Posted on 03/15/2012 4:16:34 PM PDT by Iam1ru1-2
Lamar Alexander and Dick Durbin, the Tax Tag Team
"Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute." --Thomas Paine (Rights of Man, 1791)
"Fairness"?
Under cover of the Republican Presidential Primary debates about how to defeat Barack Hussein Obama's socialist agenda and his plan to fund the final chapter of that agenda with enormous tax increases, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN, no relation!) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) have teamed up to promote one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history -- a heavy levy on all Internet sales.
The so-called "Marketplace Fairness Act" S. 1832 was first proposed in November 2011 by Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), and now awaits action in the Committee on Finance. (And you thought all that "fairness" rhetoric was limited to leftists promoting Democratic Socialism.)
Some otherwise erudite conservative senators, such as my friend Bob Corker, have joined Alexander in this errant folly. They are backing the Republican version of the legislation because it is allegedly better than the Democrat version. For the record, I do not consider that to be a legitimate selling point.
Before explaining this enormous tax increase, allow me to provide some insights demonstrating how detached Lamar is from marketplace reality and how he became so disoriented.
I once admired Lamar, an affable and intelligent fellow whose successful 1979 gubernatorial campaign trademark was his folksy grassroots plaid shirt. After a couple of terms as governor, he accepted an appointment as Secretary of Education from George H.W. Bush in 1991. In that role, he unfortunately supervised the expansion of that department rather than its contraction as proposed by Bush's former boss, Ronald Reagan.
Predictably, after Lamar's move to Washington, he progressively lost touch with his grassroots base and began a slide into the mediocrity of Republican moderation -- which often renders its adherents ideologically indistinguishable from their Democrat opponents. I diagnose this condition as Chronic Potomac Fever, which infects too many well-meaning Republicans after they take up residence inside the Washington Beltway.
By 2002, Lamar had become a card carrying "establishment Republican." After his well-funded but narrow primary defeat of a strong conservative, Rep. Ed Bryant, Lamar went on to win the Senate seat vacated by Fred Thompson. To the detriment of conservatives and our Constitution, Lamar was elevated to Conference Chairman of the Republican Party from 2007 until 2012. However, given the influx of conservatives into the House and Senate ranks in 2010, Lamar announced his resignation, noting he was "stepping down from leadership to regain my independence."
The day after Lamar announced his support for the Internet tax, he sent me this explanation -- which aptly demonstrates just how disconnected he has become.
"This bill is about states' rights; closing tax loopholes that basically subsidize out-of-state businesses at the expense of Tennessee businesses... Today, if you buy boots from a store in Nashville, by law the store collects the sales tax you owe and sends it to the state to pay for our roads, schools and other services we ask the state to provide. But if you buy the same boots online from a company outside Tennessee, that company doesn't collect the sales tax you owe the state. ... That's not right. If businesses are going to fail or succeed, it should be based on the services they provide and the price of their products -- not on whether a company can successfully avoid collecting sales taxes that their Tennessee competitors can't get around collecting."
Memo to Lamar, et al.
I replied to his contorted and disconnected marketplace reasoning with a reality check, noting first that under our present Constitution, if I purchase a product from another state, it is NOT subject to state taxes in my state of residence unless that vendor has a retail presence in my state. That has been the standard for interstate commerce for generations, whether placing orders by mail, by phone or by Internet (Quill v. North Dakota regarding the latter).
Thus, suggesting that I "owe the state" sales tax when I purchase a product from another state is patently false. (Of course, some states endeavor to circumvent the sales tax exclusion by implementing "use taxes" -- without much success due to the ludicrous complexity requiring that citizens track and report every purchase when filing state tax returns.)
Further, it is absurd to suggest that the "boot purchase" example -- avoiding sales tax -- is the force that drives online sales. In some cases, people will go into a retail outlet, find a product they like, and then search online for a better price. I believe that is morally wrong. (And in regard to Sen. Alexander's laudable desire to support local businesses, those boots were probably made in China or India.)
The vast majority of Internet sales are driven by product, price comparison and convenience -- old-fashioned free enterprise competition -- not by short-circuiting a local vendor's sale to avoid sales tax. In fact, many items purchased on the Internet may not be available in a local market.
As for Alexander's assertion, "If businesses are going to fail or succeed, it should ... not be on whether a company can successfully avoid collecting sales taxes that their Tennessee competitors can't get around collecting," again, this is a false premise. The shipping cost on a pair of boots purchased on the Internet is likely to be as much or more than the sales tax on the same pair of boots, if purchased locally.
Moreover, given the high price of fuel and the fact that a critical percentage of the fuel we use is imported from the Middle East, not only do Internet orders conserve fuel and preserve our environment, they promote national security.
For example, if 1,000 people in a single ZIP code place 1,000 Internet orders, the majority of those orders will be delivered by a common carrier in that ZIP code. In other words, a couple of FedEx or UPS trucks making multiple deliveries in one ZIP code is far more energy efficient than 1,000 consumers driving to multiple locations endeavoring to make those purchases.
The fact is, the Marketplace Fairness Act is really about generating billions of dollars in windfall taxes for state governments, many of which are as bloated and inefficient as the federal government and therefore just as bankrupt. If Lamar wants to implement an enormous tax increase and stifle free enterprise, then he should call it what it is, rather than obfuscate his motivation by claiming lofty rationales such as "states' rights."
The bottom line is, conservatives should opposed any tax increase, opting instead to cut federal and state government spending, most of which is not supported by the constitutions of either. Moreover, any tax increase that is not revenue neutral should be flatly rejected by even the most dullard of establishment Republicans.
In other words, if Sen. Alexander is going to support an Internet sales tax on Tennesseans in order to "level the playing field," he should also support an equal reduction in the overall rate of sales taxation to offset his tax increase.
PS: If you are curious as to why online behemoth Amazon.com supports the Internet sales tax measure, it is because Amazon already has locations in many states, meaning Amazon sales in those states are already subject to sales tax. But Amazon's support is more sinister. Determining, collecting and delivering state and local sales taxes on every purchase massively increases transactional overhead for small businesses that compete with Amazon. But Amazon is positioning itself to "rescue" those poor little businesses by processing all their transactions -- in return for substantial surcharges on the taxes collected, of course. Caveat emptor!
Deus et Constitutione — Libertas aut Mortis! Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander Publisher, The Patriot Post
Well reasoned. Well spoken. Bravo!
Not a dime’s worth of difference.
TRANSLATION: "I see you have some money there. Give it to me."
Hope it never gets past the House of Reps. Too many Senators go voer so easy...but the folks we elected in 2010 to the House have to hold strong.
LOL. Way to translate that quote into 21st century jargon.
Dickbrain Durbin loves taxes, and always has. He is especially fond of big government, and the bigger the better.
What a loathesome creature he is.
Here is a partial solution to the “clicks vs. bricks” marketplace:
Have a local “store” where samples are provided (floored) by the various manufacturers. Can be cross industry or single field focus.
Smart phones and other handheld devices read the item codes. (A device can be handed to customers as they walk in the store, also). Item codes also identify the store.
They link to their favorite comparison shopping sites and can purchase on-line. (Of course kioskes would be available at the store.)
Basically, customers can see, touch, feel, inspect items prior to on-line purchases.
Store revenue streams are — but not limited to — flooring costs TO manufactures and a fractional percent of sales. I’m certain there would be other incidental revenue streams.
This way the customer gets exactly what he wants ... inspect the items prior to purchase, then to purchase it at the best price in the universe.
I know there are some significate hurdles to leap to create a successful business model, but this is a good seed.
I’m at a stage where I like quiet things in my life so I personally have no desire to ramp up such an operation, but I think this idea has some merit worth pursuing.
Hopefully, some enterprising FReeper becomes fabulously wealthy tapping into this future shopping concept.
Good luck and God Bless.
P.S. Screw the government and private sector sucor statists.
Article 1 - The Legislative Branch
Section 7 - Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
It’s amazing how much support over the years people in TN have given to Lamar! About that of Mitch McC to the north, two who always disappoint
So far they have held strong on “fast and furious” oh never mind.
It’s amazing how much support over the years people in TN have given to Lamar! About that of Mitch McC to the north, two who always disappoint
IT’s not a tax increase, it is fair, and it is a state’s rights issue.
Taxes to be fair should be broadly based and distort the market as little as possible. This bill, or one like it (don’t know whether the specifics are badly written), will eliminate a long-term distortion in the market that is created by the disparate tax treatment of items sold within a state and items sold from one state to another by busineses that aren’t in the state.
A tax system that allows Amazon.com to sell an internet item without sales tax, while requiring Walmart.com to charge a tax on the exact same item to the exact same person, is a distorted tax system.
Too many conservatives fight against this reasonable change because, sadly, they like cheating on their taxes. Every state with a sales tax also has a “use tax”, which residents of that state are REQUIRED BY LAW to pay whenever the company which sells them a product does not collect the tax.
But since it is hard for the state to know about these purchases, people can easily avoid paying their tax. And for some reason, a lot of conservatives think that if the government can’t catch you, it’s OK not to pay your taxes.
People in IL have immense faith in Durbin; he has been there for so long.
As demonstrated by the elections since the "fab" 94 class, no GOP congress or WH has done anything to stop the continuing loss of our freedoms and the destruction of the former Constitution.
The GOP happily promoted this destruction, albeit at an order-of-magnitude lesser rate than the out-of-the-closet Marxists klintoon & obmao.
This election will have no impact on preventing the Reagan prophesy. We are already several years into the "1000 years"
" The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." -- Frederick Douglass, August 4, 1859
All I can hear is "Baaa...Baaa" from the serfs...Unfortunately, as I rapidly approach 80 years, I can still remember when it was the "citizenry" who sang "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition".
So much focus on enemies without (the mainstay strategy of all totalitarian reimes) has allowed our worst enemies, within, to win the battle for this Nation.
“reimes” = “regimes”
I keep getting Lamar! confused with Lugar! Might be because they were twins separated at birth. At least Lamar! lives in his state....
How is it not a tax increase?
And fair according to whom>
I agree it should be a state's right.
It is perfectly fair. What is the state doing to produce this new revenue? They are not located there. There is no inherent right for the government to tax everything.
I hope this chameleon gets thrown out on his backside in 2014.
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