[CSM]

I am amazed that you can walk with one foot on each side of this issue. You say you don't support taxes at this time, implying that at some time it may be appropriate. Then you say that the internet is a great productivity tool and the government should supplement the technology. By not taxing it the government does that. What, a lack of government taxing is a form of government supplementation? You don't give enough credit to the private sector and you give to much credit to the government. Then you go on a discussion on the difficulty of accomplishing the tax, like you would be searching for a solution, then you say you are against taxing it at all. At one point you even say "If and when it is taxed", if and when are not interchangeable, they have different meanings.

I appreciate your third point, but you waffle on the wrong side to much.

[DannyTN]

"What, a lack of government taxing is a form of government supplementation? "

Only relative to bricks and mortar commerce. Your right, lack of taxing isn't supplementation but only in the relative sense.

I'm not completely anti-tax. We need some government. We might have too much now, but we can't eliminate the whole thing. So the question becomes what you tax and when. I'm not in favor of taxing the internet now, because it's an important technology and the US needs to be at the forefront of it.

There may come a time when it should be taxed. For example, lets say the internet has matured and lack of taxation no longer achieves any comparative advantage relative to other countries. And to spice it up, let's say a proposal is before congress to eliminate the income tax in favor of consumption taxes of which the internet tax is one. What then? Would you be willing to tax it then?

[DannyTN]

PS. Leave primary food alone, but should eating second hand food in public ever become even slightly common, it should definitely be banned.

What you eat in complete privacy is your business. But I think eating second had food should constitute grounds for divorce. And while I'm not a fan of child safety services given some of their outrageous attempts to take kids away from parents for minor things, if the parent is eating second hand food, this is one case where child safety services ought to look real hard at whether the children are safe.

I hate it when a promising thread gets Zotted before I even get to read it.