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- You probably won't hear White House mouthpiece Joe Lockhart
bragging about this one.
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- But be warned. The Clinton administration has taken
sides in the debate over whether to tax the Internet. And, as is its pattern,
the White House has chosen the wrong side.
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- As it stands now, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Electronic
Commerce is one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed before making
a recommendation to Congress to extend the current moratorium on taxation
of Internet access charges for five years and to === urge states to develop
a uniform approach to the issue of sales taxes.
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- This is hardly a radical plan. A better one would be
for Congress to use its constitutional authority to regulate interstate
commerce and prohibit any sales tax on the Internet.
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- Why? Lots of reasons. I believe you should never let
the government expand its claim on your wealth -- certainly not when it
already taxes us in so many other ways. Is a sales tax better than an
income tax? Sure. But let's eliminate the income tax before we add other
confiscatory, wealth-redistributing schemes.
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- The Internet is driving the U.S. economy right now.
It will continue to do so for many years -- unless commerce on the Internet
becomes as cumbersome, regulated and over-taxed as the old economy.
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- Also, Internet commerce doesn't require government infrastructure
to support it. Roads, fire department services, garbage collection, parking
lots, etc. are just unnecessary on the information superhighway. Think
of how many people are no longer commuting -- either as customers or employees
-- due to the Internet. It would be unfair and unwise to tax a more efficient
form of doing business -- and one which is far less taxing of our environment.
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- Looked at this way, taxing the Internet amounts to a
government subsidy of business that wastes resources and pollutes the environment.
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- Furthermore, the Internet has resulted in the freest
exchange of ideas, information, goods and services among the peoples of
the world in history.
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- First and foremost, this is a freedom issue. If the
government is permitted to tax the Net, it will be allowed to regulate
the Net. More important than all the commerce taking place in this new
medium is the way it is transforming the way people access information.
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- And, knowing the character of the Clinton administration,
perhaps that is why it is opposing this modest compromise proposal by the
commission in a bid, once again, to reach deep into your pocketbook.
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- You see, Clinton appointed three members of the 19-member
commission. And guess how they are expected to vote?
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- "We have been given the clear signal that, as things
currently stand, the administration will not support any proposal that
does not recommend that Congress allow the states to mandate the collection
of sales taxes on electronic commerce," says Dean Andal, a member
of the commission. "Such a position, if implemented, would amount
to the largest consumer tax increase in history. At a time when state and
federal tax coffers are overflowing, and when the vast majority of Americans
are opposed to such taxes, is such a suggestion good public policy?"
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- "So, what do we do about this, Farah?" you
ask.
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- I'll tell you.
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- There is one organization dedicated to fighting any form
of Internet taxation tooth and nail. And that organization is WorldNetDaily.com.
This news-gathering company has blazed the trail on this issue of monumental
importance to every company doing business on the World Wide Web.
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- No, Microsoft hasn't joined this fight. Netscape hasn't
signed on as an ally. We haven't heard from Amazon.com, nor Yahoo! The
big guys have decided they will survive the imposition of new taxes. They
are not threatened by it -- or so they believe. They'll cut their own
deals with government. That's the way they play the game.
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- But for the new entrepreneurs on the Internet -- those
of us who see it as a bold new frontier that can be used to enlighten people,
make them freer, empower them -- this is the fight of our lives.
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- I will be going to Washington in the next few weeks to
make the case against Internet taxation -- now and forever.
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- If you want to provide me with the tools I need to get
the job done, please sign WorldNetDaily's online "Don't Tax the Net"
petition right now.
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