect. This is how I look at this.

Tyrion, thank you for speaking with inserts from your journal. I actually wasn't aware this had been attempted before. One thing I can guarentee though, I am not like the leader that tried to pull this off many moons a go. Nor is JkL. I believe I would be right in saying I have already garnered the respect of my peers. I'd probably be dead already if not. This was also not an attempt at power play.

I have full faith in JkL and The_Liar. I always will.