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And the Nightmare Begins InBy JGillman, Section News
However long it takes for the sleepy reps in the US house to take up this inane garbage.
The premise that promoted the Marketplace Fairness Act, which flew through the house tonight by a vote of 69-27, is that it is fair to those poor street based businesses, and already SOME groups are touting this as a win for the local shop-keeper or mom and pop store. And not only are pro brick and mortar lobbyists happy. Michigan legislators are drooling at the potential windfall of nearly $450 million they feel is not being collected as sales tax receipts today. Wow! More money without raising taxes! Sorta Kinda. What the geniuses in Lansing and our nations capitol do not understand however, is the incredible dynamic nature of a truly FREE market. The way things are at this time allows a flexibility that will be gone under a 'new management' consortium of nearly 40 states. (Our newest silent partners - with waiting baseball bats) This is not to say that people should not pay their taxes for online purchases, but Lansing lawmakers like Kowall and those who might actually saddle up with this not-so-well thought out plan to eek out that extra pocket change from Michigan taxpayers just puts 20 lb hammers in the hands of other states' legislatures, and marks any internet retailers who call Michigan home as spikes who are only going to be made part of the grade. And the train rolls on. Continued below.
"Fairness" has never been a part of the game.
Some legislators who cannot think past two moves on the chess board might actually think so, but the reality that taxes and power are what is being advanced. The Internet is a great big beast that is out of control, offers the little guy a unique opportunity to be on the same block as the big guy, and as a result new enterprises that employ thousands have sprung forward from basements occupied by underwear donned geeks and fortunes have been made. The American Dreams shifted, and government is now shifting to crush those as well. Recall the small mom and pop corner grocery that started disappearing LONG before the internet? It wasn't that the little grocer couldn't cope with the box store at the mall's end, but because of every add-on that government supplied weighed it down that it became unprofitable. Minimum salary requirements, work rules, zoning, all contribute to the gorilla's bulk on the back of the working entrepreneur. Where larger operations could operate on penny margins, the small operators have to devote too much time to deal with government created rules that under the best of intentions were still restrictive and a disincentive to continuing a labor of love that had become unprofitable. Welcome to Mom and Pop Crush 2.0 This legislation is about to kill Michigan businesses. If it sails through the house, expect small Michigan Based internet retailers to start folding after suffering a round of shipping cost increases due to high fuel expense. It wont be the ability to compete directly that does us in (Yes my wife and I run one) but the threat of Ohio's hammers, Oregon's hammers, Hawaii's etc. Add to the this the additional weeks of paperwork I am likely to see because of a rush to get a few extra bucks for our state treasuries, as the spending MUST GO ON!!! There IS a way for internet collection to work, but dummies like THESE Republicans don't have time to consider the consequences of hasty action.
And did anyone consider also what happens as their is more regulatory power ceded on Internet activities? The power to tax is a power to limit.
And Obama is Hi-Fiving (Or ass slapping) 21 Republican US Senators for slam dunking one more consolidation effort that leaves unchecked, the power to spend just a little longer.
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And the Nightmare Begins In | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
And the Nightmare Begins In | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
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