Daily Archives: January 16, 2015

A Letter To Amazon

An open letter to Amazon.com Owner Jeff Bezos on the Main Street Tyranny tax.

Regulars have seen the attempts here to correct the misinformation about the main street fairness act.

Michigan lawmakers were snookered by Kowall and Verheulen into passing their tyranny in the lame duck; a time when there would seem to be no voter backlash.  We call that cowardice, and reprehensible.   This morning I penned (typed) a letter to Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon.com:

Jeff,

I am an online retailer.  I have been fighting the mainstreet fairness taxes for several years now.  Recently, Michigan legislators in a lame-duck session voted to address nexus issues in the state in an attempt to collect use taxes from out of state vendors such as Amazon and other drop shippers.

Clearly you have been arguing that the commerce clause is the remedy to what the states are trying, and frankly you are right.  Quill v North Dakota settled the matter, and if there was EVER a reason for Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, this is it.  The states cannot use tariffs or taxes to discourage (or encourage) trade with other states.  It is one of the enumerated powers of the congress, and the states have little business attempting to work around it.

You Betcha! (22)Nuh Uh.(4)